Mini phalaenopsis, not the best roots... semi-hydro?

[fishmom]

Once the leaves get severely dehydrated, they don't plump up all the way again, at least in my experience. The thing to watch is the new leaf forming now, which should be firm and smooth if it is getting enough water.

Regarding water in the leaves, that is no problem if you water in the morning and if your house temperatures are enough to dry the leaves out before it cools off for the night. The problem is wet + cold, which promotes rot. As long as they get adequate air and warmth they should be fine. I mist my aerial roots to the point of hanging droplets when I water, and they have no problem.

[estación seca]

I see a new bright green root nub forming. Your plant is on its way to health.

You can put the plant to soak again as soon as the roots are dry. Dry roots are white or silver. Wet roots are green. If your room is warm it is fine to let them soak for 12 hours at a time.

You can dunk the entire plant, not just the roots. Phals open their pores and breathe primarily at night, so don't keep the leaves under water all night long. And if your nights are cool, don't soak them at night. Be sure the crown is dry before any cool times of day.

[lilin42]

Thank you guys again for the reassurance!

The nights do get a little cool, this time of year. But the new leaf does look ok (it's still very small, but it seems plumper than the other leaves), and it does definitely have some live roots with green ends.

I think I will start soaking it from the roots down while I'm at work (about 7 hours) and letting it dry at night every day. When it gets good and warm in the next month or two maybe I will dunk the plant, but for now I'll try being cautious since it did recently have some bad roots, and there's still a couple others I'm not sure are going to make it, but I've left them on for now.

[lilin42]

Hey guys! I'm soaking every day now for about 7 hours, then letting it dry. The new leaf is looking good, but the old ones are yellowing and falling off one by one, starting from the bottom. It's lost 3 now, and there's another couple on the way out.

Is this sort of mass shed of leaves normal after dehydration/repotting/root loss stress?

[estación seca]

It is possible the plant got so dehydrated it decided to drop most of the leaves. I would continue as you are. The only additional thing you could do would be to put it into an enclosure so the humidity is as high as possible. This would minimize further evaporative loss through the leaves.

[lilin42]

Originally Posted by estación seca

It is possible the plant got so dehydrated it decided to drop most of the leaves. I would continue as you are. The only additional thing you could do would be to put it into an enclosure so the humidity is as high as possible. This would minimize further evaporative loss through the leaves.

Thank you! I'm also wondering if I should snip the flower spikes? None of the remaining buds have bloomed since I bought it (which honestly I didn't expect them to), but perhaps the energy it's spending just keeping the things alive is a bit of a drain right now?

[estación seca]

I didn't recall it still had buds. Yes, I would snip the spikes just below any remaining buds. Some would cut off the spikes at the base, but I leave anything with photosynthetic tissue that can help the plant along.

[lilin42]

Hey guys! I took my orchid out of the container to rinse it all out today, and I spotted this white stuff on the most recent dying leaf...

Is this something to be concerned about? It looks like some sort of webbing or mold?

[estación seca]

The photo is too blurry to tell. White fuzzy stuff may be mealy bug or scale. Use the search function above to look up photos of each here. If you have one of these insect pests, it could prevent your orchid from growing at all, could kill it and could spread to other plants.

[lilin42]

Originally Posted by estación seca

The photo is too blurry to tell. White fuzzy stuff may be mealy bug or scale. Use the search function above to look up photos of each here. If you have one of these insect pests, it could prevent your orchid from growing at all, could kill it and could spread to other plants.

Ok, thank you. Should I try to treat just in case? I don't see any bugs, but I'm not sure if that's enough.