Is that black rot that Cymbidium has got? The others seem to be fine.
I have tossed it.

Anita

There seems to be one healthy new growth. I would probably have cleaned away the dead stuff and potted it up new into a small pot.

I did. I cut away everything that seemed infected, dipped it in a Physan 20 mix, repotted it in fresh medium, drenched it again with Physan 20 mix and set it apart. It lasted about a week and a half and that was it. Perhaps I should have continued to water it with Physan, but I REALLY don't want to find out if that might have helped.

Anita

I think you probably did all the right things, Anita. Sometimes, for unknown reasons, our orchids simply die. The younger the plant, the fewer the pseudobulbs/canes, and the fewer the (healthy) roots all lend themselves to failure. Physan won't really reverse plant health problems, it is more of a preventative. I don't grow Cymbidiums but I am quite sure there are many ATP subscribers that do. Perhaps they can tell you more about your plant's decline.

Physan is a disinfectant and it will harm orchids. I think the Physan had as much to do with killing the orchid as anything else. Captan would have been a much better choice.

Jim

This is were Jim and I differ. I have used Physan 20 at the recommended dilution for four decades and have never seen phototoxicity of any of my orchids. When I want to remove seedlings from a flask, I use Physan to dissolve the agar and always soak either the community pot media or individual pot media with Physan before transplanting the seedlings. When repotting, dividing plants, and cutting away dead roots I will use Physan soaked orchid media. I still use cinnamon directly on the cut areas and on the cut-off root stubs. I might have the same success NOT using Physan but I surely have seen no damage to plants when using it. I would think, and this is just my common-sense, that IF ANY orchid would be damaged by Physan, it would surely be these tiny, tender seedlings.