Old Phal needs some advice

[jaszed]

Hi all,

First post, could use some help with our phal. Photos attached.

Phal has wrinkling, shriveling leaves. It has already produced one new leave since it stopped blooming and has a second one coming out. But the older new leaf is also starting to shrivel.

She just gave us awesome, double stems upto 3 feet in length that also branched out, even with the shriveled leaves. Although, she recently just lost 4 her leaves since the blooms passed.

We have had the shriveling leave problem about two years but now she is almost out of leaves.

We know we need to replant this baby and think lack of ability to get water is the cause but, as you can see, the stock has gotten long so we are not sure how we go about repotting this one.

Comments, guidance and suggestions appreciated.

Thanks
Joe and Audrey

[Im Just Saying]

I would agree that it's not taking in enough moisture through the aerial roots that are seen. Can you see any roots in the media? I would guess that any roots in the media are not providing what the plant needs to survive. I believe that you will have to cut off the bottom of the central stem in order to re-pot it so that some of the roots can reach the media. You may lose some of the aerial roots though as it looks like they occur down the length of the central stem. Hopefully someone with more experience will come along to chime in with some additional advice.

[silken]

I agree. This is way overdue for re-potting-likely by years! I would cut off as much of the old stem so that what is left can fit into a pot. You don't want to bury leaves, but the stem up to them can be potted. Once that is done and any old or rotten roots removed, I would soak all those arial roots for a couple hours to make them more pliable. You will have to decide what you will use for potting media. It looks like sphagnum moss and since the plant thrived, you may want to use more of that. Many people don't like moss and use bark chunks or coco husks. I like a mix of bark and moss and leave the mix quite open. In the wild Phals grow on trees and their roots aren't buried. So they do need some air. Yours isn't getting enough moisture. Another option since yours is almost growing that way anyways, is to mount it on something but then the roots likely need to be watered or misted every day which is more than lots of people want to do. I also find clear pots work well with Phals as the roots photosynthesize and seem to grow better in them. Don't over pot it and only use a pot large enough to fit the roots. The pot should have good air holes. Good luck with this. I find they are more manageable if re-potted every year or two.

[NatalieS]

Wow! I don't think I've ever seen such a long stem on a phal. Silken and I'm Just Saying are right - you need to cut the stem to get those roots into the media. This can be a bit scary, so if you are still unsure about cutting the stem I would at least, in the meantime, get a deep bucket or bowl or vase, fill it with water, and submerge the plant (pot and all) up to the bottom of the lowest leaves (or the top of the highest roots). You can do this safely for a good few hours, and as Silken says, if you decide to cut the stem it will make the aerial roots more pliable.

Just thinking about it, you could probably water it like that once or twice a week for a week or two to get the aerial roots used to being in water and to get your phal rehydrated before you cut the stem. It might be less traumatic for it that way.

[naoki]

Are the roots near the crown in a good shape (if you spray with water, do they green up)? If so, cutting and potting should work. You may get new shoot from the bottom.

Or how about the following? Remove from the pot, soak the root in a bucket of water over night, get a tennis ball size sphag moss, spread it around 1-2" below the crown loosely, then wrap it with coco-fiber mat/sheet or plastic hardwire clothes like a sushi roll. See "Palm Shell Fiber" section of the following web page:

Potting Media of Phalaenopsis Species

Then after they recover somewhat from the dehydration (a couple months), you could cut it to a smaller size, and put it back to a pot if you prefer a pot culture.

[NYCorchidman]

Good advice already given above, but I would like to say a few things.
If I had a phal like this, I would consider two things.
One, either dip the whole thing in a large bucker full of water or mist the ariel roots real good every day.
Your plant is very dehydrated. This is why leaves are like that. It is very well alive though. nice new leaves coming in the center.
The roots look like they are nice and alive too.
wet them and see if they turn green. If yes, then they are definitely alive.
Daily watering would promote better growth of this severly dehydrated plant and promote more roots maybe on the exposed portion.
Even better, try wrapping the stem (not sure if that's the corrent term but) between the base of the bottom leaves and upper most roots with some moist moss. Keep the moss moist at all time.
New roots will grow out of that section.
Cut off the plant accordingly and you have a manageable sized plant.

Cutting the plant now might be rather tough, although you can still try.
Do not throw away the bottom part with no leaves though because it might produce some plantlets.

Good Luck!