Pest battle with Phalaenopsis — and how I won

I had a serious problem with crown rot from water sitting in the leaf crown on my Phalaenopsis earlier this year. Caught it late and had to work hard to bring the plant back. The experience was frustrating but educational.

Now that it's healthy again I can fully appreciate wide hybridisation resulting in an almost unlimited colour range, which is remarkable. I've repositioned it in a decorative cachepot for a formal living room and improved my attention to feeding with a half-strength orchid fertiliser weekly in summer. triggering a new flower spike with cooler autumn nights was the proof that the plant had fully recovered — genuinely beautiful. Moral of the story: inspect regularly and catch problems early.