help with broken phalaenopsis leaves

[hunterpony]

Hello,
my husband was moving my phal and he cracked 2 of the leaves. the one is broken across the middle and the other one is broken across the middle with the break running up toward the base of the plant.
is there anything at all that I can do??

[Brutal_Dreamer]

Not really anything to fix the broken leaves, but you can make sure to seal any open fleshy areas so that they will not invite infection. You can use a pruning seal and a que-tip to apply the seal.

Cheers,
BD

oh - and keep the hubby away from your orchids.. . hehehe... just kidding! I have broken so many leaves moving things around. It is easy to do, but should not hurt the plant if the plant is healthy.

[Cjcorner]

And if you don't having the regular store bought stuff, regular powdered cinnamon sprinkled into the breaks will help keep out infection as well.....

[hunterpony]

great!! thanks for the advice. I'm still bummed! this is the very first orchid that my husband bought for me 6 years ago and the leaves on it are huge!!! it was blooming when he first bought it, but i could never get it to bloom again until 3 years ago when we moved into a new house and it was placed in a west window instead of a south window. it has bloomed ever since and i just hope this does not stress it to much!
He feels horrible about it!

[Cjcorner]

I think we are all suprised from time to time how hardy some orchids are. I doubt your phal will miss a beat. I have broken and split a ton of leaves and so far none has really seemed hurt by it. The tip may die off, but that's okay...you can trim the dead part off and later new leaves will replace the old in time. Phals are very hardy....tell your husband it'll be okay.

[bench72]

i hope your husband buys you a new orchid to make you feel better in the meantime

[hunterpony]

he feels horrible! i'm sure he would if i asked, but i think he is suffering enough