Phalaenopsis leaves liquefying?

[LostxinthexMusic]

Hi everyone. I'm new to the forum and to orchid keeping. My boyfriend got me a Phal from Walmart for Valentine's Day, and it bloomed well for about a month, and it looked like it was working on a new bud at the end of the stem, but then all the flowers died and fell off.

It had five leaves when I got it. One, in the middle, was somewhat wrinkled and appeared torn at the end, with a dry, brown edge. Two of the bottom-most leaves turned yellow and fell off, which I understand is normal. However, the last two started experiencing a weird problem.

The top leaf appeared to be wilting at the tip, but as time went on, it spread, and it looked like the structure on the inside of the leaf was breaking down. Eventually the whole leaf turned into this brownish, delicate, saggy bag of liquid. I pulled on it and it broke off the crown very cleanly. A few days later, the now-top leaf had a brownish spot that was doing the same thing. It stayed about a cm in diameter for about a week, and then that, too, started spreading. At this point, I had done a lot of searching to find out what was wrong, and assuming it was some sort of disease, I cut off the liquefied part of the leaf, and everything stopped.

Since then, the stem has shriveled down to the base, so I broke it off about 3 inches from the bottom (it wouldn't cut, it was too stiff).

My biggest concern is the liquefied leaves. When I first got it, as I was misinformed, I watered it with ice cubes for a few weeks. It went a week without watering in mid-March, as I was away, and it was after that that these problems started. Since then, I have been watering it with about 2 Tbsp. of water every 4 or 5 days.

It looks pretty sad right now, with 2 half-leaves and no stem. It's potted in a mostly bark medium, and the roots I can see seem all right. Can I save my poor orchid?

[wintergirl]

Welcome to Orchidboard! Here is a great link about taking care of phals:
The Phal abuse ends here.

[LostxinthexMusic]

I've already read through the first few pages of that thread. However, I was hoping to get some specific advice for my particular problem, without having to sift through dozens of pages about Phals in general.

---------- Post added at 03:30 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:59 PM ----------

After some even more thorough searching, it looks like my problem was Erwinia (also called soft rot or soft brown rot). Looks like I did the right thing in cutting off the rotten part of the second leaf. I will be repotting it later today in hopes of salvaging the poor thing. It will probably take a while, but I have high hopes.

[judith_arquette]

Good luck and welcome!

[harpspiel]

That does sound like bacterial rot. If it happens again you can cut off the affected area and dust the wound with cinnamon, which has natural antibacterial properties. 2 Tbsp. per watering doesn't sound like nearly enough - when you water any orchid you should completely soak it so that the white roots turn green and water runs out the bottom of the pot. This is called "flushing" and helps reduce salt and mineral buildup in the potting medium, as well as giving the orchid a nice long drink. Then do not water it again until the potting medium is approaching dryness - knowing how frequently to water is a bit of an art form and depends on humidity in your area, but once or twice a week is a good bet.

[LostxinthexMusic]

My area is rather humid. It takes a long time to dry out as is, but I'll try flushing it when I water it from now on.

[wintergirl]

If the phal is in a clear pot and you can see the roots inside the pot, water again when the roots are silver. If in doubt wait another day. Sometimes my phals don't get watered for 14 days. Depends on how fast they dry out. Water just the roots/base of the plant area. If water gets in the crown area, dry it out with a paper towel or something.