Question
I'm trying to rescue my sister's phal.  At the moment it's not looking too good -- the two remaining leaves are tiny and very dark green (purple underneath), and it's potted in completely the wrong compost in an opaque pot. It also seems to be being plagued by little black flies; am I correct in thinking that that's because the compost is too moist?  My mother has told me that it has few roots, but I haven't dared pull it out of the pot to check as I don't have anything to repot it in yet.

I plan to repot it as soon as possible in a transparent pot with orchid bark. It's now by a south-west-facing window which hopefully should do it good. I have a phal of my own which is doing pretty well so I know a fair amount about general care, but I'd like to know -- is there any chance of rescuing this plant? If so, are there any special tips I should know, apart from repotting it as soon as possible?

Thanks!

Answer
Hello Fran,

I'm not sure it is possible to save your sister's phal, it sounds like it is pretty far gone but here are some suggestions you can try.  Those little black flies are probably fungus gnats which are attracted to broken down potting media that stays wet for too long.  

Are the two remaining small leafs at the top or near the bottom of the central growth?  If at the top, check them to see if there is evidence of a black sooty substance at the base of the leafs, if there is that would indicate a fungus infection is present and those leafs will soon be gone.  But, if there is no fungus present, you can try unpotting it and check the roots to see if any are still firm and alive or are they soft and mushy.  If most or all roots are mushy, that would mean there are no live roots left.  

Lastly, if the leaves are okay and there are few if any live roots left, you can try placing it into a ziploc baggie along with a little of the old potting media or a moist paper towel, close the bag and place it in a warm shady place.  Once a week, check to see how it is doing, whether it is still surviving and hopefully in a month or two for any new root growth to appear.  

While all of this is going on, get some orchid bark in preparation to repot it if it does survive.  Put it in the smallest pot size that will just barely contain the roots.  

Hope this helped.  Good luck.  

Jim Kawasaki
San Jose, Ca.