Help my Oli is Blooming Sick! :-(!

[Eyebabe]

Missed the boiled cinnamon thing...I agree I'd probably avoid doing that. Good luck with him!

[Jennyfleur]

Hmm, 'puggled', is that one of these quirky Scottish words?? Also, I think that fact that you've named him is excellent - all mine have names except one (and I'm thinking of opening up an OB poll just for a bit of fun over the winter months!)

On that note then, here's a link to a thread I opened a little while ago about a keiki of mine:
http://www.orchidboard.com/community...-thoughts.html
It should give you an idea of what I mean and its placement on the spike (btw, the mamma plant is called Toya and the Keiki is Yuki).

Looking at your photos, when your spike broke just above the node, it obviously decided to put out flowers (as opposed to a keiki) - mine grew after I cut the spike after the flowers fell.

I know it's hard to experiment on your plants when you're afraid of losing them, so you have my sympathy! Good luck

[quiltergal]

Hi Alex. Welcome to OB. You certainly aren't alone in this problem. Most of us killed our first Phal the same way.

If you really want to save Oli you're going to have to suck it up and cut those spikes off. Seriously! They are quickly draining the life out of him. I also agree that you should recheck the new roots that were just starting to see if they are still viable. Sphagnum moss is fine you just need to know how to work with it. It should loose and fluffy in the pot, not compacted. Wait for the moss to feel "crunchy" for lack of a better word before watering again. The plant also looks like it's too deep in the pot. It's a tough problem....not enough roots to keep it stable in the pot when it's planted higher, but if it's too low the whole thing could rot. You could try rigging up some stakes or bamboo skewers to prop it up. Make them taller than the plant. Then to help keep the humidity up I'd tent a plastic bag over the top. The stakes or skewers will hold the bag away from the plant.

Cinnamon should NEVER be applied to roots. It can be very damaging to root tissue. It's fine on little bits of cut leaves or spikes.

This will be a very long recovery if the plant is lucky enough to get through this. Good luck and keep us posted.

[pedidiva]

How is Oli?