Possible Crown Rot. Help.

[Singingirl96]

Hi. Last week I went on vacation and had to water my plants late at night in a very big hurry. I guess I must have left some residual water in the crown of one of my phals and today I noticed some mushiness on the base of the second leaf (which had fallen off weeks ago). When I went to investigate further, the newest leaf came out in my hand. base of leaf one and two were mushy. there is a new leaf coming out of the center. All three of the older leaves seem ok.

How do I stop this from spreading further? The crown is nice and hard it is only mushy in the center around the new emerging leaf.

Please help me save this plant.

[dounoharm]

hydrogen peroxide...a tsp full in the crown, leave for a few min then blow it out....

[cabbo]

I've heard that cinnamin helps or peroxide, but I've never had any with crown rot so I cant tell you first hand. I dont think either will hurt so give it a shot. Good luck.

[Izzie]

Both cinnamon and especially peroxide should help. Don't forget to blow/pour out the peroxide after a few min. then sprinkle with cinnamon.
eta: I've gotten in the habit of just carrying a paper towel or cloth with me when I water to clean up spills, and to dab out water in the crowns.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

May I suggest leaning the plant over so that the tip of the leaves are hanging over the edge of the pot in the future, instead of positioning the plant vertically?

This is how Phals naturally avoid the problem of crown rot in the wild.

[neb]

If the newest leaf came out it may be too late.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

I'd still keep the plant around and see.

Never know what'll pop out.

The wait could be very frustrating though.

Ultimately it's your choice whether to toss it or not.

But neb is right, usually if this happens, it's just a matter of a slow decline.

[Singingirl96]

I used peroxide and cinnamon, twice. the center of the crown dried up. I think that's a good sign. It still has 3 of the bottom leaves.

Any chance I'll get new growths from the center again? If not I'm hoping it will spike and give me a keiki... one can only hope!

[trdyl]

Once the crown is gone it will no longer put out leaves. It is very likely to put out a basal keiki. Just be patient.

[RosieC]

While what Ted has said is generally the case I have seen exceptions. Someone here on OB had one a year or more ago which grew again from the crown. I think sometimes that while the leaves have been destroyed in the crown the 'apical meristem' MAY still be intact (put very simply this is where new leaves are produced). It's very likely though that the apical meristem has rotted along with the leaves.

Much more likely though is that you may get a basal keiki. Someone here once explained to me that when the 'apical meristem' is destroyed the hormones levels in the plant change and a side node may then start to grow. This side node could then develop in to a new crown and eventually the old leaves from this one will die back.