New phal with dead roots/root rot?

[Blue.fusion]

orchid lovers!

I'm a newbie to orchids and am a little worried about my first phal. It is a beautiful tai lin angel x new eagle phal that is in bloom right now. I got it as a gift, purchased from a florist. Once I removed the bow and fancy decorations on top of the soil I noticed that some of the roots were completely dried out and shriveled, they looked like straw. I decided to lift it out of the pot to have a look and now I'm a bit in panic mode. There seem to be many dried out roots as well as some that look to be breaking apart. I removed some of the completely dead ones with a sharp and disinfected scissor but now I feel that it needs to be repotted. It came it a ceramic vase with no drainage and in it was a mix of earth, tightly packed moss and a few wood chunks. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what to plant it in and will this affect the few buds that haven't bloomed yet. Can my pretty little phal be saved? so much everyone I know this forum is going to be a life saver for this newbie!

[flhiker]

Hi and welcome to the OB and orchids. I would remove all the sphagnum moss and replace it with a bark mix. Cut all the dead and rotting rots. Many will tell you to wait until the blooms drop. but I don't seem to have a problem with repotting while in flower. I also would spray the roots and leaves with the original brown Listerine. Just encase there is some fungus or bugs.

---------- Post added at 05:45 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:40 PM ----------

I just noticed you have a regular pot. I would replace it with a orchid pot. they have slits or many holes to allow the water to drain.

[Blue.fusion]

Thank you for the tips! I removed the ones that were completely dried out and watered it a little. I'm going to pick up some bark mix as well as a planter that has the drainage holes. I had called the florist to ask them for care instructions and to ask what to do about some of the dead and mushy roots and he just simply told me no none are dead and to just water it weekly with 3 ice cubes and to put it in indirect sunlight that was it otherwise he said to just look up phal care, he wans't much help to say the least. I may not be an expert but this example of a root that i cut off look pretty dead to me!

[SJF]

I would recommend not listening to the ice cube advice. Orchids are tropical plants, not arctic ones, and they prefer room temperature water on their roots.

[flhiker]

the ice cube method works but it's much easier to water it regularly, with a catch tray. avoid having water sit in the crown of the leaves. You can get orchid fertilizer and use as directed or do a 25% solution and use it once a week. Indirect light is correct.

[NYCorchidman]

Roots are green, which means they are alive and moist.
Unless the potting mix is terribly wet, I would put the plant back in the container.
I have been given a purple phal in a white square decorative pot with no drainge hole. I was worried about the drainge but also worried about ruining flowers, so I watered very carefully. it lasted in its pot for nearly 6 months before I finally repotted it in a different pot with a hole at the bottom.

Now, if you find the potting mix "wet" then I would take some of it out and add some open mix if you have any. like small chunk of bark. or even moss, but pack in loosely to keep from staying wet too long. Keep as is but be careful with watering. water only a little bit like half cup or water or so, occasionally when the mix gets dry. like once every two weeks or so. then once the flowers are done, you can repot it.

Some people report that they have successfully transplanted phals in bloom, but I have not.
and it is very likely that flowers or unopened buds may abort when disturbed.
so I would be careful and just put the plant back in.

Listerine has alcohol in it. It may be used for polishing leaves, but you want to be careful with using it on the roots as alcohol is damaging to the roots.
If you suspect any rots ( I don't think I see any in your pictures, but if you find black and mushy areas on the roots, then it is rotted. cut those affected parts off), and dip the roots in hydrogen peroxide. It should kill off little things that might be present without harming the roots.

---------- Post added at 06:17 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:09 PM ----------

Usually, people at flower shop do not know how to care for orchids. They say whatever. lol
If everybody keeps their orchids alive forever, then flower business cannot maintain. hahaha

Ok, with jokes aside, you can never predict the outcome of repotting a phal in bloom.
I'm against potting from moist mix to something completely open and dry like bark mix. It is just too much of shock to adjust to.
I just want to be on the safe side.

[Blue.fusion]

Wow so much information to take in! So far what I've done is remove the dead roots, and removed some of the potting medium as it was packed so tightly in the middle of all the roots. I watered it a little and made sure there were no puddles of water just sitting in the pot. I figure the man at the florist didn't know what the heck he was talking about when he told me to just go look online for care instructions. For now I may just leave some of the original planting medium and perhaps add a little new one at a time, would that be a good idea? That way it won't be in shock and can slowly adjust. I think i put it through enough today with removing it from its pot and having those poor flowers waving around as i moved it.

On another note thank you so much everyone, you're all very helpful and knowledgeable and kind! I'm usually a lurker on forums so this is nice to have some interaction. Also has anyone ever heard of or seen this hybrid? I looked up Tai Lin Angel and New eagle individually as well as together and didn't find much and when I googled them together I found zero.

[NYCorchidman]

glad to help. You can find some good stuff on this website.

Yeah, I think leaving some of the mix while adding some new one is fine.
Since you watered it good today, you should be fine for a while. This kind of setup is for decoration, not ideal for the plant's health. but as long as you are careful with watering, the plant will be alive for a long time.

I see your phal here in NYC. very common, must be popular variety.
You can give any of these large phal hybrid a standard phal culture.

Bright but indirect light ( I grow my phals about 1 to 2 meters away from south facing windows with no curtains). They get some dircet light only filtered by window glass. I grow a few minis under LED light and right behind the window but shaded by taller plants.
They all grow and flower well.

Your plant is not growing at the moment and you can give it even less light. brighter light or too much warmth may shorten up the life span of the flowers.
Keep it bright and cool, that's the key to keeping the flowers in bloom maximum possible

[kevin1217]

I just checked RHS and it is now registered as Phal Tai Lin Red Angel.

[Dendy83]

After reading your post I was prepared for a very bad case of root rot, but yours looks pretty good! It's always good to clean up the dead ones but I didn't see too many black/mushy ones and even though he's in the wrong pot he looks pretty good. Here's what mine looked like after buying mine from a GROWER.
[IMG] IMG_8881 by Blehri, on Flickr[/IMG]

It's up to you on which advice to take (repot right away or leave it be until the blooms fall off), but either way use a bamboo skewer to stick in the media to see what the moisture level is like before watering. This way you won't be overwatering if you keep it in a moist media (like the soil it came in).