Need help with noid phals! Root rot and leaf discoloration

[Lingshen]

So this past weekend I decided to take another stab at growing some orchids. I received a noid phal from my mother a couple of years back, but had no idea what to do once the flowers died and I eventually killed it

Fast forward, I've moved into a studio apartment and I really wanted some plants as the only one I took with me from my previous place was my aloe plant. I purchased two good sized plants from home depot, and 2 mini ones from ikea.

I started reading more about orchid care AFTER I bought them, whoops. I read through about half of the phal abuse thread before I decided to un-pot mine and check out the roots. Oh dear, I really should have looked at the roots before buying, but the pots they were in made it next to impossible.

Right now I have all my plants on my South windowsill. I only have the choice between a south windowsill and a north windowsill directly over a radiator (probably not a good idea?). I live in Chicago so right now its getting pretty cold out, but the sun is lower in the sky and less intense than in summer. Is leaving them on the south windowsill okay? Too bright? The windowsill is currently about 70 degrees. I do have some fluorescent grow lights that I could put the plants under, but I think with the flower spike they might be too tall to fit. How close can they be to grow lights? I have 4 T8's I believe.

Lets start with the little guys. They were both together in a 2" pot and after taking them out of their densely packed sphagnum media, I found nearly all the roots were rotted. I washed off the roots and snipped them with some sterile kitchen scissors. As I don't have any other new media to put them in, I placed them separately in some clear tupperware with a little bit of the old spag in hopes that letting them air out a bit might help until I can get some proper media and pots. I don't plan on watering them, but giving them a light misting when the spag dries out. The leaves are about the only thing that seem to be doing okay. I'm even considering cutting the flower spike so they can grow some roots. Suggestions? Pot size? Media Type? Rooting hormone? Mounting? I'm so lost.

Mini 1



Mini 2



This next one is a bigger noid phal from home depot. I took it out of its 6" pot this morning and that was quite the struggle. I just have no idea how they can pack so much moss into this pot. It looks like it was originally in a 4" pot because the roots were only in the very center and the moss around the outside was soooooo dense. When I finally got all the moss out, it looked like enough to fill two or three pots. I rinsed off the roots and trimmed the hollow/rotted looking ones and put it back in the pot, this time with much less spag. I don't intend for this to be a permanent solution, but I had to do something. Poor thing! I cut a lot of the roots off, but the ones that remain seem to be doing okay. I even noticed some white tips on some of the roots. That's a good thing, right? The leaves look... okay, but s little wrinkly and light colored in the center. Also, nearly all of them are split at the tips, is this a big deal?

I was thinking of getting a 4-5" pot and some new media, but i can't decide if I should get mostly moss with some bark, lava rock, or mostly bark, with some moss and lava rock. I saw that many people like the slotted pots from repotme. Is there a media that goes better with these pots? What would you suggest for a beginner and for these plants that likely spent their entire lives in dense spag?





The last plant I haven't taken out of the pot yet, but I think I'm going to have to in the next day or two. Here are its leaves...



This one does seem to have better roots, from what I can tell. It has some good looking aerial roots... and some not so good ones. I assume it is suffocating in moss at the moment.

All of my orchids have flower spikes, can I expect to be able to enjoy the flowers for a while? I am hoping they don't all drop off right away, although it wouldn't be a big deal if it meant the plant would be healthier in the long run. Looking forward to enjoying these plants for a long time, so I want them to be well taken care of! Any suggestions on pots, pot sizes, potting media, fertilizer, and where to buy these things would be greatly appreciated! I've been lurking the forum for quite a few days trying to absorb as much info as I can, but sometimes you just need to ask the questions straight up.

Thanks in advance! Apologies for massive wall of text/photos.

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[RandomGemini]

Cut the spike on Mini #1. Put it in a glass of water with a little bit of sprite. This should allow you to enjoy the flowers. This plant needs to put energy into root growth in order to survive.

Same goes for Mini #2. These plants are both in bad shape and will take a year or more to recover from this kind of damage.

#3 looks pretty good. I think you did the right things for it. Splits in the ends of the leaves are no big deal, they happen, as long as they aren't infected, they should be fine.

#4 I am suspicious of. I would treat that one with some insecticide and fungicide and isolate it from the rest of the plants in another room, as a precaution. Maybe someone with more experience with orchid pests and diseases will chime in to help you with this one, but if it were me, I'd treat first and ask questions later. Bring on the physan 20 and bayer rose and flower!

[Lingshen]

Originally Posted by RandomGemini

Cut the spike on Mini #1. Put it in a glass of water with a little bit of sprite. This should allow you to enjoy the flowers. This plant needs to put energy into root growth in order to survive.

Same goes for Mini #2. These plants are both in bad shape and will take a year or more to recover from this kind of damage.

#3 looks pretty good. I think you did the right things for it. Splits in the ends of the leaves are no big deal, they happen, as long as they aren't infected, they should be fine.

#4 I am suspicious of. I would treat that one with some insecticide and fungicide and isolate it from the rest of the plants in another room, as a precaution. Maybe someone with more experience with orchid pests and diseases will chime in to help you with this one, but if it were me, I'd treat first and ask questions later. Bring on the physan 20 and bayer rose and flower!

Thanks for your reply! I'll cut the mini's when I get home tonight.

What exactly do I do with the physan 20 and bayer rose and flower? I'm a total newb when it comes to treating plants with insecticides and fungicides. There... aren't really any doors in my house, the only place I could put it is in my bedroom, but that room has extremely unsteady temperatures because of my radiator. I could put it on the other side of the room in the kitchen, would that be enough isolation? or not really make a difference..

[RandomGemini]

If plant #4 has an insect problem, it could infect your other plants. How extremely unsteady are we talking?

The sprays, I you do once a week for six weeks. Spray it outdoors, and let the plants dry. I am honestly not sure how one gets away with this during the winter months. I still consider myself a newbie. So I hope someone with experience using These chemicals in cold temps can help!

[Lingshen]

Like, it will go from 65-70 degrees up to 85-90 every time the radiator turns on. I have zero control other than opening a window, which just means I get an arctic breeze in my 'sauna'. Also, that room gets basically no sunlight. The north light it does get is very weak.

I'll look in to the sprays.

Do you think its worth it to get a rooting hormone for the 2 minis?

[RandomGemini]

Maybe, I have never used it. You have some root growth though, so they should recover, it will just take time.

Yeah, you're right about the bedroom. That a pretty dramatic temp swing. Try keeping it on the other side of the kitchen for now.

[derv88]

Cripes. Most of my plants look like that, I was just going to say they don't look that bad.

[RandomGemini]

Actually, on looking closer at the full sized photos Mini 1, I am seeing some black in the crown. I *think* it may be crown rot. Crown rot is usually the end of a phal. Looks like this plant was probably abused before you got it. Hardware stores tend to seriously overwater their orchids. If it dies, it will NOT be your fault.

On looking again at Phal 4, I would also unpot it and repot it, as you have done with the others. If you find a lot of rotted roots, then it might explain the yellow splotches on the leaves.

derv, a bunch of mine looked like that when I first got into collecting orchids too. No worries. I rescued a bunch of hardware store phals and lost several of them, but I have a couple that are going to live and maybe, someday, they will bloom again for me. We'll see. I think that rescuing plants in bad shape is a good way to learn how to take care of sick plants, and with this hobby, it seems like you have to kill a few before you figure out how to grow orchids and which orchids you can grow in the conditions you can provide.

[Lingshen]

Thanks for the feedback. I can take a few more pictures of mini 1 tomorrow, although I think you might be right. Poor thing! Hopefully #2 will still survive.

I plan to unpot #4 either tonight or tomorrow morning to see whats up. I just didn't have time this morning to take care of both.

As far as new potting media goes, should I just buy some pre-mixed? or would it be better to make my own? I can't decide lol. Ideally I'd like to get them out of the moss as soon as possible. Ordering some nice mix online might delay this. Alternatively, I can pick of some pre-mixed stuff from home depot/lowes...just not sure if I trust it. Then there is mixing my own which is a little intimidating.

[RandomGemini]

I just get the premixed stuff from Lowe's. Better-gro Phalaenopsis mix is what I use. I do grow miniatures in New Zealand sphagnum moss, so I buy that from other sources, but for bark, just go to Lowe's.