It sat in water!!!! Help!

[WhiteRabbit]

If the plant was that wet, it's likely the roots may be completely rotted. Disturbing a plant in bloom, there's always a possibility of losing the blooms - even on a very healthy plant. Many (healthy) Phals aren't bothered by being repot while in bloom, but there's never a guarantee. From what you said, I would expect the roots are very bad, and the plant likely won't continue to bloom either way, tho I can't say that for certain.

You can cut the spike and put it in a vase - I have read some people have done that - the blooms may not last as long as on the plant tho.
Or leave the spike and the plant as they are, being careful to allow the media to dry before watering, and see how it goes. Or, do the repot, snipping away the rotted roots, leaving the spike on the plant, and see how that goes.

The plant can live with no media, but if all the roots are rotted, no matter what you do, the plant can't take up water. If your media is very soggy, and there are some good roots, you can try no media, and spray roots well with water daily, until the current media dries, or you have some new media for it.
gl

[silken]

Usually when you bring a phal home from a store like Walmart, Safeway etc. (not sure where yours came from) they are packed in pure sphagnum moss that is quite often soaking wet. In the middle of the root ball is a tight mass of it that is also very wet. Lately Walmart and Safeway to name two places are selling their phals in a flimsy clear pot with reasonable drainage, but they are then sitting in a rather tall attractive ceramic pot with absolutely no holes. If this is the case and your moss is very soggy, I would get it out of the pot even if you don't have new potting media yet. You could also remove a good portion of it or all of it. Phals in nature grow on treees and their roots like having some air. Wring some of the moss out and just place it among the roots until you get new stuff. Cut away any soggy mushy roots as the rot will only spread.

If possible I would soak my new media and the roots after clean up in a solution of water and K-L-N rooting hormone. It really seems to help mine. Then as others have said, when the bark has soaked and the roots are clean, repot, but you could put a bit of cinnamon on the cut root tips to prevent those ends from rotting again or taking up bacteria.

If there are a few roots left that are a few inches long, you can likely leave the spikes on. If it is really bad damage, it is likely best to cut the spikes and enjoy them in a vase. Sometimes a phal that was in pure moss struggles if going to straight bark chunks. For myself, I use a mixture of moss, bark and charcoal and I haven't killed a phal since doing this. A clear pot is good so you can see if there is moisture (condensation) in the pot and see what's going on. I would continue to add some K-L-N to your watering regime until it starts to recover. Let it almost completely dry before watering.

Also make sure you do not water the plant in the crown of the leaves as they are prone to crown rot when that is done.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Originally Posted by StefH

Ok, how bad is "bad" for bad roots?

No one knows unless you post pics. You're telling us to guess "how bad it is", without a pic of your plant, when you don't even fully know what you're looking at - and the vague verbal descriptions given of your plant's condition only conveys that at this point in the game, you don't yet have the skills to discern what the important bits of information you are looking at are and which of those to verbally relay in order to give us any kind of meaningful details so that we can give you a proper assessment of the situation.

Do you happen to know what healthy living orchid roots look like?

If not, then here's a link:

http://www.aboutorchids.com/blog/wp-...oots_640px.jpg

Do you happen to know what dead orchid roots look like?

If not, then here's a link:

http://webspace.webring.com/people/l...id/cyms/B7.jpg

Originally Posted by StefH

And if I repot and trim the roots, will I lose my flowers/spikes?

Very likely, from the way your situation sounds, but without photos, it's difficult to say definitively. Again, I'm going to explain why I answered your query the way I did - I'm going off of your verbal description, when you're not even sure yourself of how bad the damage is.

Quite honestly, if a large portion of the roots are rotted out, it's not even a question of buds dropping from repotting; they could probably eventually all drop from the massive stress they've received from the root rot itself.

At this point flowers should be the last thing on your mind, if you have every intention of saving the plant.

A healthy, living plant will obviously re-bloom.

If your plant is deathly sick it doesn't need the burden of putting its energy into reproduction. A plant's flowers are its reproductive organs used for sex.

In other words, a deathly sick orchid that is left to produce flowers for the purposes of what may probably be a last ditch reproductive effort to propagate its genes, will most likely put a lot of its energy into saving itself through reproduction rather than using that energy into healing itself from the damage it had received. This last ditch reproductive effort is usually not a productive means for the plant to preserve itself as the odds of it succeeding in creating viable progeny that will survive the disaster are usually very low.

Why?

Because it takes anywhere between 6 months to 1 year for seed pods to mature depending on the type of Phal you have - should it take the route of sexual reproduction.

That is a lot of energy to expend, over a very long period of time when the plant is in trouble.

I'm stating the obvious, and I hate to say it, but a dead plant won't give you diddly squat.

Originally Posted by StefH

Well, it was in a pot. The thin plastic pot that the orchid is actually planted in has lots of drainage. The ceramic decorative pot that it was sitting in definitely doesn't have enough drainage.

Ok, but what kind of potting media is it in?

Does the potting media drain fast?

Originally Posted by StefH

What I'm trying to figure out is how bad is "bad" roots.

Either you find out by you posting a pic, or you have to do an extensive search on the OB for other people's photos. And there are tons of other people's photos of horribly damaged root systems on their Phals. You just gotta take the time and effort into finding them. The OB does have a search engine.

In my opinion, the easiest and fastest way for you to find out is if you posted pics of your plant in question.

Originally Posted by StefH

When do I know when to sacrifice the flowers for the rest of the plant?

I'm willing to bet you're gonna have to remove the spike whether you like it or not.

You can always put the cut flowers in a vase.

I highly recommend you read the sticky "The Phal abuse ends here."

Should you have any further specific questions feel free to ask.

[Eyebabe]

Sorry my answer wasn't specific enough...

Whenever I "repot" a plant, I mean to completely clean it up.
In your situation, if my roots looked pretty good (and you won't know until you look etc.) then I keep the spikes and all the good roots. Sure the spikes may be lost subsequently but that's life.
If you choose NOT to look at the roots and leave it in the pot so you can enjoy the spikes on the plant while they last then you risk that your plant may rapidly die IF your root system has begun to rot as it will likely progress.
For some people, depending upon the value of the plant and their budget to just go get another one...I have seen this done. I personally don't do it but at the risk of sounding cruel and coldhearted I will admit that I also don't see a problem in going this route either if that is what you prefer.
If I am repotting and my roots look bad, I save the living ones or the best two or three bad looking ones, cut the spike(s) and finish repotting.
At that point, you just hope for the best.

Many of the comments made are suggestions for ways to avoid a similar situation if your plant does survive and/or improve the current environment of the plant...ie. the media it's potted in and watering method.

Hope it goes okay for you

[RosieC]

I think you have lots of good advice above for what to do next, but I just want to give a note on watering for the future.

Watering by a set amount each time (on a fixed schedule) is not the way to go. Rather than a 1/4 cup each time, what you should do is take the inner pot out, run a LOT of water through the pot, then let it drain completely (so it stopps dripping) then put it back. If you remember come back after a couple of ours and check for any collected water and tip out that as well.

Water again when the roots turn silvery right to the bottom. That's the sign that they are drying and need more water. It's possible to water just slightly earlier (the day before they turn silvery) but that takes more skill in judging and I prefer to let them actually turn silver myself.

[Connie Star]

I've read and it's been my experience that phals are one type of orchid that you can repot while they are in bloom. I've done it several times. If a given root is squishy, it's rotten and should be cut.
Here's a link to a You tube video on how to repot a phal.

YouTube - Repotting A Phalaenopsis Orchid in a bark mix - step by step instructions

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Originally Posted by Connie Star

I've read and it's been my experience that phals are one type of orchid that you can repot while they are in bloom. I've done it several times. If a given root is squishy, it's rotten and should be cut.
Here's a link to a You tube video on how to repot a phal.

OMG!

For a minute there I thought that was a "rickrolling" vid!

"Rickrolling" refers to the song "Never Gonna Give You Up" by Rick Astley. It's a YouTube prank played a few years ago, for those who don't know.

[StefH]

HI everyone!

Thanks for all the good and useful advice.

I chose, up until now, to let the plant dry out a bit and see what happens. After having read a few more of your posts, I think I'll get some fresh bark (it's been originally planted in bark) and I'll replant and trim the dead roots. I'll see how the flowers fare after that. If they start dying off, I'll cut the spike and let the plant focus it's energy on healing itself instead of flowering. If they live, then bonus!

[StefH]

Hello helpful people!

I re-potted today. The roots weren't in horrible shape, but definitely not good either. I probably trimmed off between a third to half of the existing roots. I sterilized my scissors and loosened all the bark around the roots, then I rinsed the roots well with fresh water.

I went looking for a root stimulator with fungicide. All I could find at the store was a product called "Wilson Liquid Root Stimulator With Fungicide".

Directions said cut root, dip root in gel, then re-plant it. So I did that. Does anyone know if I can mix the gel stimulator with water next time I water my phal? It doesn't seem to say anything about mixing/diluting with water and watering with the stimulator...??

I also had a hard time finding a good bark mix for orchids. What I ended up buying was a mix made by Miracle Grow....their orchid mix. It wasn't a straight bark mix...but it was all they had...and I figure Miracle Grow usually know what they're talking about...?????? :S Has anyone had any success with this mix?

I also bought my orchid a new pot. I will not use the decorative pot that it came with...because it has no drainage. I replanted it in the flimsy plastic pot that it was in - it has great drainage - and I placed that plastic pot into another nice new pot that has good drainage as well! So now my orchid will be able to breathe well and drain well!

I hope she stays happy! I only lost one flower through all of this...yesterday one decided to start dying off, so I clipped it.

I'll keep you posted as to whether or not I lose my flowers/spikes. I really really hope they stay happy! Say happy little orchid prayers for me!!!

[scy]

I would not recommend Miracle Gro Orchid Mix, because it's too fine for phals. The Miracle Gro is better suited for terrestrials. You need an airier medium.