Save my phal

[Mothra79]

Okay, the good news is, I got my dendrobium to bloom! It's happy and healthy. The bad news is, my phal seems to be going downhill. I repotted it about a month ago trimming away quite a few roots due to root rot. I also cut the two flower spikes. Since then, the leaves have started to droop, and this morning I discovered one of the leaves has turned yellow. I gently pulled it up out of the medium a little, and there's absolutely no new root growth at all. At that point, it was easy just to take the entire plant out of the medium and takes some pictures for you guys. What do I do at this point? Is this pot too deep for it perhaps? I'm going to soak the roots in some Superthrive while I await some responses. Thanks for all your help! Oh, the white powdery stuff you see on the roots is some fungicide I applied back when I repotted it.

[Mothra79]

Okay, as I was placing it back in the pot, I noticed what might be a new root nubbin. So things might not be as bad as I thought.

[tuvoc]

What I've done in a case like this is keep it warm, and out of bright light. Make a tent out of a plastic produce bag to keep humidity higher, but allow it to breath. If you see a root nubbin, all is not lost. The super thrive soak should help too. Good luck, and keep us posted.

Kim

[Mothra79]

Okay, thanks for the advice! I have a produce bag tented around it. Should I be watering it less or more than usual until it gets established? The medium it's in is extremely arid and dries very quickly. One of the green leaves seems a little wrinkly.

[tuvoc]

Some people suggest to keep it a little dryer to stimulate root growth, but I don't like to let them get too dry. The bag should help to keep the medium from drying out so fast. Don't worry about the wrinkly leaf, as long as it is still green.

Kim

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

I suggest trying to mount the Phal onto a piece of cork with New Zealand moss.

[Mothra79]

Here's an update! Since following your advice, my phal is growing a new root AND a new leaf! Thank you so much! My husband got me this one to commemorate my very first Mother's Day, so I really want to keep it around as long as humanly possible. Again, thank you!

[MuscleGirl'sHobby]

Woohoo! Nice job at giving the chid some TLC. I had a supermarket purchased phal come back from pretty much complete root loss too. There is almost always hope!

[priz_m]

That is excellent news Mothra!

I am very happy I came across this thread beacause I too have a phal that survived root rot and has a tiny leaf at the base (maybe basal keiki) but has been there for months and refuses to grow either roots of the keiki itself, is been dormant for 4 months now (I know... no pics in hand sorry) so I'll go ahead and put a plastic tent over it and hope for the same results you had

[Mothra79]

priz m, I also started using a fertilizer called Orchid Focus Grow, that may have helped too!