i must save this phalaenopsis

[aliceinwl]

I water mine like normal: soaking or lettting the water run through. I monitor them much more closely though. As soon as the bark starts looking dry, I water. With those I have in small pots like yours, this can be 2 or 3 times a week.

[fishmom]

I think it looks fine. Hopefully, you will see a new leaf start within a few months. I would water more often than once a week, rather just when the medium starts to dry out. If you can see any of the roots through the plastic pot, when they turn from green to silvery it is time to water again. Spraying won't do much, as most of the roots are now covered by medium. I would just water thoroughly, giving plenty of time for the healthy roots to absorb water. The tent won't hurt, but I would skip the water tray unless you can provide a fan for air circulation.

[estación seca]

When the leaves become severely wrinkled, they do not always return to their normal state. But the new leaves should be just fine.

[inbetween]

Well, right when I thought I could get into some regular routine with this orchid.... Now I see through the plastic that the old roots already have white fuzz on them. Now what? I have Captan fungicide at home.

[estación seca]

White fuzz means mold growing on dead roots. That kind of fungus won't attack live tissue. I would ignore it. Using pesticides or fungicides as preventives only induces resistance in other organisms.

[aliceinwl]

I agree, there’s usually some attrition from unhealthy roots so they will decay. Just be careful that you don’t overwater and the situation should resolve itself.

[inbetween]

Another forum topic post also said that the white mold can go away on its own (I was reading posts like a fiend before I heard from estación seca and aliceinwl). It may have been one of you guys who said that!

This plant is going to teach me patience like nothing has

I will post updates, even if things go well I am hoping this becomes one of the trails seeing all the way to a good ending.

[aliceinwl]

I’d love to see updates! I imagine that there are multiple kinds of fuzzy white fungi. The ones I’ve encountered seem to go away on their own if the substrate is allowed to almost dry between watering.

I have a Phal in a somewhat similar state to yours and it also has a musty odor when I watered it due to the dead roots. This lasted for several months (presumably until the old roots rotted away), but during this period I was able to see good growth from new air roots which gradually made their way into the substrate so I knew things were on the right track. Watching the grass grow has nothing on orchids 😉

[dbarron]

I'm not trying to be nasty, but wow, that's impressive to reduce an orchid to that state in a month or so. I'm very curious to how you managed so quickly? They're tough, they can normally put up with abuse for longer than that (lol).
You must have really really tried hard to overwater it, or kept it sitting in water?
I hope that you have learned there is no recipe for success (on following anything to the letter), you have (imo) develop empathy for the plant and listen to what it's telling you (ie, I'm thirty, or I'm not yet thirsty, or I crave nutrients, etc) by watching closely for state changes. While not the most efficient, it's darn fool proof once you learn that methodology.

[aliceinwl]

I disagree. A lot of the Phals I’ve acquired have come with horrible to really bad root health. These plants are not very tolerant of any further goofs and unless you have the experience and knowledge going in, it’s really easy to find oneself in this situation.

I think inbetween has done the best they could by recognizing the problem, asking for advice, and acting on the suggestions.