Crown Rot help
 

I am new to Orchids and want to see how to save this one.
I think it is crow rot even though I dont water from the top, mist is lightly daily ( gonna stop that) and all the leaves but this one have fallen off. I added cinnamon to it and have dosed it with peroxide. any other suggestions?

I water it weekly with 3 ice cubes .... It just flowered 2 weeks ago for the second time but the stem got broken off when my bird flew into the plant so I cut the stem back today with hopes of putting all the energy back into the base of the plant.

It might have poor roots but did not know if I should work on both ends at the same time

thanks

It wasn't your fault; you followed bad instructions, and there was no way for you to know that.

Phalaenopsis are warm-growing orchids that do best if their roots become almost completely dry between waterings. The ice cube thing is unfortunately a marketing gimmick that leads to the death of almost every plant so treated. Phals in moss dry out slowly, and watering weekly keeps them far too wet. Their roots, adapted to grow on tree trunks, and not in a sphagnum bog, rot, and the plant dies.

With a great amount of trouble on your part, there is an outside chance (maybe 10%?) your plant could survive and bloom in 3-4 years. I would throw it out, read about Phals, and buy another one. You will almost certainly need to repot anything you buy right away.

Or, get a different kind of orchid. Oncidium hybrids do a little better than Phals with overwatering.

There is a thread in the Beginner's forum called The Phal Abuse Ends Here. You will know what to do next time if you read that.

Good luck! You can grow orchids, and we look forward to photos of your future flowers.

If you are going to throw your plant out.

It could be a great time to experiment and try some raw, small sprinkle, of salt on the fungus and see what happens. Especially on crown rot.

It must be said that salt build up in the root system from in particular fertilizers is really bad news for orchids.

But in saying that I do believe that salt on fungus is just not used at all.

To get a human safe fungicide fits into the very hard basket as there are not many options that I know of.

Unless it is a very, very special orchid, bin it.

Next time remember the advice above. Phals have to have a very open substrate around their roots, - I use 2" bark chunks and nothing else.

I really don't think that wetting the crown matters, what is more important is that the water should be at the same temp as the orchid, and water in the mornings only.

You can try to save it if you want as it can be very rewarding, however go get a good new healthy one while you wait to see if this one will make it. Then you can look at some pretty flowers till this one does something.

Always take advice that involves buying more orchids.

I agree with everyone else. It looks pretty grim for your phal from the pictures. I would never use ice to water any plant, let alone orchids.

If you do end up tossing the orchid, don't feel too bad. Take what you've learned with this orchid and apply it to your future plants, and this will have amounted to a valuable learning experience. All of us have killed orchids, it's part of how you learn to care for them properly. That's why you don't start your collection with anything rare or expensive. ;)

thanks for the advise, I have killed several which is why I am here. I am determined to keep one alive. I attached 2 photos of another one which looks better and I repotted it a few months back.......got it out of all that moss....it to has a new spike with future blossoms but I hate to see same thing happen to it....

I keep reading what everyone posts so hopefully I will get it right. Are the phals harder to grow? or keep alive I should say?

again thanks

Persistence is an important virtue for the orchid grower, so I admire your wanting to get it right.

The pictures you added of the other phal show that it is in better shape, but it looks dehydrated to me. Are you watering that one with ice cubes as well? One of the problems with the ice cube method, aside from the fact that you're watering a tropical plant with ice, is that an ice cube does not have much water in it, so it is likely not penetrating deeply enough into the medium to actually supply the roots with sufficient water.

I would advise the following:

Repot with a bark medium, avoid moss until you have a better handle on watering. Dallas is a hot, humid climate. Even inside the home you're going to have a higher relative humidity. As such, you don't need to worry so much about having moss in your phals.

Once repotted, give it a good thorough watering with room temperature water until the water flows freely from the bottom of the pot, then leave it alone. Get some cheap bamboo skewers, and use them to determine when your plant has gone fully dry, and water accordingly. Err on the side of under watering until you get a good handle on it. You should see your phal starting to bounce back after a couple of weeks (the leaves will plump back up a bit, but they may never look the same as they once did). From there, watering will become more intuitive, and you will find yourself gaining more confidence as you go along.

Definitely continue reading these forums for some excellent advice. I am a novice myself, and I would have killed my entire collection by now if I didn't have these great folks to help guide the way. :blushing:

Edit: I should also add, that what counts as "easy" or "hard" to care for in the orchid world depends a great deal on your local climate and your gardening practices. Dendrobiums and Cattleyas are the easiest orchids for me to raise, but they might not be the easiest for other growers. You'll find your own preferences as you go along, and some types of orchid will click with you more than others.

they both got 3 cubes, but before that, I would totally drench it in the sink with luke warm water and let it completely drain before I put it back in the pot. this was before I realized all the moss was holding in the water.......so this one is in medium bark with some moss, will repot it with just medium bark.....I was worried about doing it with the new spike but getting it healthy is more important than the spike..... new spikes will come again........thanks so much