Phal dilemma...rescue with bad roots and developing spike

[JenHowlett]

I rescued a mini phal from the Lowe's clearance rack a few weeks ago. I got it home, soaked it, removed it from the dessicated sphag and repotted it in a small terra cotta orchid pot (think fist-sized) with good drainage and bark medium. It had a lot of roots rotted away, but several still looked viable. About a week later, it started developing a spike which (see photos) is now about 4 inches long. Yesterday, I noticed that the leaves were starting to look a little crinkled, and today I decided that it could be serious enough that I needed to get a good look at the roots. The photos are below.

I realize that I'm probably going to have to cut the spike to save the plant *sigh*. Should I sphag-n-bag or repot in fresh bark? I've got it soaking a mild fertilizer/ST solution at the moment

The roots look more or less the same as they did when I got it...is there any possibility that I'm so afraid of overwatering that I'm underwatering?

[Triffid]

I'd guess too cutting the spike is the best option, in your 3rd pic there seems to be some browning discolouration to the spike near it's base. And you may have to dab some cinnamon on the cut to keep it from becoming infected.

I've not used the sphag-n-bag technique, but my sick Phal had a few of good roots near the base of the leaf structure the rest having to be cut away, a good bit over 75% of it's roots had to go.
I kept it in clean water for a day or so while I soaked so Bark for the re-potting (It still Lives and is growing a new leaf now.

But my concern having looked at the Pics is the remaining roots look a bit too brown for my tastes. (I'm hoping that's just something to do with the pic exposure though)

I'm not sure if rooting hormone may help here? But it's a consideration to encourage the plant to shoot some new roots out. But I'd wait for confirmation from some one else about that.
Didn't try it with mine, just got it into a proper care routine and the plant did me proud.

(After reading other threads and folks experiences I now retract this statement) My gut tells me that you need to sphag-n-bag with this one, but having not yet had to try this method I can not say for certain.

I'm sure someone else will pipe in soon enough though

Wishing you all the best and hoping you can revive you sick plant.

[RosieC]

With just a few roots like that I would remove the spike.

I wouldn't use Sphag-n-bag for this because you have SOME good roots. I've got them to recover from a similar number of roots before. I would pot it in to the tiniest pot you can squeeze the roots in to.

Some people find Sphag-n-bag tricky with mold problems and so if you have any roots I am lothe to suggest it.

Soak them well first to help you get them in to a smaller space. I would personally go with a 2" pot maxiumum. If the plant then topples due to the leaf size you can rest it in to an empty larger pot.

With a very small pot the bark should dry quickly allowing you to water it often. With too much bark you can't water often enough because the bark is holding too much moisture.

I've got a few to recover this way, one of them had just as few roots as yours and seems very happy after I squeezed it's roots gently in to a tiny 2" pot. The leaves trail on the table because they pot is so small but it's now growing roots and leaves and seems to be getting better all the time. It's now got to the point I will let it flower next time it spikes (I've removed several spikes of this one while it's been recovering).

[JenHowlett]

I allowed it to soak in the ST/fertilizer solution overnight, snipped the spike (that hurt) and baggied it this morning (I know....indecision). I'm not sure all of the roots in the picture were viable...a couple were squishy, so I cut those but there were a few that didn't look so good but I'm not quite ready to snip them off yet. There's one 1/4" nub- its the only root I would actually consider to be a good one. I like the mini pot idea better than a sphag-n-bag. Do you think I should use a finer bark mixture, or keep it pretty coarse and just soak daily?

[RosieC]

I've gone backwards and forwards on whether large or small bark is best. I have three problem phals which were the first three I ever owned and after a mistake with bad potting mix they have struggled.

Last year I had them in larger pots and I used very big bark to try and give plenty of air spaces but I found it still was not drying enough and the bark started going sour. All three orchids didn't really do anything all year. They didn't get worse but didn't recover either.

This spring I've repotted in small pots (between 2" and 3") with fine bark. I've squeeze the roots in as tightly as I could without breaking them. I've only done it recently but they really seem to be liking it... I've got growth from all three both leaf and root growth.