phalaneopsis leaves rotting at the stem

[KimNish]

Hello! I'm new to the group and am having a problem with my phalaneopsis. It seems like the leaves are rotting at the stem. It has lost almost all of it's blooms. The grower that I bought it from is not at all helpful. The roots look great, nice and green... What can I do? Hoping you can help me...

Thank you!
Kim

[Ranchnanny]

Hi Kim, Welcome to the OB... Looking at your pics it appears that your Phal. is potted in moss is that correct?

Moss holds on to water and it compacts. Roots need lots of air to grow. If it is in moss hold back on the water a bit.

Sheridan

[RosieC]

It looks like it's in very compact moss which is not good. The wet moss can cause rot of both the roots and of the stem base like you are seeing.

I would get it out the moss and re-pot in airy bark. It's likely to still loose the blooms, but saving the plant so it can rebloom again in the future is the key here.

I've never done it myself but people use Hydrogen-peroxide to remove rot and stop it spreading.

Check the roots, even if they look green at the edge there may be problems in the middle of the moss. If any are soft/mushy they need removing.

Personally if you can't get the bark imediately, I would take it out the pot and remove the moss and keep it bare root for a while. It would probably need watering every day if you do that but leaving it in compact/soggy moss is not good.

[RosieC]

After I posted above I found that one of mine had something similar on the stem (and was in moss).

A few minutes later the leaves fell off and I found it had crown rot which seemed to have worked it's way in from the side.

I've never left them in moss before and I really wish I had repotted in bark straight away. I've pulled the other two that I got at the same time out thier moss and will be leaving them bare root until my bark is soaked.

If your moss is wet and does not dry in about a week then I really would advise getting it out of there. Moss is great in drier climates and I don't know what yours is like, but for me it's certainly a problem.

See the pic of what is left of my orchid on this thread.

http://www.orchidboard.com/community...tml#post277871

[Lagoon]

Kim, you're sphagnum moss is finished, its holding on to more moisture then you're phal needs. The media has probably gone very acid too. Time to move into fresh new media.
After that I would choose to use some sulpher powder or some physan 20.

I would just like to say, that there is nothing wrong with using moss. I've seen many many orchids rot just aswell in bark and other media choices.
For me, moss works well coupled with bark and/or perlite.
I always combind moss with something else to keep it more opened. Sphagnum moss alone does not work well for so many folks.

Welcome aboard kim - its nice to have you here

[RosieC]

I would add, that I agree with Gloria. Moss is fine in the right conditions and if it is right for you and your watering habits.

I've just found the hard way that it is not at all right for me and/or my conditions (we had 91% humidity outside today although my house is generally more like 60%).

I heavily favour bark or Coconut hust chips (or a mixture) so my posts may be biased that way, especially after the loss of an orchid but that doesn't mean it's best for everyone and sorry if I came accross that way.

[KimNish]

Thanks so much for all your replies. I did send a post earlier but I'm not quite sure where it went When I'm not in such a rush to save my beloved orchid...I'll go thru your beginner posts

I'm soaking bark and shultz orchid mix and am currently in the tedious process of removing all the moss. Should I repot back in the plastic pot or an orchid clay pot? Also, do you think I should cut back the spikes in order to give more life to the base?? I think it'll need all the help it can get

Thanking you in advance!!!
Kim

[RosieC]

My preference is clear plastic pots because then you can see what is going on with the roots and judge watering from their colour. Some people do like clay pots though, so it is up to you.

On mine that are having problems I've just cut the spikes and put them in a vase of water as the blooms may last that way if they are still OK. It depends how bad the plant actually is as to whether that's necessary which is difficult to tell. Do the leaves feel floppy?

[KimNish]

Hi Rosie! Thanks for your reply. I really need to read up on posting...'cause I just spent half an hour replying to your post and it went off to never never land...
I've cleaned up my orchid but unfortunately, I'm not left with much. All moss and dead roots are removed and I'll repot in plastic tomorrow. I could not believe how much the moss retains moisture! I watered this orchid 10 days ago and it was still wet! I had no idea! I have three other orchids in moss and I'll be repotting them this week.
Thanks again!
Kim

[RosieC]

The length of time that moss holds water is good in dry enviroments, but bad in more humid ones. I generally work on the principle that whatever you use should dry in arround 7 days or less.

On the issue of your posting problems... the forum times out after arround 10 min if you don't click a link. This means if you take more than 10 minutes to write it will time out before you click post and then won't post because you are not logged in. I get arround that by clicking on the 'go advanced' button if the post seems to be taking a long time to write. Once you have done that you can click on the 'preview post' button every few minutes to stop it timing out.