A tragic gift: sad phal

[Melody]

This phal was a gift from a very sweet relative. Unfortunately, it's a case of "it's the thought that counts."

The plant looks to be in bad shape. I'm thinking it's crown rot, but it would be nice to have conformation of this. And I have no idea what to do about it.
To make matters worse it's in sphag with no drainage wholes. I haven't dared to check the roots for fear of breaking off the top of the plant which you can see in the photo is laying on it's side barely holding on. I took a photo holding it upright so you could see the damage on the side. It feels quite mushy.

Help!

[BobInBonita]

You won't know for sure until you "unpack" it, but it looks serious. The good news is that it looks like it was overpacked with sphag for sale (you can see bark chunks near the crown in the lower photo). Once you get it out and pull the sphag away, you may find something salvageable. Either way, the sooner the better, because the longer you leave it like this the less hope there is.

I've had pretty good luck with salvage "gifts" if there is even one leaf left on a solid the crown. The fact that your crown is nearly rotten through is a bad sign.

I would:
Get it out of the pot to inspect & trim
If there's any solid crown, disinfect and set it aside to dry out - if nothing solid, say goodbye.
If there's any life left, new roots will start to sprout - replant then (don't waste the time and media now).

Sorry

[Junebug]

Also, the bloom spike should be removed to encourage growth. It needs to be cut short to about a 1" length.

I can see a few healthy looking roots and that one base leaf still looks good. You might discover that the potted roots aren't suffering much. Save as many viable roots as possible and take great care to preserve that last leaf. Avoid getting water on that leaf after repotting, because water on the leaves is what causes crown rot. In nature these type of plants grow sideways...a position which allows excess water to drain from the leaves instead of collecting in the central crown.

The roots should be just dry or nearly dry between waterings. Phals are prone to root rot from over watering.

Recovery from crown rot is possible but it's tedious and slow and other factors may interfere. Just do your best and practice patience. Root growth and/or new growth at the crown (basal keiki) will be positive signs that your plant is recovering.

Good Luck!

[Melody]

Problem solved. I found out where my relative got the plant from and the store gave me store credit. So now I just have to wait until they get some nice orchids in and run get one. yay!
And that way my relative doesn't have to feel bad about giving me a plant that has a good chance of dying.

[val_and_graham]

Hi Melody - did the store let you keep the ill plant? If they did, whilst you wait for the store to get a healthy stock, you could practice your "resuscitation" skills on the original one? you might end up with 2 beautiful orchids if they let you keep this one too!