Myriad of problems for a 2 year old Phalaenopsis.. Any suggestions?

[silken]

I agree with most of the other comments. The roommates should go, the plant should stay. Of all the nerve to throw some-one else's possession out!!!

There are enough healthy roots for the plant to survive. Pot it in some bark and possibly a bit of sphagnum moss. I would also mist the plant until the leaves recover making sure not to leave water in the crown. It was likely the lack of watering and bad treatment rather than temps that did the most damage to the plant. Do you have a window in your bedroom or somewhere where the roommates have no access to it? That's where I would put it.

Sometimes I just want a plant to recover out of principal, rather than what it cost me and this seems to be one of those times when a point needs to be proven Good luck!

[Girls4President]

Thanks for the advice everyone! Ironically enough, the Home Depot 12 blocks away just started carrying Better Gro products this week so, I'm heading that way today.

Originally Posted by RJSquirrel

how much time do you have to put into a 15 dollar plant to make you feel like you got your money out of it? toss that thing back in the trash and go buy another one

Generally I would agree, however it was a gift from friend when I moved from Ohio to Chicago.. and I sat with the stupid plant on my lap in a packed car the entire 8 hr. drive so the flowers wouldn't get knocked off..so it's going to stay..

My roommates aren't nearly as bad as the sound, I promise..their actually both good friends of mine.. who have learned their lesson. With that being said, this thread is getting printed and taped to the fridge, pronto.

[johnblagg]

Good for you I have often carried plants on 600 mile journeys the same way and LOL it does not matter if they throwaways from a store or whatever I like it ....I insist they live lol and dont give up untill they are crispy and brown.

[jenmonkey]

ROFL! That's great. Tell them they're on notice from the entire community at OB!

As for the temperature thing, I think the bigger issue is that the temperature is kept that low via air conditioner, which sucks all the humidity out of the air. Humid ambient temps of 70 should be fine, but I've found that the phal's all get finicky in an air conditioned environment. But that's just my experience, and you might still have a good success rate.

Also, +1 on the Hydroton. If you're really interested in making the plant happy, look into semi-hydroponics. Every single on of my phal's absolutely loves it. If you're just caring for one plant, it's really not a daunting task to switch over. The only thing is, you have to water frequently (every day or every other day.)

Good luck!

[Masdyman]

I am in the camp of trash it and treat yourself to another ,i wouldn't waste my time on it .But we are all different and have different expectations so if you want to try and revive it then give it ago ,how ever don't waste your life on it !

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

My opinion on this is that this particular plant should not be overly difficult to salvage.

When I said it was salvageable, I should've mentioned that it is easily salvageable.

People here have brought worse looking plants back to health.

[Tindomul]

I always try to keep a plant alive too till after they are brown and crispy, you know when you touch them and they turn into dust, that's when. After all the alternative to a living plant is no plant (as you discovered before finding your plant in the garbage).
I would say that the low temps did not harm your Phal, but more likely low humidity or lack of watering. Also, just to make sure I would check for mites on the leaf, just to double check. I have learned they show up even when you think its another problem. They like to take advantage of Phals like this. Plus low humidity helps them survive. Also I recently got a bag of miracle grow orchid mix. Well I have to agree, horrible stuff. That IS NOT FIT FOR ANY EPIPHYTE, not even the ones with terrestrial tendencies. It might be good for aquatics though, hmmm, but I digress.
I would follow the advice given, plus keep in mind that when Phals are transferred from sphag to bark, they are prone to suffer dessication especially if they are not growing new roots at the time of re-potting. So wishing you the best of luck.

P.S. you can do it, I did it, multiple times, from the same phal Eventually I just put it in a fish bowl with a few inches of water and its finally looking good.

[RosieC]

Welcome to Orchid Board.

I agree that is completely salvagable and should not be difficult. We've seen much worse here. I'm one of those people who will do all I can to keep a plant alive and it has to be really dead before it goes in the trash... yours is nowhere near that.

Make sure and use the smallest pot you can fit the roots into. If you can't find a small enough pot then old food containers with holes punched in them can work well instead. I find they recover best when in a tiny pot that dries fast. You then have to water more often but they seem to like that and it boosts their recovery.

The other really important thing is to get a really good quality medium. I don't buy medium from local stores as the stuff I got is the reason 3 phals lost most of their roots for me. I only buy medium from orchid specialists now and have had far better success as a result. Miracle grow is not a good one, I think Better grow has been mentioned as being OK but I'm not sure, I've never tried it. www.repotme.com is also meant to be good for medium. I've only not tried it because I'm in the UK and there are more convinient ones.

[Tindomul]

Originally Posted by Tindomul

miracle grow orchid mix. Well I have to agree, horrible stuff. That IS NOT FIT FOR ANY EPIPHYTE, not even the ones with terrestrial tendencies.

I have to quote myself as I just went to check on my bag of miracle grow orchid mix thinking maybe I had exaggerated before. No I did not.