1 month and Leaves and flowers fallen off. It is possible to save?

[Chelb]

Hi All,

I am very new to this so hope someone can help.
My hubby bought me my first orchid. It did not come with a tag to identify it, so not sure what exactly it is.

I bought the liquid plant food, that I diluted in water and watered it once with this. I also watered it twice a week by letting water run through and then letting it drain.

The leaves started getting mushy from the inside out, and slowly fell off, one after the other. Last leave fell of yesterday.
The flowers also slowly fell off and no flowers are left either.
The roots are still green when I water them.

What did I do wrong, and can I save my orchid? Only had it for about 1 month.

[Draft]

Without seeing it, it's hard to tell. Although from the description it sounds like you had a plant with crown rot. Which happens when water gets down in there and didn't evaporate out or when the media stays too moist around the base of the plant. You may have been over watering.

If that is the case, chances for survival are not completely gone, but you'll have to baby it for awhile. You'll want to keep the base dry (you can try cinnamon or Tumeric as an antibacterial, or 3% hydrogen peroxide) and the roots from rotting by keeping them damp but not wet all the time, keep it someplace warm where it can catch some sun. And in time it may throw out a keiki (a baby clone) but it'll be years until it blooms again.

Phalaenopsis doesn't need as much water as people think they do. It's best to let them dry out between waterings.

I've had two that I've picked up that already had crown rot and no leaves, one came back with a keiki, the other has just kind of sat there looking sorry for itself. It's rewarding, but can be difficult.

[camille1585]

Do you know what type of orchid it is? (Phalaenopsis, Dendrobium or Oncidium type; which are the most common ones).

I agree that it sounds like crown rot. Since the plant has completely died, it sounds like the rot got in pretty deep and there's a fair chance there is no healthy tissue left for it to regrow from. Honestly, unless you really are determined to try and save it, I'd just toss the plant and get a new one, and we'll help you out with how to grow it so you can try to keep that one healthy.

And welcome to orchidboard by the way!

[disalover]

Welcome fellow south African. Sorry about jour orchid it does sound like rot, it could have happens due to water getting in the crown to close to night.