I need help with my sick orchid

[genocyber]

Hi everyone, I am new to this forum and also very new with orchids. I have tried to grow orchids at home a couple of times, and I always ended up killing them. I am tired of that, and I want to learn more about how to take care of them and how to keep them healthy. That is why I as for your help guys, I have what I believe is a Moth Orchid, and yesterday I realized that it is sick, and I don’t know what it is. Attached are some pictures of the orchid, and you can see there is a soft mushy are in the base of the plant that seems to be extending. I really appreciate your help, and I hope you can give me so suggestions on how fix it.

Thanks,

Hector

[Im Just Saying]

It looks like your phalaenopsis has crown rot. You should pour hydrogen peroxide into the crown "Top" of your phal. This will often stop the rot from progressing any further, with that being said it is usually fatal to the plant. Crown rot in phals is often caused by water getting into the crown of the plant or between the leaves, if the water is left there and the temperature drops it leads to the development of this disease. I would let it dry out a bit as your medium looks wet, If that is sphag moss it should never be soaking wet as it will lead to root rot. You can wait this out and see what happens to your plant as I have heard of phals that have pulled through but in all honesty you should hope for the best and expect the worst. With that being said some of my fellow members may have some additional advice for you. If you haven't already I recommend reading The Phal abuse ends here it's a little long but there is some great advice on this type of orchid there.

[genocyber]

Thanks for the response, I will try it today and see what happens. I really hate killing them, but I see that I still have problems with the watering. I try to water my orchids every two to three weeks. Do you think I am using too much water??

Hector

[Im Just Saying]

Hector don't fret about killing them we've all killed our fair share in the learning process haha. In response to your question watering depends on what you have them potted in and what your environment is. I would have to say that for many mediums 2-3 weeks is not often enough. What is your phal growing in? Can you tell if the entire pot is filled with sphag or is it a bark-like mixture with sphag moss on top? Sphag and bark have different water retention levels and should be watered accordingly. With that being said it is much better to underwater than to over water in the case of phals. If you have a hard time gauging when to water I highly recommend the skewer method (you can use either wooden shush-kabob skewers or a pencil). You simply stick the skewer into the pot near the middle taking care to not puncture the roots, leave the skewer in for 10 minutes. When you pull the skewer out check to see how damp it is (I usually place it against the skin on the inside of my wrist). If it is damp you should wait a couple more days before watering, if it is cool or on the dry side its time to water.

[genocyber]

One more time thanks for you response. Let me tell you how I water my orchids and take care of them. I keep then close to a window facing east, the temperature in the house oscillates between 75 and 80 degrees. I water them by dipping the pot in water. I am very careful on not letting the water get to the leaves. I let them soak for like 3-5 minutes, then I pull them out and let them drain for a couple of minutes before I return them to their spot. The orchid is potted on what I believe is sphag moss only.

[Im Just Saying]

Your welcome, answering questions are what we're here for! Okay so sphag is one of those mediums that alot of people run from because it is tricky. I happen to love growing my phals in sphag because the air is a little dry in my house and the moss holds water like a sponge. With that being said I would not ever use the dunking method for watering sphag it creates a overly wet root zone which leads to cellular collapse which leads to root rot. Once that happens the roots can no long take in water which causes dehydration in the phal. When I repot a phal that I bring home from the store I always leave about 1/4" of space between the top of the moss and the lip of the pot. Generally speaking when watering you would only add enough water to "fill" that space. Now obviously the water is going to run through so some "guesstimating" is involved, I water from the top and try to water all around the plant to get an even distribution. Of course this causes the potential for getting water into the crown a little more easily so if that happens I blow into the crown to get out as much as I can and follow up with absorbing the rest with a tissue.

With all that being said judging from the roots seen in the photo above the medium and the roots going into the medium I would say that your root system may have already been compromised. If your phal has flowers you may want to enjoy them while they last. If it does not have any blooms you may want to go ahead and remove it from the pot and take a look at them. If the roots are brown/black in color and mushy or if they feel hollow and the velamin is brittle you should just trash the orchid and start anew. When you do purchase a new phal in the future I recommend repotting into fresh medium. There are a few out there that come pre-mixed however I prefer to make my own. I hope I explained that well enough and if you have questions don't hesitate to ask, I'll answer to the best of my abilities but I am still a novice compared to others on here.

[genocyber]

I want to give you an update on what I made with my orchid. Yesterday I decided to re-pot my orchid. I used a mix between tree bark and moss. I removed the damaged leave and with a clean knife, I removed the damaged tissue and used peroxide to stop the spreading. I also removed all the dead and damaged roots. Attached are some pictures of the orchid in the process and some pictures of the areas that I cut from the base.

[nenella]

Did you soak your medium first? Bark takes a good 24/48 hrs soaking; moss less time.
Your roots look very good you need to get the humidity of the medium right now that you have re potted to keep those roots growing...
Good luck!

[Im Just Saying]

Beautiful roots! Nenella is correct about pre-soaking the bark, is it a 50/50 mix or more of one medium than the other? If it is mostly bark and was not pre-soaked you can immerse the pot in water for 20 minutes when you water until the bark begins to retain more water. No matter what the medium you can still utilize the skewer method for knowing when to water. The phal looks to be in pretty good shape I'll keep my fingers crossed for a rapid recovery!

[genocyber]

Great news, thanks to both for the good news!! You can say is a 50/50 mix of bark and moss. I soaked the bark for about 2 hours with the moss. They were very wet by the time I use it. My only concern is that I can actually see some empty spots inside the pot. Will this cause a problem? or is ok?

Hector