About to give up...

Lily,


I'm in the same boat as you. I bought six Phals just out of flask a year ago, February. They had a few problems--mostly mealybugs, exacerbated by my getting alcohol on the roots while trying to kill the bugs--but 5 eventually began growing strongly. The 6th, however, has just barely clung to life. It had two roots which have mostly died back (still a bit of life near the base of each). As a result, the plant really is just sitting on top of its media. It is sort of growing a new leaf, but I'm not sure its older leaf will last much longer. I would toss it *except* it is clearly different from the others--the leaves have a reddish suffusion unlike the others. I'm going to keep it until it croaks or recovers. If it were any of the others, I'd probably have tossed it! If your plants are not anything you particularly prize, you might want to at least consider getting rid of them. In the end, though, it's your call.
Cheers,

Rob

Life's too short.... Unless the plants are especially meaningful for some reason, learn from any mistakes you made and chuck 'em. There's nothing worse than having to keep staring at an orchid that's done about gone....

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Louis J. Aszod