i must save this phalaenopsis

[estación seca]

White fuzz means mold growing on dead roots. That kind of fungus won't attack live tissue. I would ignore it. Using pesticides or fungicides as preventives only induces resistance in other organisms.

[aliceinwl]

I agree, there’s usually some attrition from unhealthy roots so they will decay. Just be careful that you don’t overwater and the situation should resolve itself.

[inbetween]

Another forum topic post also said that the white mold can go away on its own (I was reading posts like a fiend before I heard from estación seca and aliceinwl). It may have been one of you guys who said that!

This plant is going to teach me patience like nothing has

I will post updates, even if things go well I am hoping this becomes one of the trails seeing all the way to a good ending.

[aliceinwl]

I’d love to see updates! I imagine that there are multiple kinds of fuzzy white fungi. The ones I’ve encountered seem to go away on their own if the substrate is allowed to almost dry between watering.

I have a Phal in a somewhat similar state to yours and it also has a musty odor when I watered it due to the dead roots. This lasted for several months (presumably until the old roots rotted away), but during this period I was able to see good growth from new air roots which gradually made their way into the substrate so I knew things were on the right track. Watching the grass grow has nothing on orchids 😉

[dbarron]

I'm not trying to be nasty, but wow, that's impressive to reduce an orchid to that state in a month or so. I'm very curious to how you managed so quickly? They're tough, they can normally put up with abuse for longer than that (lol).
You must have really really tried hard to overwater it, or kept it sitting in water?
I hope that you have learned there is no recipe for success (on following anything to the letter), you have (imo) develop empathy for the plant and listen to what it's telling you (ie, I'm thirty, or I'm not yet thirsty, or I crave nutrients, etc) by watching closely for state changes. While not the most efficient, it's darn fool proof once you learn that methodology.

[aliceinwl]

I disagree. A lot of the Phals I’ve acquired have come with horrible to really bad root health. These plants are not very tolerant of any further goofs and unless you have the experience and knowledge going in, it’s really easy to find oneself in this situation.

I think inbetween has done the best they could by recognizing the problem, asking for advice, and acting on the suggestions.

[dbarron]

Ah, I see, (and I was wondering that), you're thinking the abuse began long before it got into the current owner's hands. That makes a lot more sense...I couldn't see how that could happen in a month. I gave the upstream the benefit of the doubt :0
Yes, I'm glad they asked for help before it was too late.

[inbetween]

Actually, this plant was in my office and I asked a colleague to water it when I went on an almost 3 week trip, a little over 2 weeks after this came to me as a present. We had instructions from the place the orchid came from, which sounded like very little water, and not so frequently. I do not know how much he followed the instructions but I didn’t want to give him a hard time or start my thread with “someone ruined my plant”... maybe the office being kind of on the cool side, especially at nights and over weekends had something to do it.

---------- Post added at 09:48 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:36 PM ----------

And I should add: the plant was potted in a plastic container w holes at the bottom, and in a solid, heavy outside pot with no holes. Before I left, I put some large pebbles at the bottom so the pot wouldn’t be sitting totally in water if there was water at the bottom, and the amount of water to give was about a third or fourth of those plastic small office water cups, once a week, or something like that... if the instructions were to take it completely out of that outside container, and to water it, hold the plant under running water once a week and let it drain, I bet things would have been better. Right? But who am I, next to the guy who sells these plants for a living.

[aliceinwl]

The care advice on orchid tags ranges from good to horrible. For the most part it’s designed to let you enjoy a single blooming, not keep a plant alive long term. Profit wise it’s better if you turn around and buy a new plant so take the advice on the tag with a grain of salt.

[dbarron]

Thanks for the background. So I assume when you got back it was swimming in water from the outside pot?
At least the directions weren't 'Place three ice cubes on the pot once a week', though that would have resulted is lesser damage probably.
Yeah, do not take plant care instructions to heart, they're often ludicrous.