Phal. fuscata no roots & very dehydrated. Cut flower spike?

[LornaB]

Hello everyone,

This is a first time post for me so apologies if I get anything wrong! I'm quite new to the hobby. I've grown flower shop bought hybrid Phals, a Dendrobium and an Oncidium for about 5 years with no major trouble. But at the beginning of this year I found about the wonderful diversity of orchids you can grow indoors and my collection has exploded haha.

I've been really getting into Phalaenipsis species and a few weeks back I purchased a Phal. fuscata. The medium was a mix of grit and bark. The bark looked so degraded, it was black and the orchid was suffering from root rot. Apparently it was grown in very wet conditions so I'd hoped that transfering it into damp leca would suit it once I'd cleaned it up and removed all the dead roots. Sadly the few roots it had left died and it's looking very dehydrated now. All my other species Phals loved semihydro (once they adapted) and grew loads of roots but they were in better condition to start with.

I've read that I'm best trying to keep it in humid (but ventilated) conditions to encourage new root growth and keep it hydrated. I think I'll use some spare sphagnum moss I have and keep it in a cup to increase humidity. I've now cut away all the dead roots, sprayed the base with hydrogen peroxide 3% and dried it off.

However it does have a very healthy looking flower spike. Everyone always seems to say to never cut sequential blooming flower spikes. But I'm really worried that it might die if I don't. I'd love to know what you guys think. Would that be the best thing for me to do?

Thanks in advance!

Lorna B