so i got this noid harlequin phal from home depot a couple months ago;
it had white fuzzy stuff, the top new leaf was rotting, and i think it
had bugs. so i pulled it from the pot, swabbed the whole plant with
alcohol, poured H2O2 in the crown, repotted it one size down in sphag
(it was overpotted) and then ultrafined the whole plant. H2O2-ed again
a week later, then listerined a week after that to finally get rid of
all the rot. somewhere along the line i cut the spike off.

so the plant not only didn't fall over dead from this treatement, it's
now growing a nice new fat root. yay! no new leaf yet. -sigh- the
problem is that it's now decided to grow another spike. (looks like a
spike. could be a funky root i guess...)

so, while i'm as flower-happy as the next person, in the interests of
the long term health of the plant, should i cut this spike down as soon
as it's long enought to cut? the plant is otherwise fat, green, and
seems healthy. i don't know if it will be able to grow a new top leaf
though.

thoughts?

--j_a

j_a,

Question for clarification: When you say " I don't know if it will be able
to grow a new top leaf though." is it only because it has not grown a new
leaf yet? If so, after just a couple of months it's still too early to give
up on a new leaf -- it may still grow a new one), or is it because the spike
came out of the top center of the crown (in which case, I believe it is
correct to say that the Phal will not be able to grow a new leaf)?

If you have access to alt.binaries.pictures.orchids, you might want to also
post a photo of the plant there, since this might help others assess whether
the plant looks healthy enough to support a spike.

Best,
Joanna

"unknown" wrote in message
...
so i got this noid harlequin phal from home depot a couple months ago;
it had white fuzzy stuff, the top new leaf was rotting, and i think it
had bugs. so i pulled it from the pot, swabbed the whole plant with
alcohol, poured H2O2 in the crown, repotted it one size down in sphag
(it was overpotted) and then ultrafined the whole plant. H2O2-ed again
a week later, then listerined a week after that to finally get rid of
all the rot. somewhere along the line i cut the spike off.

so the plant not only didn't fall over dead from this treatement, it's
now growing a nice new fat root. yay! no new leaf yet. -sigh- the
problem is that it's now decided to grow another spike. (looks like a
spike. could be a funky root i guess...)

so, while i'm as flower-happy as the next person, in the interests of
the long term health of the plant, should i cut this spike down as soon
as it's long enought to cut? the plant is otherwise fat, green, and
seems healthy. i don't know if it will be able to grow a new top leaf
though.

thoughts?

--j_a

Could the thing growing from the side be a side shoot? If the crown is dead
the only way for a monopodial orchid to start to grow again is from a side
'pup'.

K Barrett

"unknown" wrote in message
...
so i got this noid harlequin phal from home depot a couple months ago;
it had white fuzzy stuff, the top new leaf was rotting, and i think it
had bugs. so i pulled it from the pot, swabbed the whole plant with
alcohol, poured H2O2 in the crown, repotted it one size down in sphag
(it was overpotted) and then ultrafined the whole plant. H2O2-ed again
a week later, then listerined a week after that to finally get rid of
all the rot. somewhere along the line i cut the spike off.

so the plant not only didn't fall over dead from this treatement, it's
now growing a nice new fat root. yay! no new leaf yet. -sigh- the
problem is that it's now decided to grow another spike. (looks like a
spike. could be a funky root i guess...)

so, while i'm as flower-happy as the next person, in the interests of
the long term health of the plant, should i cut this spike down as soon
as it's long enought to cut? the plant is otherwise fat, green, and
seems healthy. i don't know if it will be able to grow a new top leaf
though.

thoughts?

--j_a

Its probably growing a new plant off the side. I had a cutworm eat the
crown out of a Phal. violacea 'gulfstream blue'. It took a couple
months but what looked like a spike started growing out from base of the
plant. When it got a few mm long you could start to make out that it
was a new plant.

Dustin




unknown wrote:

so i got this noid harlequin phal from home depot a couple months ago;
it had white fuzzy stuff, the top new leaf was rotting, and i think it
had bugs. so i pulled it from the pot, swabbed the whole plant with
alcohol, poured H2O2 in the crown, repotted it one size down in sphag
(it was overpotted) and then ultrafined the whole plant. H2O2-ed again
a week later, then listerined a week after that to finally get rid of
all the rot. somewhere along the line i cut the spike off.

so the plant not only didn't fall over dead from this treatement, it's
now growing a nice new fat root. yay! no new leaf yet. -sigh- the
problem is that it's now decided to grow another spike. (looks like a
spike. could be a funky root i guess...)

so, while i'm as flower-happy as the next person, in the interests of
the long term health of the plant, should i cut this spike down as soon
as it's long enought to cut? the plant is otherwise fat, green, and
seems healthy. i don't know if it will be able to grow a new top leaf
though.

thoughts?

--j_a

You must be a very cool head, Dustin. I'd have opened a vein if anythingl
ate my 'Gulfstream Blue'.

K

"Dustin " wrote in message ...
Its probably growing a new plant off the side. I had a cutworm eat the
crown out of a Phal. violacea 'gulfstream blue'. It took a couple
months but what looked like a spike started growing out from base of the
plant. When it got a few mm long you could start to make out that it
was a new plant.

Dustin




unknown wrote:

so i got this noid harlequin phal from home depot a couple months ago;
it had white fuzzy stuff, the top new leaf was rotting, and i think it
had bugs. so i pulled it from the pot, swabbed the whole plant with
alcohol, poured H2O2 in the crown, repotted it one size down in sphag
(it was overpotted) and then ultrafined the whole plant. H2O2-ed again
a week later, then listerined a week after that to finally get rid of
all the rot. somewhere along the line i cut the spike off.

so the plant not only didn't fall over dead from this treatement, it's
now growing a nice new fat root. yay! no new leaf yet. -sigh- the
problem is that it's now decided to grow another spike. (looks like a
spike. could be a funky root i guess...)

so, while i'm as flower-happy as the next person, in the interests of
the long term health of the plant, should i cut this spike down as soon
as it's long enought to cut? the plant is otherwise fat, green, and
seems healthy. i don't know if it will be able to grow a new top leaf
though.

thoughts?

--j_a

It was all out war against the cutworms after that. I sprayed with BT
like someone here in the group mentioned and I never saw them again. I
also enclosed the rest of my shade house to keep the moths out.

Dustin


You must be a very cool head, Dustin. I'd have opened a vein if anythingl
ate my 'Gulfstream Blue'.

K

"Dustin " wrote in message ...
Its probably growing a new plant off the side. I had a cutworm eat the
crown out of a Phal. violacea 'gulfstream blue'. It took a couple
months but what looked like a spike started growing out from base of the
plant. When it got a few mm long you could start to make out that it
was a new plant.

Dustin




unknown wrote:

so i got this noid harlequin phal from home depot a couple months ago;
it had white fuzzy stuff, the top new leaf was rotting, and i think it
had bugs. so i pulled it from the pot, swabbed the whole plant with
alcohol, poured H2O2 in the crown, repotted it one size down in sphag
(it was overpotted) and then ultrafined the whole plant. H2O2-ed again
a week later, then listerined a week after that to finally get rid of
all the rot. somewhere along the line i cut the spike off.

so the plant not only didn't fall over dead from this treatement, it's
now growing a nice new fat root. yay! no new leaf yet. -sigh- the
problem is that it's now decided to grow another spike. (looks like a
spike. could be a funky root i guess...)

so, while i'm as flower-happy as the next person, in the interests of
the long term health of the plant, should i cut this spike down as soon
as it's long enought to cut? the plant is otherwise fat, green, and
seems healthy. i don't know if it will be able to grow a new top leaf
though.

thoughts?

--j_a

thanks, all, for your opinions; the plant has five big fat green
leaves at the moment (total leaf span is probably about ten inches);
the top one started to grow and then the rot got it; that's the one i
H2O2-ed and listerined. it turned completely black and dried up and i
pulled it off.

so this leaves the "crown" of the plant intact, if i'm using the term
correctly; i thought that there was a limited amount of tissue in the
crease of each leaf that could grow a new leaf...? that's why i said
i wasn't sure if i'd get a new leaf out of it. it's already tried to
grow that leaf, and it rotted.

as for the new growth, it is growing out of the center of the crease
of the bottom leaf, right up against the plant, exactly where the
previous spike was, just on the other side of the plant. it's
definitley growing where a spike would, not out of the side (where the
new root is coming).

i guess i'll just watch it and see what it does; i'm hoping to see a
new leaf growth in the next couple months, in which case i'll just
leave the whole thing alone. and if all else fails and it falls
over dead, i have the original pot and the receipt and the home depot
return policy.

--j_a