dumb question

[marcos73]

hey i am the new guy-
i got on this to ask if there is any hope of saving an orchid with no leaves-
it still has some roots but the central ones were all black.
Help!

[Forrest]

what kind of orchid is it? What are you growing it in and where are you growing it? Have any pictures?

[marcos73]

its a phalenopsis , i was growing it in bark in a clay pot ,and i just repotted it a couple weeks ago cause the main leaves were turning yellow and getting soft.there was some black on the main stem too, i think from the jacked up old roots. and i had it in california but just moved up to washington about a month ago.

[SaMRoza]

Well, the black is troubling. Black indicates some form of rot, probably fungal. When you say the "stem", what part of the plant do you mean? Do you mean the main body of the plant where the leaves emerge from, or do you mean the stem that carries the flowers?

If you are referring to the central body of the plant where the leaves grow from, does the rot start at the very top at the youngest leaves? If so, that is known as "crown rot", and is usually caused by excess water collecting in the crown and rotting. Increase the amount of airflow and try to keep the crown dry in this case.

The move from California to Washington is a pretty drastic change in climate and can cause growing pains for your collection of orchids. It's much more wet in Washington and it won't need as much water, and airflow will become ever so much more important.

Sam