Black mush in Phalaenopsis base?
 

Hello, all!

I'm new in this forum because I've been looking for some place to ask about something that keeps me quite worried. This is the second Phalaenopsis I've bought my mother for Mother's Day, as the first one I got her last year ended up dying (we were real beginners and didn't water it well). Now, for this one I did as much research as there was, we've been following tutorials on how to water it and what the best conditions for it to live are. I got this one from the shop because it looked healthy enough, with lots of flowers, big green leaves and healthy roots.

We've got it since May of this year, and a couple of weeks ago the flowers started dropping. All at once. I think, if there were around twenty flowers, they all fell off within four or five days. Every day we would find two or three sitting at the base of the plant, but we thought that maybe it was time for them to drop. The problem is this: since then, one of the big, green leaves from the base just fell off this morning. Researching about what may have caused it, I found that the ones from the base may die because they are the oldest ones, so I didn't think much about it either. But taking a closer look at it, I saw that a second leaf is also getting yellow from the base.

The base of the plant (the crown?) was slightly black from where the other leaf fell. I cut out part of it and found there was a sort of black mush under it, and I really don't know what it is or how I should approach it. I was really careful not to drop any water on the base of the leaves so as not to cause crown rot. I think I've only dropped some water on it once, but it was really little and I quickly used cotton and paper to remove it.

I'm attaching some pictures in case anyone knows what this might be. I live in Spain and it's been really hot lately, with temperatures reaching 30ºC even inside of the house.

This was how it looked like before (What was that small, mushroom shaped thing coming out of it? Any ideas?)
https://40.media.tumblr.com/ba75d9c5...jzg0o1_540.jpg

And this is how it looks now:

https://41.media.tumblr.com/648693b2...zg0o2_1280.jpg https://41.media.tumblr.com/3bbdb644...zg0o3_1280.jpg https://40.media.tumblr.com/3bf02242...zg0o4_1280.jpg

I was thinking about repotting it, too, should I do that?

Hi welcome i'm new to the board and orchids also but let me take a crack at this one please correct me if I'm incorrect. So the black spot looks like rot and can be caused by getting water between the leaves. If you look in the stickies of the beginner board you'll find a post called " called the phal abuse ends here" I think I read some stuff on crown rot there. As far as repotting I believe that is the first step to fixing many problems especially with new orchids. Hope this helps


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Welcome to OrchidBoard! Here is the phal link:

http://www.orchidboard.com/community...hal-abuse.html

From the looks of the pictures, your plant may not make it. What I would try is to take some rubbing alcohol on a paper towel and wipe that black area at the base of the plant. Really try to wipe off any moist black stuff. Then take cinnamon powder and put in that area. Try to get the powder in the entire bad area but keep it off the roots and good leaves. You can try to use a little water with the cinnamon to make a paste if it doesn't dry in there own it's own. Maybe that will stop the rot and dry the area out.

When you water phals it's best to just water the media. Keep the water away from the plant stem/crown or leaves.

I would advise not watering at all for a while. The plant has enough water stored in the leaves and roots, it can easily go two weeks, or longer, with no water. The drying out may allow the rot to stop progressing to other parts of the plant.

Keep a close watch on the leaf with the black spot. You can try very carefully cutting that leaf off with a razor blade or very sharp knife. Or you can just wait, the leaf may drop on its own.

I would not try to repot at this time. I don't think this problem is related to potting medium.

Good luck!

I agree with Orchid Whisperer, your plant does not need repotting or water. On your last picture, see the green roots? That means this plant is hydrated. You don't water again until those roots turn a silver/white color. After a phal is watered, it needs to dry out again.

The reason I fear your plant may not make it, is the rot looks like it goes far into the base of your plant.

Thanks for the replies! I will take a look at that thread, meanwhile I already put some cinnamon powder on the cut that I made. It has not been watered for a week, I will keep it that way to see if it stops spreading and will keep a close eye on it.

I was only thinking of repotting it to check if there are rotten roots, as there are a few ones that have been broken and/or squashed (as you can see in the pictures) and keep having that yellow/brownish colour that I don't like. Would it be wise to wait, then?

Your roots don't look too bad. I would wait on repotting. The base of your plant looks unstable. Let that heal up first. Then if it does, later you can repot.

That rot is in a bad spot, but you need to remove it asap or it will spread pretty fast and the plant will be a goner. You will need to get a sterile blade to cut away and scoop out all the rot. Know that you may lose a couple of leaves because of where the rot has settled, but it's important to get all of it out and keep it from spreading. After you perform your surgery, you should use alcohol or peroxide to clean the wound. Let that completely dry and then seal the wound with cinnamon. Cinnamon will dry out the wound and it also has disinfecting properties. As mentioned before, try not to get any of this stuff on the roots. After that, do not water the Phal for a while. Just let it heal.

Orchids are remarkably hardy if you care for them correctly. Afterwards, you only want to water the media and roots not the leaves or stem, and definitely no misting. Phals are very sensitive to water becoming trapped in places where it can promote this type of rot. Now you may be picturing plants in a conservatory or in nature being rained on and bearing droplets of recently fallen rain and the plants looking lovely as they bask in the sun. This is not reality in a home setting. In a home setting, you will need to provide artificial air circulation so unless you have fans devoted for this purpose or the orchid is grown near an open window with a constant breeze, no misting.

I second the waiting to repot advice. Why stress the plant any further and it's not completely outgrowing its pot just yet.

Good luck to you!

you could try spraying it with some system fungicide, that may slow it a bit.

I think that rot looks pretty far into the base of the plant, if you cut too much there might be nothing left.