Question
I had phalaenopsis (violet) for past 1 year. Had the spike removed once flowering was done. had good growth. Got with 4 leaves, grew upto 7 leaves, looked healthy. last week the soil was looking fungi? on top decided to repot fearing for infection. when took out the plant had lot of roots. replanted with peat moss and commercial potting material sold at Lowes. As one leaf wilted took out the plant again and repotted to my shock saw lot of roots almost dead cut all the dead roots (they had thick inner root with spongy root coming off with your fingers). while repotting had may be 3-4 viable roots.No new roots yet i am worried. I repotted with as lose as I can.  My plant will die.. Becos the new leaf is not as stiff it was like before.. though it is green in color yet.. Please help

Answer
Hello Meena,

It sounds like you were doing very well with your phalaenopsis orchid until you repotted it.  As you have discovered, orchids in potting mixes that contain peat moss do not do very well.  It does not take very long for roots to rot in such a mix.  While it is possible to grow orchids in that mix, it takes very careful watering.  Peat moss mixes retain a LOT of water for a very long time, something most orchids do not enjoy.  

Try to locate an orchid potting mix that contains bark, perlite and maybe a little charcoal or you can try just straight orchid bark (medium size).  Repot your phalaenopsis into this mix and water only when the mix becomes barely moist.  

That new leaf may or may not stiffen up, hopefully it will.  While it is recovering from the lost roots, keep it warm, barely moist, humidity above 50%.  You can try creating a mini greenhouse by placing a large plastic bag over it.  Hopefully you will see some new roots begin to grow in the next month or so.  

Lastly, since there are only a few good live roots, it would be a good idea to use a slightly smaller pot when you repot it.  Too large a pot for only a few roots will tend to allow the mix to remain wet much longer because the roots are not taking up as much moisture that a pot full of roots would.  

Hope this helps save it.  

Jim Kawasaki
San Jose, Ca.