Help my Oli is Blooming Sick! :-(!

[orchids4luck]

hi there hope you are well , this is my first post on Ochid Board.
Im Alex and im in (not)sunny glasgow in scotland uk and i have a phal who i call oliver.

grab a seat as this may take sometime also bear in mind i was a plant virgin untill oliver came along.
i Knew nothing about how to care for and orchid and didnt know they where such beautifull and intresting plants.
now i cant stop reading posts on the forum pmsl.

My partner bought me oliver about a year ago, a month down the line oliver came into bloom beautifull soft white petals with az pinkish colour in the centre anyhow time came and went and i noticed where the blooms wher going brown i decided to cut the dead bits off, then a few months later oli produced a large leaf i was amazed he hadn't died.
so all chuffed with myself he was still alive i decided to ask friends if they knew about orchids one of them told me to put the plant in my bathroom for a while as her plants seam to love the humid air as my bathroom has no windows i was a bit concerned, since she knew more than me i followed her instructions and put him in there.
after a week i thought i could see a spike starting to appear so that was me even more of an enthusist.
i decided to google orchid care this is when i learnt about root's can rot if over watered.
i decided to check Oli's roots and omg his roots where a black mushy mess i couldnt believe it because he looked so healthy on the outside but so bad underneath
so i decided its time to repot him he was in bark and a sponge like matierial like chunks of sponge (again not having a skoobie)
i read that sphagnum moss is great for phals and they grow well in it , thats what i decided to use.






took him out the pot and i noticed little white things about 1mm wide and 3mm long also there was also white dashes and the potting mix like stitching



wierd i thought so i removed all the black bits and i was left with 5 leaves 2 stalks 1 whick had a tiny spike and well no air roots as the black was in the middle of the root so i thought i better cut it off.
i made sure everthing was sterile blade,scissors,new pot and i had even boiled the sphagnum with some cinnimon sticks to make sure nothing was living in it, alowing it to cool first i packed the sphag round oli making sure he was secure before hand i sprinkled ground cinnimon on his open wounds to make sure no infection could get in.




a week later all was looking good untill......
i knocked the wee man over and he fell out his pot and that little spike i could see poking out, came off!
PANIC ! so i got him back into his pot the moss was really dry so i gave him a watering i have always put orchid food in his water 5 drops to 1litre of water so very dilluted.
I only water him when the moss is dry, so we are now 4 weeks down the line and i cant believe it he's grew like mad in the spike department he has grown two in such a short space of time one is about 3" and one about 1" there looking very healthy to me.
i have pictured them a few times over the last 4 weeks and you can see how much they have grew








also if u notice the spike thats coming out was perfectly sraight and now its drooping i recently moved him do you think thats why he drooped or is this just a coincedence?
The thing that worries me is he's looking very poor in the leaf deparment, i mean he's all droopy and his leafs look like they have got celulite ! and he's gone and split his leavs in 2



He really is a worry to me with his leaves.
They where alot perkier when he had rotty roots what am i doing wrong(everything i hear you say)
i think i am in need of guidance and i believ OB have the right team for it so please help and guide little oliver back to having nice firm green leave's.

thank you for your time if you are reading this you have made it to the end of my saga and await your reply


Orchid4Luck
Alex x
i have attached pics

[Eyebabe]

Your plant is putting out flower spikes in a last ditch effort to survive genetically...if it were in the "wild" it would hopefully send some pollen off or be pollenated and reproduce etc.
This is because your base plant is dying.
The leaves are not getting any water or energy due to lack of roots.
The two arial roots it had left when you repotted need to be checked to see if they still exist.
Regardless of their presence if you want to try to save the plant, cut the flower spikes off completely leaving about 1 inch to the plant base.
This will help the plant put energy into new roots or established good roots and not into flowering.
You will likely loose all the withered leaves and also cutting the spikes will promote new leaves to grow hopefully with new roots.
Why have you lost roots? Possibly too wet? Maybe a pseudomonas infection? Not enough humidity(roots get overly dry between watering and then die/rot)?
When you determine the reason, you can fix it.

[CTB]

Happy Birthday, maybe you can request another orchid for your birthday. We have many posts on phalaeonopsis, you can do a search at the top of the page, and learn lots and lots about growing them. Most growers repot them after purchase, so we can check the roots and see what they are potted in. Good Luck with your collection. You'll soon have many more. Have a great day!

[Jennyfleur]

Hmm, my first thought as I read down was that the pot you put him in when the roots had gone was far too big. Usually, it's recommended that you re-pot is something as small as possible when you've had root problems so that it dried out quickly and the plant thinks 'hey up, gonna need some more roots here' (well, something like that anyway.

Eyebabe is right in that producing spikes/ flowers is a very draining process for a stuggling plant, so that's where all the energy is going. Some Phals will throw out a keiki (genetic baby) on a cut flower spike (so long as it's done above a node) as another way to keep 'itself' alive. So, you could try for that but again, the original Oli might be sacrificed as a result.

[tucker85]

I agree with the previous posts. The plant is blooming in an effort to reproduce before dying. I agree that you should put it in a much smaller pot. Make sure there are drainage holes in the bottom of the pot. Sphagnum is a good choice of potting material but phals in sphagnum should be repotted every year. When watering just set the pot in a saucer of water and the sphagnum will draw it up into the plant. Don't rewater until the surface of the moss feels dry. A very light dose of fertilizer about once a month should be plenty until you establish more roots. The plant needs light. It will not survive long in a bathroom with no window. Give it as much light as possible without direct midday sun.

[Daethen]

Most of the basics have been covered. One thing that no one has addressed is the fact that you boiled the sphag in cinnamon. I a not an expert, but do the experts out there think that this is a good idea? Cinnamon is a drying agent. Could this in some way harm the new roots? Just wanted to bump this item so that others would think on it. Good luck with Oli. He has a long road ahead of him, but it is possible that he will make it!!

[RosieC]

I would agree with Jonada about the cinnamon perhaps being a problem in the potting mix. Not sure if boiling it with cinnamon would he harmful or not but it's a risk.

cinnamon is great for drying up cuts on foliage, and even tiny tabs on cut ends of roots... but because it is a drying agent it is not a good idea to be generally present arround the roots.

[Connie Star]

Welcome to OB, and don't get discouraged. Maybe Oli just needs a friend, or 20?

[orchids4luck]

omg all these reply's on the one day there was me thinking no one wanted to talk to me because i was a newbie and maybe offended people by doing what i've done also naming my orchid.(PARA PANTS)

anyhow , thats a lovely birthday gift all these replys
oh where do i start !

since my post oli has lost a leave turned yellow bout 3/4 decided rather than "goodness" going to the 1/4 that was still a greenish yellow i removed the leave.

as much as i know its for the best but i can bring myself to cutting ollie's spikes off
(maybe someone could come do it for me whilst i look the other way)
all my hard work to keep him going would feel like a waste but since removing yellow leave the nieghbour leave seams to be looking less "cellulite" like its a lot more smooth and the colours went a slightly darker it looks healthier also the middle leave has went from droopy loo to being more upright.
it looks as though more spikes(if thats what there called) are coming out


you have puggled me with
Some Phals will throw out a keiki (genetic baby) on a cut flower spike (so long as it's done above a node) as another way to keep 'itself' alive. So, you could try for that but again, the original Oli might be sacrificed as a result.

if there's away of getting offspring im prepared to try that but taking scissors to something that still green i am finding challenging
as i am a newbie i am not in anyway shape nor for questioning what advice yous are giving me but i'd ffel as thoughh i was cutting an arm off a child even though i know if i dont the child will die i cant bring myself to doing it!
maybe i should ask my other half to do it when im out and then it would be his doing and i can moan at him hee hee!

i am going to get smaller pot but do you think i should buy orchid mix or stick with sphagnum and am i right in saying that if a plant is ready to bloom or in bloom you shuldnt repot .


yous are of much joy to me and i fully apprieciate your help and advice ..

take care and thanx again peeps

Alex n Oli
pics attached of how he's doing!!!

[Cewal]

Welcome. Sorry to hear how sickly Oli is feeling, but as you can see from all the responses, there are many orchid enthusiasts here that are very willing to help.