Cold damage to big Phal
 

Hi there, I'm brand new to this forum, but reaching out for a little advice. I have a 5 year old Phal that looks like it isn't going to pull through a really cold new year. We had a gas leak at our home and had to shut the heat off while repairs were made over the new year weekend. Temp in the room got down Possibly below 40 F. The plant is big and went totally limp and leaves are getting dark. A smaller Phal I've been rescuing pulled through no prob and is showing new growth already.

The roots on the big one seem to still be plump in places. Is there a way to save the root system and cut out the dead or dying? I may try if there is no other hope, but would love to hear your ideas. Also, can someone explain what happens to the plant when it gets so cold and whu a small one does well but a big one bites the dust.

Welcome to the Orchid Board.

The big one might come back if the crown isn't dead, and it has cold damage to the leaves. I would not cut anything. If the leaves are dead they will turn brown and fall off.

But it is possible the low temperatures led to crown rot, a bacterial or fungal infection. In this case the plant is probably a goner. With crown rot the leaves pull off easily. You can try to save it by putting a few drops of hydrogen peroxide in the crown in an attempt to kill the microorganisms causing it.

The little one surviving is probably random luck.

First of all welcome to the board. Sorry about the gas leak. I'm not sure why one made it and the other not so well. Perhaps the large one was wetter than the small one. I would just let it be as it may either grow from the middle or it might start a keiki. If the roots are still OK and green there is still hope. Just make sure to water with fairly warm water. That's one of the mistakes I have made with one of my favorite phals.

Edit: Oop's es beat me too it, I got a phone call while typing.

Great ideas! Thanks, I'll try a little peroxide in the crown. I think the leaves are starting to turn, but they were well hydrated and its taking a while for the leaves to dry up and shrivel :(

Let us know what happens.

Well, it never recovered. It was a sad death to my first orchid, it even had a kikei that was coming along nicely.
The leaves didn't pull out easily until a few weeks later, there was a significant amount of rot in the roots at that point (all slimy and yellow).
The second orchid seems to have survived, I haven't seen new growth on it yet, but it is still good and perky.
Differences between the two:
The second was smaller and was a rescue.
Its potting medium was much more coarse (the first was due for repotting as the soil had degraded 2 years since the last potting).
There may have been more moisture in the soil during the freeze with the first.
The first had a significantly greater amount of moisture in leaves and roots, and was probably more susceptible to freezing as a result.
Thanks for everyone's feedback!

Sorry to hear about you big Phal :-( I’m glad the little one looks like it’ll pull through! I’ve been challenging mine in terms of temperature. I’ve found that the Phals that have naturally lighter green leaves take cold better and that acclimation is important (they can take gradual seasonal temperature drop, but not heated house to outdoors in the middle of winter). I have 3 that are still outside and doing fine with nighttime lows in the low 40s to high 30s.

Great thoughts, I would confirm that with the little one being much lighter green than big boy which was darker.

I think you just hit on it. The smaller one is in coarser medium. Now you say the larger one needs re-potting as the SOIL I hope you mean bark has degraded. I'm sure this one was much wetter and so the cold plus wet was a bad combo.

Right Shannon, it was an orchid potting mix of bark and charcoal I bought from a garden store. But it was a few years old and had broken down and thus retained more moisture than new bark would have.