Should I cut this leaf off?

[AnitaPita]

Hi! One leaf on my plant had a black spot when I received it as a gift. The spot was black and dry, with some yellow around it. Now the blooms have fallen off, a new leaf is sprouting at the bottom but the black and yellow is spreading just on this one leaf. Should I cut it off? The person who gave it to me said the girl at the floral shop told her it could be cut off. I have attached a pic...sorry for the bad lighting.

Also, I've seen some say to cut the shoot off below the last node and some say don't. If it's going to bloom again on that same shoot, how long will it take? If I cut it off, do I need to put something on the area where I cut it?

Thanks so much...

[Rosiefuture]

I think if the plant is generally healthy and the area is spreading on the leaf I would cut it off. Make sure you use a sterilised blade. You say your phal is growing a leaf from the bottom of the plant? Phals grow new leaves from the crown at the top of the plant. If you have one growing from the bottom it's a basal keiki.

If you want the plant to grow and get stronger you can take the old spike off about an inch from the bottom. If you want to wait and see if the spike will bloom again you can cut it back to just above node below the lowest bloom scar.

It's not certain that the old spike will rebloom but you can treat the nodes with a growth hormone like Keiki-Pro. You do this by gently removing the covering from the node with a sharp blade and tweezers. You then put one drop of the hormone onto each of the nodes you are treating.

If you remove the leaf and the spike you can treat the wounds with powdered cinnamon.

Hope this helps.

Marion

[Rosiefuture]

Oh I just noticed that was your first post Anita. Welcome to the Orchid Board! You will find a lot of really nice folks on here who are only too anxious to help with any problems or share in the excitement of a new bloom!



Marion

[johnblagg]

welcome to Ob ...

you can cut it off but you do not have to cut the entire leaf off.You can just cut it a inch or two past the bad spot.And then dust the cut surface with cinnamon.

[CTB]

Welcome to the Orchid Board, you are well on our way with your first post. Just cut off the bad part of the leaf in the shape and same angle as the leaf. Just keep watch.

[Eyebabe]

I agree with all the comments...esp the leaf.
Yellowing prior to spread implies a pseudomonas infection. When temperatures are around 80 degrees, this bacteria can ruin your plant in about 3 days. Since most homes are not overly warm (80 F), the spread is not as quick and can generally by managed by removing the leaf.
Make sure you use a sterile razor blade and leave a border of at least an inch into the good tissue from the diseased area before you cut. Looking at the leaf, you will have a good bit of it left which is fine.
When Phal leaves die, they generally "yellow" from the outside tip going in. Any yellowing in the middle of the leaf +/- associated with a brown spot is bad news. Luckily, you have caught it in time
One final note, when the leaf is just turning yellow without any associated brown spot, this is much more ominous and implies the infection is systemic.

[RosieC]

Welcome to Orchid Board

I agree, I would remove that leaf with a sterile blade.

[AnitaPita]

Thanks for all your quick replies. Wow now I noticed there are bugs in the moss!! They look like some sort of gnat! Some of the moss appears soggy/bad...I'm thinking I should repot it in that bark stuff? I have another orchid doing great and it has chips of wood instead of moss. I tried to pull it out of the pot to look at the roots....but I couldn't get it out and I was scared to pull any harder....

[RosieC]

If the moss seems soggy/bad and especially if there is any smell, then I would say get it repotted as soon as possible.

The fact that it is also so tightly packed that you can't pull it out indicates that it is too tightly packed.

To get it out try pulling out some of the moss from the top, pull out the moss without the plant, until you can slide the roots out. You can also try squeezing the pot to lossen and release it.

[AnitaPita]

Well I performed my first repotting of an orchid! I used a bark mix made for orchids. When I pulled all the moss out and exposed the roots, there were not as many as I expected. some of them were black or brown and just fell off. I cut off the bad leaf and cut the spike and put cinnamon on them. Hopefully these gnats will stay away (I sterilized the blade/pot). Thanks everyone!