Crown rot sneaks up
 

My first orchid death, and it's not even my plant. It was my sister's Phal that she was leaving with me for an undetermined amount of time because she didn't have space in her dorm room.

I'm normally very careful to not let water get into the crown, but I guess sometimes a little drop can sneak into the base of a leaf, and then this happens

http://i.imgur.com/FbmFJTk.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/JhlnsnF.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/NRbueZZ.jpg

I hate to chuck anything that's still green, but... yeah, this one's obviously gone; it's just gonna get more moldy anyway.

The spike is still nice and green, though. So I've got it cut off and put in a vase of water in hopes of a keiki (more on this subject in another topic).

I'm certainly not getting my sister another one, not until she's able to actually keep plants at her place. If I get another one now, I'll just wind up attached to it.

Orchid suicide :-( it became distraught at your sister's abandonment. How COULD she? lol

This is pretty gruesome though. I am going to be extra careful with my watering now.:chicken

^^^the chicken is relevant.

Im sorry for your loss. Ive lost a few to crownrot.

:( That sucks!

Probably wasn't really water getting stuck in the crown.

It was root rot first, then it became crown rot.

If you look at the roots, the roots doesn't even look alive.

Ah. I've read that root rot can progress into the rest of the plant, but I don't think I've never actually seen reports of that happening. I guess people usually catch it before it does.

People don't always post photos of dead or dying plants. It doesn't look cool.

The OB is probably one of few forums in the internet where you can find lots and lots of pictures of diseased plants.

Photos of diseased plants makes for easier and faster diagnoses than just a typed out description.

If you dig hard enough, you'll find the progression of the disease you're looking for.

This problem usually begins with either over watering, the potting media retaining too much water over a long period of time, or if the pot was too big for the plant.

Occasionally, yeah, water does get trapped in the crown, but most of the times, this not the beginning of the problem.

Another thing most people starting with Phals absolutely do not realize is that not all Phals grow upright. There are a good number of them that lean over to the side naturally.

So if yours leans to the side, leave it alone. That's how it wants to orient itself, let it be. There are natural advantages to this, and one of them is allowing water to not get trapped in the crown.

If you're unfamiliar with basic Phalaenopsis biology, I would suggest looking through the sticky, "The Phal abuse ends here."

A lot of the common problems with Phals can be addressed by understanding some basic Phalaenopsis biology.

Hi!

Sad, I feel yr pain, but people who do not care feel nothing...including joy.

When I went to my first Orchid Show---ALL of those are VERY dangerous for addicts, I mean, the vendors area--- a guy at the AOS table, a took a fancy to me not for the right reasons, and told me I would not qualify as a grower until, down the road, I had killed 100 orchids.

Not a good pick up line at all.;)

But, perhaps, this event is not your fault; it's possible the pathology had commenced but was not visible when you got the plant. I also believe I see mealy bugs.

Do I?

No, I'm pretty sure that's mold. I actually had the plant for about two months, and it's seemed fine for most of that time.

I've had Phals for almost 10 months now, and I've found that it tends to work for me to pot them in bark (or mostly bark with maybe a little sphagnum) and water them when the insides of the pots look dry. But even though I do have a system that's worked for that long, I still kind of feel like a beginner because I don't have a lot of experience with the problems that people have.

Thanks for that clarification re mold not mealies, I was not sure.

Growing orchids is an infinite, heady, dynamic journey and learning curve....but, think, therein we find some of the excitement!

And to me, not only was there nothing wrong with yr putting up those images, being relegated to putting up depictions of conventional health and beauty, is, for me, a dangerous, truncating patination, and the opposite of keepin it Real. REAL....rocks.