Mould is killing my orchid

[bluerain]

Hi

I think I've accidentally killed one of my Phalaenopsis orchids and I'm desperately trying to salvage it.

I was pruning the stem last week when I noticed that the base at the leaves had mold and had actually started rotting by the looks of it (I'm guessing I got some water in by the base of the leaves without noticing).

The plant currently has 1 healthy leaf (full grown) and 1 new leaf that had started to grown but is now dying at it's base.

It looks like the whole base is almost rotted, although the big leaf still looks healthy.

I'm not sure if there's anything I can do to salvage the situation? I'm worried that if I touch anything the leaves are going to break off from the roots. I don't think there's any chance of the plant regrowing then?

Does anyone have any ideas?

Thanks
Greg

ps - I'm a newbie at this!

[Izzie]

People are probably going to ask for you to post pictures when asking about peculiar problems, just as a warning.

Welcome to the board!
Gently tug on the leaves that are left. If they come away, it's likely that the crown has rotted past saving.

If not, pour some hydrogen peroxide in the crown, let it sit for a few minutes, and then pour/blow it out. That's a great remedy for the early stages of crown rot.

For mold in the rest of the medium- do stores in South Africa carry brown Listerine? It's the go-to remedy for mold in the media around here. You just pour it through, and then flush with water after 10-15 min.
Ray Barkalow's free info site is another go-to place for info on this board. Here's his page about Home Remedies, that should be a great reference for you: First Rays' Home Remedies

Browse the rest of his site here, First Rays' Free Info
And you'll get some great, easy to understand info to help you grow your orchids.

[Izzie]

I already know that member Philip is going to say this, so I'm going to beat him to it.


A great way to understand how to grow any orchids is to research how it grows in the wild.

Phalaenopsis naturally avoid crown rot by growing sideways, or even upside down, so that water does not sit in their crowns.
If you repot this orchid, you can try positioning it so that it's on it's side.
If you think you can water without getting any in the crown, pot however you want.

Lesson learned! Don't give up, now you know to only ever water the MEDIUM, never the leaves from the top.

Letting water sit in crowns and on leaves is asking for bacteria and fungal infections to grow.

[Izzie]

One last convoluted reply.


If it's done flowering, now would be a great time to repot your plant. Phals like to be repotted about every one to two years.
You can check on the roots, and really get rid of any residual infection.

Search "repotting phalaenopsis" on here and on google and you'll find countless threads about what kind of media to use and how to repot. The media you choose will depend on your growing conditions. Ask a couple questions on here if you're unsure.

[johnblagg]

Originally Posted by Izzie

One last convoluted reply.


If it's done flowering, now would be a great time to repot your plant. Phals like to be repotted about every one to two years.
You can check on the roots, and really get rid of any residual infection.

Search "repotting phalaenopsis" on here and on google and you'll find countless threads about what kind of media to use and how to repot. The media you choose will depend on your growing conditions. Ask a couple questions on here if you're unsure.

One to two years ...wow am I ocd for me with phals its every spring and then again in fall....but I use rice hulls and its incredible easy with them....and they grow incredibly fast and bloom very well ...

But anyways sorry for the hijack ....

[WhiteRabbit]

How are the roots? Last winter I crown rotted a phal, but still had a pot full of healthy roots, so despite that I had NO plant growth left on mine, I continued to care for it, and a few months later got a basal keiki.