help me save my phal

[invar]

Hi everyone, first time poster, but I've been reading and searching here for months ever since I discovered root rot on my phal.

The condition steadily deteriorated after a repotting and eventually resulted in more and more roots falling off. By February, my phal was completely rootless and had 4 leaves.

I read about the sphag n bag technique. I also went to Garden World and bought some rooting hormone. I went to work cleaning everything off as best as I could using some hydrogen peroxide as I didn't have any physan 20 around. I bagged it up and left it near somewhere warm with indirect sunlight. As I did not have any sphag, I decided to use a damp sponge located in the opposite corner of the bag.

By around March, two new roots had begun sprouting and I was happy about it. Meanwhile, a leaf had turned yellow so I removed it. I should also note that I still had a pretty long stem at this point with what appeared to be a spike coming form it. I know, perhaps I should have cut it sooner to conserve energy.... but I really just couldn't bear to do it.

By the middle of April, the root had gotten longer... about 1" for each. However, the stump where all the roots used to be was still very black, and it still looked moldy/fungussy. Not good. The tip of one of the roots was also blackened. I gave it a light squeeze and to my horror it was completely mushy. I pushed it a little to see the base, and I could see that the root was rotted. This root was a goner. Thankfully, the other one remained healthy.

I went back to work again and I was very aggressive about things. I trimmed the dead root off, cut off the entire blackened portion of the stump, which resulted in the remaining stem hanging on barely. Eventually, the stem just snapped off due to lack of support. It felt pretty barky/dry at the base anyway.

At this point, I'm left with 3 leaves, no stem, and 1 very short 1" root. I soaked in hydrogen peroxide again, and rebagged it. Within a week, I saw a new root sprouting. Hurray.

Today, I gave it a close look over, and the longest root now is approximately 2" long. There was a new root sprouting but its growth was stunted. Upon closer examination, the tip was blackened. I scraped off the black stuff. Also, the largest outer leaf had turned yellow, so I snipped it off. Under the base area of the leaf that I removed, I noticed a bump (see attached picture). Why is that bump that color, and what is it? It feels solid. I feel like I'm still doing something wrong.

Today, I'm trying to suspend it over water with a plastic baggy covering things instead of the regular sphag n bag.

Am I not cleaning it properly? Is hydrogen peroxide no good? Do I HAVE to get physan to take care of this problem? Should this be repotted already? The root seems so small.

I thought I had things under control, but now I'm down to two leaves only and the infection (or whatever that black stuff is) still seems to be present!!

Thank you...

The images I attached are of the plant today.