Phal - last two leaves dying?
 

Hi folks,
This is one of my noid phal rescues, it's been doing really well and blooming for about 4 months. A couple of days ago the last bloom dropped so I trimmed the stem back to just above the top node. The plant has two leaves, one is about 6 inches long and the other is 10 inches long. I then noticed that the shorter leaf was going red/yellow at the crown. From the pics I've taken today you can clearly see that the leaf is dying. What I'm wondering is:

• Should I cut the dying leaf off?
• The larger leaf is quite red at the crown, is it likely to die too?
• Should I cut the spike off completely?
• If the larger leaf does die, is the plant likely to throw a basal keiki?

I took the plant out of it's pot and there were a couple of rotted roots which I snipped off but on the whole the roots were really good.

http://www.orchidboard.com/community...mbs/Phal16.JPG

http://www.orchidboard.com/community...mbs/Phal52.JPG

http://www.orchidboard.com/community...mbs/Phal43.JPG

http://www.orchidboard.com/community...mbs/Phal27.JPG

http://www.orchidboard.com/community...mbs/Phal_3.JPG

Normal leaf death that I am familiar with for a phal will yellow from the outside-->in.
Your leaf is yellowing from the crown out making me think you may have erwinia :(
I would treat with some Physan 20 but hopefully some people better at rescuing phals will chime in.
I can usually tell what it is pretty accurately...but as I learned in med school, just because you can identify a disease doesn't mean you can cure it.

Hi, I don't think Physan is available in Australia, does anyone know of a product similar that is sold in Australia?

Marion

I operated on the phal
 

I decided to remove the dying leaf and the rest of the flower spike. I got a new sterile scalpel blade and cut away the spike. I pared away the dying leaf cleanly and as I picked the plant up the big leaf just snapped off! :_(

I had a look at the base of the big leaf and there was definite signs of rot there too. So I decided to take the plant (now leafless!) out of the pot and check the roots again. I went through each one and they are all firm. I then decided to pare away the crown until there was no sign of rot. That done I sprinkled the whole thing with cinnamon and repotted in a freshly sterilized pot with fresh bark mix.

Here below you'll see what I ended up with.

http://www.orchidboard.com/community...thumbs/P12.JPG
Sorry this is out of focus but you can see the rot quite clearly at the base of the big leaf.

http://www.orchidboard.com/community...thumbs/P41.JPG

http://www.orchidboard.com/community...thumbs/P31.JPG

http://www.orchidboard.com/community...thumbs/P21.JPG

http://www.orchidboard.com/community...thumbs/P51.JPG

Marion

Hi Marion,

Your plant's healthy root system and single leaf reminds me so much of one of my phal survival stories.

A few years ago my noid phal had lost all of it's leaves with the exception of one big healthy one. It still had a great root system and I assumed the damage was due to moisture in the crown, although I always took great care when watering.

To discourage more rot and trauma, I left the plant in it's original container, but tilted it so that any residual moisture could drain. A basal keiki began growing a few months later. After it developed a few leaves I resumed the upright position of the pot it was growing in. What I didn't realize at the time was that our afternoon thunderstorms were pushing rain through the screen just a short distance away from where the plant was growing. To make a long story short, the basal keiki got wet and rapidly rotted. Oh, but there was still hope. That one remaining leaf from the original plant was still there and so were the heathy roots, so once again I tilted the pot and said a little prayer. Before long another keiki popped out. The photo below shows how the plant looks today. It still has heathy roots and the original leaf. Swelling near the base of the keiki indicates new root production. I've decided to keep this plant growing in the tilted position. When it pushes out more roots I plan to switch it to a mount. My mounted phals have never developed crown rot.

Good luck with your baby.;)

Woops! Looks like you were performing surgery while I was posting. I wish you the best of luck. :)

Yes, I was hoping to save that one big leaf but it's probably a good thing that it snapped off or I wouldn't have known that the rot was there. Now it's in the lap of the Gods, I hope it will throw out a keiki. I'll come back with pics if it does.

Marion

Sometimes that's all we can do. Stay positive. You just never know with orchids. They can make amazing comebacks.

Marion - I had a phal completely rot earlier this year, but had nice roots still, so I continued to care for it and it now has a nice basal keiki ...

Well I think with enough care, you could get something out of it... hopefully. But since you have no physan, put ground cinnamon on the cuts.

Good luck!!!!