Phal. Problems

[Quinmutt3]

Hi everyone... I was here a few weeks ago because I'm having all sorts of problems with a phal. 'french spotted' that I bought a few months ago. When I bought it it was potted in pure sphagnum moss, but my climate is too humid for it to dry properly, so most of the roots rotted. I repotted it a week or two ago in a nice bark mixture, and it has a bunch of new roots. However, it only has three leaves, and they aren't looking all that great. They're sort of floppy, and the color is slowly fading out of them (some veins have become visible). I just watered with fertilizer and hope it'll help, but does anyone have any suggestions as to how I can promote new leaf growth? Thanx!

[orchidaddict789]

Hi, I think your orchid needs more humidity. Root rotted orchids are best put in bags. You can water the plant, then put the whole plant + pot in a clear plastic bag. Seal the bag but open daily for a while to avoid stale air. When closed, there will be a "mini-greenhouse" for your phal, because the air inside the bag will become moist. Floppy leaves are caused because the phal is dehydrated--it's losing water faster than it's able to replenish it, so the leaves become wrinkled. You can mist the inside of the bag, the mix, any roots to increase humidity, but do that only in the morning, and don't let water touch the leaves because in a closed-in environment mold can grow quickly.

It's best not to fertilize anymore. Just water carefully, trying not to cause more root rot. You'll just have to wait until a good root system is developed (by then the leaves should plump up), then remove from the bag, and treat it like a normal plant. Good luck! It may take a while, but be patient!

[uncasteeb]

It can take a long time for a Phal to recover from root problems & seeing as you have changed the medium as well it will probably take a few months to see any improvement.
The Phal i let get to cold over the winter lost all of it,s roots except for 1 about 1 1/2" long , it took about 5 months for the leaves to plump back up & now it,s in spike.
I didn,t use the sphag n bag method as i have pretty descent humidity(it was directly above my warm mist humidifier in my growroom) , it still took a long while for the roots to establish themselves.
High humidty & careful watering (no fert) should see it recover as said above.