Unsure of what to do next

[Macleod1]

Hi Forum,
So my Phals are doing ok. Not great but ok. However I have now hit a major problem and so I turn to you.
My old flower stems are dead. Should I cut them off or just leave them? On one of my phals, I have a flower bud, but my other one has two stems, both brown and dead with nothing growing on them at all.

Also I am having a problem with a leaf. One of my phals had an issue with the leaves and I lost most of them. I was checking them and I noticed them getting a bit brown then overnight 3 leaves died and one of them seems to be part rotting, part growing. Should I cut it off at the black part or just leave it? Some of it seems nice and green, but most is brown.
Here are photos of both the dead stems and the leaf for your reference.
Any help would be appreciated.
Many thanks forum!

[chemist]

Hello,
Welcome to forum!
first picture: cut only dried part of flower stem, i would leave half an inch of dried part since i think on the border there is new spike forms.
second picture: all spikes are dried so you can cut it off next to the base of the plant.
third picture: when do you water you plant? Morning, afternoon or in the evening? Looks like maybe in evening? I think those brownish spots appears if you water in the evening. If thats the case change your watering schedule to the mornings. About lower more affected leaf i would caut it off and treat cut area with cinnamon powder.

[Macleod1]

Thank you Chemist.
I have trimmed off the dead stalks so now it looks much nicer.

Concerning my watering timetable, I am a bit bad in that aspect as I do not have a regular schedule. I tend to go by the look of the roots. If they are looking whitish then I water. This means it is more often than not in the early afternoon but it does vary. Also it is not at a set time so not once a week etc but more just when I think they need it.

Could this be why one of my Phals doesn't seem to be growing? I have had no new leaves on it since i got it a year ago. Also i have no sign of any new growth on it at all. I have checked the roots and they are good and healthy with no sign of rot and I have one root above ground that is looking healthy.

My other phal is growing well, with the new bud shown in the photo and has grown one new leaf already with another one just coming out. This is the smaller of the two and in a smaller pot, but it does seem to starting to show signs of root rot. How do you combat this? It still has several healthy roots, but more that are black and mushy. I did need to repot this Phal and I changed the bedding so I am not overly concerned about the dead roots as I think it comes from this.

it just surprises me that the larger Phal is not really growing yet the smaller, new one that is right next to it is seeming to flourish with root issues.

The joys of Orchids eh?

[78Terp]

Svetlana gives sound advice!

[chemist]

Your rot issue might come from your watering schedule, you might water too much. Everyone here says its hard to give advice for watering schedule since it depends on your particular conditions. I just tell you my condition and how often i water. So i grow on windowsill, room temperature about 73 F in cold month with relative humidity hardly going over 25%, in summer time daytime temperature could be in high 80F and RH about 30-40%, my phals are in 4" clear plastic pots with extra holes on the sides so the media dry up faster than regular pots i guess. So i water them twice a week. After a day roots already looks dryish but the media deep inside the pot still damp so it does not need to be watered just when roots look witish.
If you water more often than twice a week when the media still wet you probably overwater your phals. And thats why you see root rot.
How long time since your repotted plant starts to show root rot? They say that old roots might dye off after repotting, but do you see new roots growth? If you have plenty of new roots coming i would not probably concern of few rotten but in your case i think you overwater them. Maybe it make sense to check on the roots again and trim off all black mushy ones. If you have physan 20 you can treat your plant with it and addition to trimming.

[Macleod1]

When I say i water depending on the roots, this tends to mean that I water maybe once a fortnight, if that. I do not water that often. I might start leaving it for a bit longer and see what happens.
I wouldn't say I have plenty of new root growth. On the phal with the root rot, I do have a couple healthy roots. It has been about 6 months since I repotted the Phal, but i left a bit of the moss around the roots to that is why I think it has taken a while for the rot to set in. As I said, I am not overly concerned as it seems to still be growing well despite the rot.