Mold on mini Phal

[Skycat]

The same mini Phal I've been talking about, that's dehydrated due to being almost rootless and has been pushing out new growth.



That fuzzy gray bit there, between those two new roots.

I've had a tricky time with this one because it doesn't seem like it's getting enough moisture to rehydrate the leaves, but the plant is still alive, at least as far as I can tell. I guess I've overdone it a bit on the moisture?

I rinsed it off and now there's a tiny white patch where the mold was.

The bottom part has been black like that since I got the plant, but I was afraid to do anything to it because it still had some roots on it at the time. Should I cut it now?

[Bill U.]

I would agree that this seems to have been a little over-wet. Something I would do right now is pour some hydrogen peroxide (regular 3% kind that should be available at just about any drugstore). The peroxide should help take care of the mold leftovers. I don't think that you really need to cut it, but I would keep it in a media that will periodically dry out, since you do have new roots growing. I would just make sure to monitor it very closely so that it doesn't stay too wet for too long.

Let us know if you have more questions

[RosieC]

I've had this problem with strugling ones. I think Bill gives good advise.

As for the base, I wouldn't cut it off. I tried that once with one and it did more harm than good. However I would see if it breaks off easily. I tend now to break of old dead parts like that, if it won't break easily I leave it, if it easily snaps off then the plant is obviously done with it. Often ones that haven't snapped one time I've tried, have done on a later try 6 or 12 months later.

[lotis146]

I've been having trouble with mold on several of my Phals, a couple struggling others not. In my case I think maybe my humidity in the house is too high...? I'm not entirely sure to be honest but it literally happens within 24 hours of watering and occurs on my coconut coir & sphagnum moss. If you're game for more frequent watering you may be better off repotting in bark. However I tried pouring hydrogen peroxide on mine (well, honestly, then I also rain water through them 20-30 seconds or so after peroxide) and that helped but didn't solve my problem. This mold got pretty crazy and caused further rot in the mini of mine suffering the most. So I went ahead the other day and sprayed them outside with Natria, a Bayer product that is a chemical but is sort of half way between natural and chemical, if that makes sense. After spraying the medium down good I left them to dry outside until after night fall. This was a couple of days ago. It has helped them but there appears to be some remnant mold on the two that had it pretty bad.

Still a work in progress over here, but that's my experience with this fun mold thing. Best of luck to you and yours!!

[Skycat]

I've given it hydrogen peroxide, as well as taken it out of the water tray I had it in for humidity (the plant of course being in a cache pot so it wasn't sitting directly in the water). But now I've noticed something else.

The oldest leaf had started yellowing around that time, which I didn't think much of because I know that's normal. But then today I'm seeing the next leaf up starting to follow. This is quite an alarming rate of leaf-yellowing.

[james mickelso]

Phals store their energy, in the form of starches and sugars, in their leaves and roots. There are no pseudobulbs in which to store it's reserves. The new, young, immature roots have not yet opened up the new velamen with which to absorb the water and food you are trying to give it. But the existing leaves have a mechanism by which the plant can take in a limited amount of water. Spritz the undersides of the leaves with distilled water a couple times a day. These leaves are too large for the plant to nurture so they will eventually turn yellow and fall off. The reason the leaves are turning yellow is that the plant is drawing down it's reserves of water/nutrients which, as said, are stored in them. But....if you can keep the plant hydrated until the new roots can start to absorb some water, this plant will eventually grow new leaves and more roots. But remember that orchids are S...L...O...W. You must be persistent. Don't give up. This phal has a very good chance of recovering.

[Skycat]

Ah, so the roots aren't even functional yet? I just figured they'd have a harder time taking up enough water due to being so short. Although I guess the fact that they've never changed color is kind of a tip-off.

[james mickelso]

They are shiny and white with a reddish/rootbeer colored tip which is the growing end. In terrestrial plants this tip is what gathers moisture and to some extent, food. In a terrestrial plant there are many, many small rootlets that do this. In an orchid there are fewer roots and the plant grows more slowly. As the root elongates the velamen becomes softer, more open, and spongier. It will turn greenish when filled with water. And it won't be so shiny white. These roots will get about 3 inches long when this happens. Until this velamen becomes mature, it won't take up enough water to keep this plant hydrated. By spritzing the undersides of the leaves, the stoma located there will take in a limited amount of water.

[Skycat]

Wow, I'm already noticing improvement in the leaf after squirting the underside! I wish I'd started doing this before losing the only other fully-grown leaf.