I'm so bummed!

[AngelinaMaria]

I've had this one phal that I've been trying to nurse back to health for a LONG time, like over a year. I've had it suspended over water and covered with a plastic bag. It had like no roots and for the longest time it's last two leaves were holding on. They were limp but still green until recently. I noticed a little nub of a root starting and it grew to maybe a half inch and kinda stopped growing. The tip was still fresh but it hasn't really grown. So when that stopped growing one of the leafs started to shrivel more and turn yellow from the end up towards the crown then it finally fell off. Then the other leaf started to do the same thing. That's when tonight I looked and the new root was kinda dark, not green and not fresh and new looking any more. I looked closer and it seemed like it was loose (like from the plant, not broken just loose). I figured the only leaf left was going to be gone soon and I hadn't seen any other growth so I decided to just give up on it and toss it. Before I tossed it I wanted to see if where the leaf was attached if it was rotted at all. Doing that I split the leaf down the middle (I figured if I was tossing it I might as well dissect it, maybe learn something). Low and behold there was a new leaf starting way down in there!!!! I was so bummed cuz I just broke the only leaf off and the little root piece that had grown (I broke the root to see if it was alive...I was still bright green inside &#128542 . So there was still a piece of the leaf that had fallen off on its own on there and I peeled it away and there was a tiny new root nub! Ugh! I'm kicking myself for being impatient. It's been well over a year that I've been waiting for progress. I should have just left it alone. 😩 Is it bad that I seriously feel terrible now?? Now I realize it was probably using all its energy to make a new leaf and root and that's why the other leafs were shriveling. 😫


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[judith_arquette]

I feel your pain...live and learn ♡

[dbarron]

And remember that noid phals are cheap

[AngelinaMaria]

Thanks guys. 😊 This plant was a rescue from Walmart but it had such a unique flower, never seen one like it.


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[jcec1]

That's such a pity, it was a great looking bloom. I can understand why you wanted to save it.

[ula]

Sorry to hear that, sometimes a plant declines no matter what we try to do...on the other hand: welcome to the killer club .

[AngelinaMaria]

Haha the killer club. I'm sure my boyfriend will be happy to see it gone, he was sick of seeing it on the kitchen counter, lol. He says I have too many plants anyway.


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[lotis146]

Bummer. That is a really interesting looking flower, I feel your pain for losing it. Now you'll just have to put this experience away in the books and know that you've learned something about them from the culture end and 'anatomical' (if you will).

My first Zygolum had four little new growth nubs at its base but I didn't really know anything about them. The plant had been damaged in transit so when I saw that this little new growth was brown and dead looking at picked away at it only to discover as you did that actually it was still alive. It's like we have to speak to ourselves the way our parents would, "Don't you dare touch that. Leave it alone or you are not allowed mommy's plants anymore."

[Zabeta]

Sorry, AngelinaMaria! That really sucks. I had a similar "doh" moment when I decided I needed to check on the roots of a paphiopedilum, which was growing slowly, but otherwise doing fine (still growing, could see roots that weren't there before, etc.). I just had a strong impulse to "make sure it was okay." And I was excited to see a healthy root system that had really accommodated itself to the shape of the pot it had been in.

Of course, as I was repotting, I broke some of the roots off despite how careful I was being! I almost cried. They had really acclimated themselves to the exact conditions of the first pot, and I totally screwed it up when it didn't need to be repotted.

So, yeah. Ugh. It sucks. I guess this is what makes us better growers. :-) Restraint and patience are hard lessons.

[AngelinaMaria]

You'd guys are absolutely right, it was basically a learning experience to keep in the back of my head next time. It's funny, I never thought I'd be emotionally attached like this to plants. :-)


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