Question
Hi Wanye
a few weeks ago i received a phalaenopsis plant in the mail as a gift. It is blooming and has unopened buds on an off shoot of the flowering spike. The plant was in a very small plastic container. I watered it and within a week its two largest leaves feel off (still looking green and healthy, just not attached to the plant).
I looked at the plastic container and saw white mold growing in the planting mix. I took the plant out of the small container, washed off the roots, cut all the ones that seemed mush (which was basically all of them to some degree) and replanted the orchid in a new larger clay pot with holes. I soaked the bark at the bottom of the pot and filled the rest with an orchid planting mix.
So now, some of the flowers have wilted off but not all of them, the buds seem to be wilting, and the base of the flowering stem is yellowish. Also at the base of the flowering stem, where the larger leaves feel off, they left a little bit of the base of the leaf, which has also wilted and has very distinct small white spots.
I looked this up and found it may be mealy worms, of which a cure can be dabbing with rubbing alcohol.
So I have rubbed that area with alcohol the last few days. I have not watered the plant in about a week and the soil is dry.
Is there anything else I can do to say this plant? Although the company which sent it is sending another, I don't feel like giving up.
AnswerYou have done well Chelsey. From your photo, the plant appears to have some crown rot. This can occur when, during watering, some water gets into the leaf folds so try to avoid that. The crown rot appears not to have spread and you still have enough healthy leaves to give recovery a good chance. When you water this plant, take a larger pan and put some luke warm water into it and set the plat and its pot into the pan with the water (there should be about 4 inches of water in the pan). Let this sit for about and hour, then remove the plant and its pot and wet it aside to drain for an hour. You can do this about once per week. This will reduce the risk of getting the plant crown wet. This fungus infection should be self limiting if you keep the plant dry. If, it starts spreading to other leaves, try a pouring a little listerine into the crown early in the day (this technique was used many years ago by Mr Thomas Fennel Jr head of the former Orchid Jungle south of Miami). Any wetting of the leavers for any reason should be done early in the day so it has thoroughly dried by nightfall (I sometimes use a small fan just after watering to dry the leaves more quickly). There is a good chance that the old flower spike will dry up and you can then cut it off. You will need to check on the plant at least once per week for retuen of the mealy bugs. Your best weapon against these bugs is a trusty Q-tip soaked in alcohol. Try to keep considerable distance between the new plant, when it arrives, and this plant until you see no further signs of the mealy for at least a month.
