Phal in dire need!!!!

[superbelks]

My husband got me a beautiful Phalaenopsis for V-day, it's had beautiful blooms since Feb. but now all of a sudden its leaves are splitting and the buds are withering without blooming, I've been watering it properly once a week, can somebody please help??? I've seen a tiny fly looking insect walk around the roots, could this be eating my plant? I don't know what to do, help me save her.

[Zoi2]

Welcome to the OB superbleks.
If the leaves are splitting, it probably is not getting enough humidity. If you are noticing the little gnats, your potting media is probably too wet.
What is your phal potted in: moss or bark?
Is is potted in a plastic pot with drainage holes? And can you post a picture or two?
Joann

[superbelks]

Thank you so much for your quick reply Zoi! it is potted in a mossy medium and the vase is glass with no draining holes. I was told to let it soak for about a minute and then tilt the vase to drain the excess water, I have been doing so once a week. Here are some pictures, the first one is what she looked like when I first got her, the other ones are of what it looks like now. Thank you so much for your help.

[mayres]

I would recommend that you remove the plant from this "pot" ASAP. My own personal belief is that sellers use this method of beautifying plants knowing full well that 98% of them will end up as "CUT" flower arrangements. The majority of them will die and be thrown out a few weeks after purchase. You have done well to keep yours going this long in this kind of arrangement. The roots need to "breathe" and they are going to eventually rot in a pot like this - if not already compromised. There are lots of possible media choices (bark is usually the most common beginnier media - if you use this be sure and soak 24-48 hours first) if/when you remove your plant and place into a pot. Some advance growers even mount these to grow them similar to the way they grow in the wild - hanging from the limbs of trees. Pull your plant out and check the roots - all roots that are black, soft, spongy, threadlike, etc. should be removed - just keep the ones that are firm and plump - usually green or tan colored. Good luck!

[superbelks]

Thank you so much, I will do it ASAP and will post the progress.

[RosieC]

I agree with mayres,

while the pot looks pretty is is really NOT the thing for an Orchid and you have done well to keep it alive in there so long.

Many people get on with Moss as the medium, but it tends to stay wet for a long time. If you are watering once a week it may be too much for moss.

What you want is a clear platic pot with holes in the bottom. If you want a decorative pot outside that you can.

I favour bark as the medium, but make sure you get stuff intended for orchids, this dries quicker than moss and here in the UK I find that watering about once a week is about right in bark.

As already said, get it out that pot and remove any roots which are soft and squidgy or hollow. The good roots are any which are firm, they may be green, yellow, white, tan, or silvery looking (depending on where in the pot they grew and how wet they are).

The next question is how many roots do you have left when that is done?

If it's none then you need to try a rescue technique such as Sphag-n-bag.
Sphag-n-Bag

If you have even one or two good ones of reasonable length then you should pot it back up. You want to be careful to use a pot which is just big enough for the roots you have. If the pot is too big for the roots it can cause more problems.

When you pot it back up it can be helpful to try and position at least one root so you can see it through the pot. You then can use this as a way of monitoring when to water. Don't just water on a set schedule, but water when a green root at the edge of the pot turns silvery/white. If you can't do that, use a wooden stick pushed in to the medium. When you want to check if you should water it, pull out the stick, if the stick feels cold on your cheek or is noticably damp then it's not time to water yet. Push it back in and wait some more.

Anyway the first thing is to asses the roots you have, post some pics of them if you can to get more advise. In my experience you can keep a phal out of the pot for a few days (or even a week or so) if you spray the roots every day (just make sure they dry out between spraying). So take it out that current pot sooner rather than later.

[superbelks]

Thank you, I will do so. But I'm a little afraid to cut the roots, I heard there is a chance they might get infected, is there anything I can do to prevent this?

[OdessaOrchid]

You should get a torch or a water bleach mixture to sterilize the cutting tool. I've read and been told that if you put cinnamon or tumeric on the cut part it will help reduce the chance of infection. Hope this helps.

[mayres]

Don't be afraid to remove/cut all the bad roots or portions of roots - they are not as fragile as you think! :-) As Rosie has noted, they can even sit several days completely out of the pots with no media at all without significant effect. The whole issue with bleach and sterilizing is the because you don't want to transfer plant diseases - especially virus - from one plant to another. In my opinion - if you take a pair of scissors (done it myself many times successfully) that are not normally used on plants - you can use them to trim your plant roots without fear of any issues at all. Truth is - most of the time you can do all the cutting/pruning you need to do with NO tools at all - just use your fingers to break off all the bad material. If you get into orchids in a big way and need to use cutting tools to divide large specimen plants and prune diseased portions of plants, etc. that is when you need to really start to take the previous poster's comments to heart. Cinnamon is often used as a natural antiseptic to prevent disease from starting - especially on parts of the plant ABOVE the media. It can't hurt but I've never used it on roots. Rosie has passed along some excellent comments! Good luck!

[superbelks]

Thank you so much to all of you my fellow orchid-heads. I'm happy to report that Ambrosia (that's her name) is out of that restricting glass pot. As suspected by you guys, there was a lot of rot in her roots, but I think I managed to save a few good ones that looked cream yellow but sturdy. I re-potted into a smaller plastic pot with a hole at the bottom,and used "orchid potting mix" found at home depot. It seems to be composed of ground twigs and bark. The most challenging part was getting her spike to stand, it seems like it is too heavy for the little plastic pot, it looks a bit crooked but I think I did a decent job. Now was I supposed to water her after I planted her? her roots had already an immense amount of moisture and the potting mix seems like it might be too absorbent. I moistened the bottom part of the medium but the one I used to cover the roots remained dry. Here's some pics, the first two are of what the roots looked like before I trimmed them, the last one is of what they look like before I planted her. Thanks so much again guys, joining OB was the best thing I could have done.