My Phal - Is it a goner?

[natawheee]

Hello

I've had this Phalaenopsis since January. It was in full bloom when I bought it and the flowers lasted for 3 or 4 months. Not really knowing much, once the flowers died, I cut off the spike (?) to the base of the plant and covered the cut with cinnamon.

Everything seemed fine until recently one of the leafs started to get yellow. Tonight I cut off the leaf and put cinnamon on that cut too. Was that stupid?

Anyway...

I've been wanting to repot it because I thought it might be a good idea to see what the roots looked like. Most of the roots are hollow and stringy but at the top next to the leafs there are thick green roots. (see pics)

Also, the last pic shows a weird spot on a leaf. It had this when I bought the plant. What is it?

I have a clay orchid pot and some bark on standby if its salvageable.

[Swamper]

It looks to me like you did everything right. I also think it is definitely salvageable. The cinnamon was brilliant not stupid. The last picture was probably a mechanical damage, don't worry about it.

[natawheee]

Excellent!
Thank you for your response!

So, I've trimmed off the dead stuff and repotted it. I've never given it any plant food. What type of food should I use for a plant that doesn't have any spikes? Do I add the food to every watering or only a few?

[Swamper]

You'll need others to answer that for you. I don't grow phals. I grow vandas and they have no medium. I fertilize on Sundays with 20-20-20. There are a lot of Phal growers here that will be more than happy to help you.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Something close to 20-20-20 for the NPK of the fertilizer is fine. Make sure it's urea free.

Bark is the preferred medium. In the wild, most Phals grow on trees that are devoid of moss or have very little of it.

If you have access to clear plastic pots, all the better. They allow you to see the roots, lets you know how wet the media is staying for how long, and lets the roots photosynthesize.

Other than that, it's salvageable. But don't be surprised if the plant no longer grows from the crown but rather grows side shoots.

[RosieC]

I agree it looks like you did the right things.

It's unusual for the top center leaf to die off but it may be due to the problem in the roots. Hopefully a new leaf will still be able to come from the center, it looks like the crown may still be OK. If not as Philip has said it may grow from the side (basel keiki).

I also agree with Philip about clear pots being best and you should probably also use a smaller pot than before. Phals do best when pot bound becuase the medium dries out quicker, if you have lots of medium with no roots it can dry out too slowly and cause rot.

[natawheee]

Thank you very much for your responses!

I will definitely try to find a smaller, clear container.

[Call_Me_Bob]

people from my OS use those plastic containers that wontons come in with holes made, but that may be too big. just in case you cant get orchid pots