White mould+yellow leaf after repotting

[Julia17]

Hey everyone, I'm new to this forum. Hoping to get some opinions about what's happening to my Phal and if it's salvageable.

Quick history: I've had it for almost a year, got it for Valentine's day last year (which is why I really want to save it!!). It was planted in sphagnum moss and it got a fungal infection a while ago so I treated it with fungicide and repotted it. It had a lot of rotting roots so it received a hefty trimming.

I repotted it in a mix that was pretty much all bark I think, has some tiny pebbles as well. It has been getting new leaves but it wasn't looking GREAT and it was always very very dry and had no stability whatsoever. Like the idiot that I am, I repotted it last week and added some sphagnum moss to retain a bit more moisture. I don't think it was sterile because literally within a week I noticed fungus growing. Now my biggest leaf has gone fully yellow and looks like it's going to drop.

It has barely any roots apart from the long aerial root you can see in the photos.

Today I used fungicide on it and left it in the sun for about 20 minutes. Is it possible to save this plant at all?? I don't want to lose any more leaves.

Thank you!

[Cym Ladye]

It is not unusual to lose a leaf after repotting a phal with a poor root system. It just means than the existing roots simply do not have the strength to support all the leaves. As new roots grow, a new leaf should emerge from the crown.

[MamaLiberty]

Looks healthy to me (for whatever that's worth ) Since the rest of it looks green and clean, you probably don't have anything to worry about.

I have a very old Phal that had dozens of roots outside the soil, in every imaginable condition, and was wondering what to do since it hadn't bloomed in two years. Suddenly, it fell over and I took it out of the bark/rocks it was in to find it had no decent roots at all! I cut it off just below the lowest healthy air roots, tucked it into new "soil" with larger bark chunks, and left it alone all last summer and fall. It now has a new leaf in the center, and has put out a good many fat, green new roots into the bark. Looking really good now. I didn't try to prop it upright (due to the way the air roots were growing), and since joining the forum here have learned I shouldn't, so it would seem I'll have this one back blooming by spring.

Good luck with yours, and try not to worry!!

[Julia17]

That makes sense, I guess I wasn't so much worried about losing a leaf, but about the presence of the white spots and mouldy-looking white stuff on the base of the plant. I've lost leaves before, but never like this- since posting yesterday, it went limp but not dry type of limp. It easily ripped off at the base today, it was full of water so not dry at all, which is what I'm used to when leaves die.

Trying not to worry, but it's hard! Do you think the white mould is anything to worry about? Thanks for the reply!

[Julia17]

MamaLiberty, I hope you're right and it's not deceivingly looking "healthy". I am definitely sick of this mould that seems to come back. I probably just need to be more patient and leave it alone for a while and hopefully it will recover like yours did. Thanks

[Nexogen]

The photo appears to be Erwinia
Orchid Diseases

[Ray]

I agree - and that means that unless you use a systemic bactericide, you have done little to prevent its continued infection. Erwinia is a particularly nasty infection, and is highly contagious, so keep that plant away from others.

I'll shift into commercial mode for a moment: a strawberry farmer had his crop get infected, and after treatment with the plant probiotic Inocucor Garden Solution, the infection went away, and he actually saw an increase in crop yield.


Ray Barkalow
firstrays.com

[MamaLiberty]

Originally Posted by Julia17

MamaLiberty, I hope you're right and it's not deceivingly looking "healthy". I am definitely sick of this mould that seems to come back. I probably just need to be more patient and leave it alone for a while and hopefully it will recover like yours did. Thanks

I didn't see any signs of mold or "white spots" in the picture. That doesn't mean there aren't any, of course. If there are, you obviously need to do something about them.

What I'm wondering is why you would have mold. I've just never had that problem in my orchids, and I didn't know much about their culture at all until recently. I pretty much treated them like all my other house plants.

Just maybe you are trying too hard to keep them moist. Too much humidity? I know that warm temps and high humidty is fungus heaven, and once you get molds established they are very hard to get rid of. They hide in every crack and cranny, and are carried around by hands, tools and air currents... So at the first sign of mold or mildew, it is vital to destroy the source and do an anti-fungal cleaning of every surface. Treating the other plants with fungicide is no doubt tricky, and mold can hide on their leaves and in their medium/pots/mounts easily. A big, big potential problem.

Don't have all the answers, unfortunately, but those might be some ideas to explore.

[Cym Ladye]

I did not see erwinia from your first photo but if there are the "wet" symptoms you now describe, I will agree with Ray on this.

[Julia17]

Thanks everyone for your replies. It could in fact have been Erwinia. Whatever it was, the white stuff kept spreading, I took it out of the pot again and soaked in hydrogen peroxide for 10 minutes. I feel like a really mean orchid murderer for messing with it so much.

This is what's left of it...I really hope that the remaining root is actually still connected to the plant. I'm going to go buy some root stimulator (hopefully I can find a root hormone, there aren't any specialised orchid stores here unfortunately).

Does anyone think it has a chance? The black stem is not very encouraging...I'll keep you all posted if it survives!