I have been through the WRINGER with this plant the last few months, but she's in full bloom and she's beautiful and we celebrate the small things in this house. I've had this plant since September 2020, she's my baby and the star of my collection, and this is her sixth time blooming in my care and the first time she has double spiked. She makes the whole house smell like roses and lemons. (I adore seeing everyone else's p. Schillerianas this time of year, and I want to share mine!)
On to my tale of woe, though.
– On Christmas Day, I realized that my beloved phal. Schilleriana was INFESTED with ants. We're talking an entire colony, queens, grubs, you name it. I took her out to the patio for an emergency bare root and… spent a little too long trying to hose her roots off before giving up and spraying her with probably an entire can of RAID. Problem solved. Or so I thought.
– In early February, I noticed parts of her stem pinking. This turned out to be very slow moving stem rot, maybe, and she lost THREE LEAVES before I got it under control by removing dead and dying tissue and swabbing liberally with rubbing alcohol.
– It's now March. The stem rot may or may not be stabilized, but I'm not sure if her roots are still connected to her crown by living tissue. Her remaining leaves are showing signs of slight dehydration, but that might just be because I held off on watering her again until I felt like the stem rot was under control.
Unfortunately, the only thing for me to do at this point is wait and see – if she makes it, I'll be back next year with her 7th bloom! And if she doesn't, I'll be back with a new plant. T_T
by Gnomeseason
3 Comments
That flower stalk gives an almost bonsai like vibe- it’s beautiful! A cherry blossom like plethora of blooms
That is a beautiful inflorescence with her quirky spikes.
Stunning