Help Save my Phalaenopsis - Crown Rot?

[estación seca]

Now I see the dry area Dollythehun mentioned. I agree it's nothing to worry about. I've seen that on lots of Phals. It too could have been caused by underwatering.

[SouthPark]

Originally Posted by JJC18

After repotting my 4 year old+ phalaenopsis and cutting off rotting roots, I noticed a couple leaves turning yellow.

JJC - was it a standard repot?

Or was it some kind of emergency repot? Just asking because you mentioned 'cutting off rotting roots'.

As you had been growing the orchid for 4 years, then we can assume that the orchid was growing satisfactorily.

Totally agree that media and roots being too wet can lead to oxygen issues for the roots (and causing issues with water intake for the plant) --- and being too dry will impede water intake for the plant too.

If the roots were rotting as you mentioned, then it is possible that the orchid was taking a downward turn in health - so leaves starting to become yellow could be related to that.

Aside from watering considerations ----- there are other things to look into maybe. If you use fertiliser and/or mag-cal ........ then look into possibilities of salts having accumulated in the media to some level that can impact the roots negatively.

Also - disinfectants applied to roots - especially in high enough concentrations can set back the roots ...... or even maybe kill roots. You probably didn't apply disinfectant to roots ----- so just mentioning it only, just in case.

You definitely have experience with the growing of your phal, as it is 4 years old! In case it can help, I can just paste some links that could be helpful anytime, and a bit of a read.

Click Here and Click Here and Click Here and Click Here and Click Here

[JJC18]

Thanks all for the replies.

I saw some lighter colored papery roots at the bottom when I decided to repot. Some of the roots looked a bit brown. Another issue with repotting was that the roots were extremely crammed into the original pot and I wanted to go up in size.

My main worry now is the multiple yellowing leaves. I will try to water a bit more and see if that helps. I had mostly left it alone with mostly once a week watering but this is the first time I am noticing multiple yellowing leaves like this so it had me more concerned.

I had another Phal having crown rot and figured I would try to repot both at once.

The other one seems mostly gone but am trying to see if anything is still alive in the core. So far I see one small shoot coming out so not sure how that will turn out.

[JJC18]

Here is a photo of increases yellowing throughout the plant.

This has not occurred before when I had watered about once a week. Although when I did reply, I had issues trying to fit all the roots below the bark for the fear of snapping them.

[estación seca]

You're still keeping it too dry. It's dropping older leaves to divert the water to the new leaves. Those yellow leaves are going to dry up, but the plant is still alive.

The other one may have died from underwatering, not crown rot. Crown rot is usually caused by suffocating roots combined with somewhat low temperatures.

Phals want constant warmth, constantly moist roots and constant air at the roots. In large bark, which you are using, there are large air spaces around the roots. Keep the roots always moist if there is plenty of air. You could water daily.

What are your ambient temperatures? We should have asked about this earlier.

[JJC18]

When at home, the AC is keeping the room generally in the 70s but not too sure when I am out. It has been in the upper 80s and lower 90s over the last week.

[estación seca]

90s F is fine for Phals, but they need plenty of water.

[SouthPark]

Originally Posted by JJC18

My main worry now is the multiple yellowing leaves. I will try to water a bit more and see if that helps. I had mostly left it alone with mostly once a week watering but this is the first time I am noticing multiple yellowing leaves like this so it had me more concerned.

If any of the roots are still alive, then watering a bit more will definitely help.

It definitely looks like the roots have just dried up. I think that if you use wetted bark (eg. soaked in water for long enough before potting) ...... then water can get into the bark. Otherwise, dry bark doesn't allow much or any water to get into it.

And once the bark is 'primed' with water in it, an orchid potted into it should do ok ---- but just got to make sure the bark is still airy enough - big enough pieces - to avoid creating very wet root-drowning conditions down in the unseen depths of the pot.

Gentle air movement in the growing area ----- having some gentle air flow is beneficial.

[JJC18]

Some bad news...

I took out the plant from the pot and it looks like many of the roots died out since my last repot.

Looks like I damaged them when I was trying to get it out of the last pot. The roots were so compacted that I had to cut the old pot to extract the roots.

I sanitized my scissors with hydrogen peroxide and did a wipe with an alcohol prep pad and trimmed out the rest of the dying roots.

Not too much is left but I’m hoping my phal can take it. I repotted it so most of the roots are covered by media now instead of half floating outside.

Hopefully this can keep it hydrated in between watering sessions.

Let me know what else I can do.

The damage is in the photos below.

[Roberta]

New roots will grow, encouraged by a much friendlier medium (the ones that were growing outside the pot were seeing air, since there wasn't much in the pot) Don't worry about that lower leaf.. it'll drop in the course of time. The crown (which is where the growth happens) looks fine.