David,

Phals prefer to have the medium never dry out completely, but need to have
lots of air flow to the rot system as well. That could mean watering a lot
more often. It may also be that a coarse bark mix is inappropriate for
phals in your conditions, and that you should consider an alternate medium -
one that stays moist and airy under the watering regimen you can easily
handle.

If you're willing to share details about the growing conditions, I'm sure we
can all throw our two-cents in, eventually coming up with enough to actually
help!

--

Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com
Plants, Supplies, Books, Artwork, and Lots of Free Info!
..
"David Sussman" wrote in message
om...
Hey Diana,

I am a bit of a beginner. When I first got the plant I did not water
it enough. It went limp. How often should I water it? It seems that
my last watering technique of not "SOAKING" the media was not enough
water once each week. Now I have been told to let it actually soak
in water (in a pot of water for example) for about 10-15 min and add a
bit of fertilizer once every week or so. Next take it out of the
soaking pot and let it drain and dry outside (no direct sun).

How often should I do such a soaking rather than just running some
running water over it for a few seconds.

I guess this plant is going to die but I'd like to learn something
from it so that I can try and prevent anything from getting this bad
in the future again.
I will try some hydrogen peroxide as an experiment.

-David

"Diana Kulaga" wrote in message
hlink.net...
David,

That appears to be rot. I hate to say so, but I don't have high hopes
for
the plant, with all that necrotic tissue. What you can try is peroxide,
sprayed all over the plant, and watered through the medium. Also, it
appears that the parts of the leaves nearest the crown are not so badly
affected yet, so you can try cutting back to good tissue (using a
sterile
blade) and then making a paste of Elmer's glue and cinnamon to be
applied to
the cut edges of the leaves.

Can I assume that you are growing the plant shady and out of possible
rain
fall? Phals need to be watered in the morning, so that they have time
for
the leaves to dry before nightfall. And, it's important to keep water
out
of the crown. Watering every few days, with our humid weather down here
at
the moment, might be too much, but I can't say that for sure.

Hey. If you lose it, you lose it. Go get another!

Diana