Is this root rot or a bacterial infection or bugs or all three?

[estación seca]

I can water Phals in the crown during warm weather and never have rot problems. It evaporates rapidly because my growing room is not sealed tightly, and ambient relative humidity here varies from extremely low, like now, 3%-8%, to moderate, 40% and up, during the summer rainy season.

[elaerna]

I woke up today and of the two leaves one of them is now drooping and it feels thinner than before. I put a skewer in the media and it came back completely dry so I watered it. Should I take it out of the pot and look at the roots?

Otherwise it seems fine. No yellowing or anything. It's been hotter recently. I've been watering about every 5 days but maybe it got dry faster this time. Usually it's not so dry when I water again (checking with the skewer).

[SouthPark]

elaerna - take some pics of the orchid. And if the orchid does appear to be in bad/limp shape, then check the roots - and take pics of them too. The camera images and your description of the situation will be our eyes - and ears.

[Roberta]

I don't recall... did you repot when you got the plant? If you have done it recently you would not want to disturb the roots again. If you haven't, then you'd want to take it out of the pot and see what is going on. However, for a start I don't think that you are watering enough, now that it is summer. I'm watering my indoor orchids at least every 3 days, and heavily misting exposed aerial roots with a spray bottle in between. If you are running A/C, humidity is likely very low - making for rapid evaporation. When you water, do it thoroughly, so water runs through the pot. If the medium is fresh, and it is hot and dry, you really can't over-water.

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[SouthPark]

Also - if the orchid was watered the previous day, and looked ok at night, but then went limp the next morning - then definitely something isn't right. Definitely check humidity with a humidity measuring device too.

[elaerna]

Here are some photos.07.13 - Album on Imgur

For reference the leaves used to stand up like this: 06.15.20 - Album on Imgur

I repotted the plant around the first week of June when I first got it. The last few days I watered were 06/21 06/30 07/07 and today. I pour water over the medium, I don't mist it. And I've been using fertilizer every 2 weeks. We don't use too much ac, usually it's about 85 degrees inside and outside it's like 100+.

I havent looked super closely at it the last couple days but I did not water it last night. The last time was 07/07.

[Roberta]

Leave it in the pot, don't disturb the roots again. The aerial roots in the 7-13 photo look pretty dessicated. Don't know what is inside the pot, but those aerial roots look like they need a lot more water. Fertilizer is not particularly important at this point. Won't hurt but won't do much good either. But it needs more frequent watering for sure. The new bark will dry out fast. You could easily give it a good bath (like under the faucet) every other day or so. Five days is 'way too infrequent with fresh bark and warm days.

[elaerna]

Yeah when I took it to that orchid grower when I first got it he said only one of the roots were good so that is not a new thing. I will water more often then.

What do you mean bath, like dunk it in water? Or like let the faucet run?

[Roberta]

Originally Posted by elaerna

Yeah when I took it to that orchid grower when I first got it he said only one of the roots were good so that is not a new thing. I will water more often then.

What do you mean bath, like dunk it in water? Or like let the faucet run?

Let the faucet run. When water freely flows through the pot it pulls air into the root zone and flushes any undesirable buildup - fertilizer salts, plant detritus, etc. Then let it drain well before putting it back on the saucer if you have one under it. If you water that way, you totally can't overwater it, with the fresh bark and summer heat.

[elaerna]

Can I just pour the water into a cup and water it from the cup? Faucets make me nervous that I'm going to get water in the crown.