Phal potting/crown rot question?
 

:waving :hello

I have phal that didn't flower for year and a half or more. It had a crown rot. So 3 weeks ago I puled the crown leaves out (they were all black and dried). Treated the crown with cinnamon. I didn't really expect this plant to survive.
Suddenly the new plant start to emerge from the side of the old one (is this keiki).
Well, the new growth stop growing. So this morning on my regular watering cycle, I puled the plant out of the pot and I found tons of dead roots ( mushy, hollow, no blackened roots). I cut all the bad ones and left it with 3-4 healthy ones. Treated all the cuts with cinnamon. I used my regular potting mix (bark, charcoal, perlite) soaked for a few hours. After repotting (into the smaller pot 3") I watered the plant with my standard mix, fert 125ppmN + seaweed. I didn't add K-L-N concentrate as I thought it would be the best to do that at next watering cycle. I left the plant in a shaded area and I'm planing not to do anything with it for a period of 2 weeks.

Is this how should I treat this issue? Do you find any mistake in this procedure? Please let me know.

Thanks,

Slobo

Short of tossing it out and buying a new one, I think you have done all you can do for the sad little thing. We all learn on orphans like this and some day it will come in handy when you have a valuable plant you want to save..... :twocents:

Cym Ladye

Thanks Cym Ladye,

Do you think that not applying K-L-N is a mistake?

Slobo

It sounds to me like you did everything perfectly. I like you choice of mix and pot size. Don't use seaweed and KLN at the same time. They're both used for the same purpose, to encourage root formation. Good luck.

By the way, this picture is of three keikies that grew from a mother plant that died. The old stem from the mother plant is still in there. The keikies are about 3 years old.

http://www.orchidboard.com/community...white-phal.jpg

Thanks so much tucker,

That's what I thought about K-L-N. Your plant looks really great. I hope my phal will survive this ordeal.

Slobo

I'm sorry, I don't have anything to contribute, I'm here to learn. I'm interested in your cinnamon treatment on the rot. How does that work?

I currently have a rescue phal with green roots, but the tips are black, and they are black around the bulb. Would your cinnamon treatment help?

Hi Phal Gal,

Any cut on the roots or on the leaves I treat with cinnamon. The technique I use is a very simple one. I deep my finger in the rubbing alcohol, air dry it and sprinkle some cinnamon on it. Than I would rub the cut with the cinnamon.
For the crown rot, after I take damaged leaves off , since the space is very tight, I sprinkle some cinnamon in the crown and just blow some air on it to make sure the cinnamon sticks to the wound.

So far this technique worked for me. I treated two plants with crown rot and the both developed new growth.

The reason I got the crown rot was due to my poor watering technique and misting leaves. Now I only mist the areal roots and top of the potting medium. If the water gets to the crown or where the leaves meet the body of the plant, I use tissue paper to dry the area completely.

Just make sure that you don't sprinkle entire root system with cinnamon. I read somewhere that cinnamon prevents water intake.
As far as blackened tips on the roots, I woulds cut those off and apply cinnamon on the cuts. Now I would be very careful about tips of the roots. Some roots have a brownish tips which is OK, so make sure that you don't cut those off. I'm sure some more experienced people on the board will chime in and help you more with this.

Slobo

I just wanted to contribute to Slobo's comment about root tip color. If the flowers on your rescue phal are in the red/purple family of colors often you will see roots that are green with dark purple tips as well as purple tinting along the edges of the undersides of the leaves. If in doubt, take a pic of the roots and post here the phal abuse ends here or in the begginers section. I highly recommend reading through that thread as there is great information in there. If you still have questions there are lots of people here who can give you great advice and information.

Im Just Saying thanks for your input.

I certainly agree with you. Good suggestion.

Slobo

Ah. Very interesting.

The plant didn't come with flowers :( Just a dead spike and three wrinkly leaves. I'm very happy to report that some of the mushy roots have firmed up, and I can't find the scar that was there yesterday. (YAY!!)

It came with a paper spike that said the flowers were yellow/purple, so I'll keep an eye on it, and if the black spreads I'll start cutting.

I read the phal abuse thread...I'll revisit it again incase anything has been added.

I plan to trim roots today, and I will post pictures of what remains.

Does cinnamon act as an "anti-biotic?"

I don't believe in cutting roots, other than those that are truly dead - ie very soft, greyish white and super pliable/droopy. I say this because I have seen the gnarliest and driest of roots sprout new growth, if care is ideal. Also I am now a firm believer of clear plastic pots with slits and "peanuts" as a bottom layer to protect against the plant standing in water. I think light entering the pot helps stimulate root growth.

I think it does and also cures and prevents fungus from spreading.

Slobo

Orchidsarefun...I'm glad I came here before I started snipping. That makes perfect sense. I also love your fine print.

Slobo...Thank you for the cinnamon "recipe." I can't wait to try it!