2 Phalenopsis with root rot :(

[sev]

Last year I killed my favorite Orchid, that Orchid brought my wife and I lots of luck and I over watered it and killed it I was pretty sad.

Since then I vowed to learn and never kill another Orchid again. I got better pots, I got the proper orchid food, I water less often and check the moisture before I water...


Except I did something stupid, I started using a spray bottle to spray the potting medium in my clay orchid pots. I thought by using a spray bottle, I can evenly distribute and control moisture better...

I tried my best to make sure no over spray got on the orchid itself, but 2 of my 6 orchid started dropping leaves and looking sickly..

Lo and behold, its crown rot... I guess tiny droplets of water from the spray bottle have been accumulating on the older, more wilted leaves on the bottom.

One of my Orchids had healthy roots but the area between the roots and the leaves was completely rotten and basically fell apart. I am left with very tiny Orchid, all its viable roots are gone.

The good news is that it has been growing tiny little new roots, I cut off all the dead and rotting stuff and I'm trying to see if it will grow.

My question is what should I do? I had read for Orchids in these types of situations, where the roots are tiny, they should be placed directly in shallow water? Is that true?

Or should I replant in potting medium and hope for the best?








HELP!!!!

[bil]

Potting medium? Is that bark or a soil like mix?

Really, misting leaves won't harm a plant unless it is so cold that the core is damaged and starting to break down. Mine are washed every time they are watered, and I deliberately fill the crown just to prove a point.

I personally would bin it, because it will take a long time to save it and get it to flower again. If I wanted to save it, I would pot it in bark chunks with a twist of sphagnum round the base to hold a bt of moisture. Don't fill the whole pot with moss. I would water it with a spray a couple of times a day, but all over so the water runs down the leaves in the hope that they absorb some. I'd fertilis every wash down, but at a VERY low level. I use a gram in 5 litres.
Hope that helps.

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