Neglect for sad orchids?

[tolumnia]

Has anyone noticed a growth spurt or a dying plant coming around after suffering neglect? Or am I experiencing a series of lucky coincidences?

I have had 3 orchids (2 dends and a catt) which broke off pieces while mounting them. The pieces were either back bulbs or old pieces with no signs of new growth. I tossed the pieces into a random empty container sitting on the porch. They had no media, no sun, and very little water in our 90+ degree days. Well the other day I pulled them out to see if they were officially dead yet and guess what.... Yep, all three were putting off new growth. In fact all three were growing more vigorously than the parent plants they broke off of! And the parent plants are doing very well.
I have noticed that a few phals I have about killed (I don't do so well with phals) have come around and started to thrive after I gave them up for dead and ignored them for a few weeks.

I know extended neglect or neglecting a healthy plant is a baaaaaaad idea. But if neglect can kick in some sort of survival mechanism, well that sure would be a handy tool for plants that don't look like they will make it.

Opinions? Thoughts? Experiences?

[Dima]

Definitely happens. My son was playing and inadvertently broke off the top half of a leafless bulb of Dendrobium Fire Coral. Not willing to throw the broken-off piece in trash right away, I stuck it in the fine growing mix and put it on a bathroom shelf. Occasional misting, very little light, pretty much "fire and forget". Guess what? I have two Dend Fire Coral now

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[stefpix]

90 F and high humidity may help. Wonder if it would happen the same way in the winter...

[silken]

Wish something like that would happen to the catt I am slowly killing. It is Ports of Paradise 'Emerald Isle' of all the things to kill Nothing I do seems to work. Maybe I should just quit doing as suggested above!

[Kimbubbley]

I had the same problem with my Catt Silken. It was too top heavy in a 4" pot and I lost count of how many times it got knocked over.... plus a combination of over watering and burnt the roots with too strong ferts... all novice stuff from too much fussing the leaves lost their luster and looked abit wrinkled, and the last viable root lost it's green tip and shut down!
I thought that was it for my Catt and fed up with it falling over I repotted in in HUGE 15cm pot with just medium bark, staked it in dead roots and all and dumped it in a south facing window and ignored it!
Turned out to be the best thing I could have done in just a few weeks it's shot roots all round the huge pot, I can see them winding round the bottom and green tips appearing all over the show... And it reactivated the tip it put to sleep, plus then started new leaf growth!

Almost killed with too much love... Then saved by bad potting practice and neglect!

[Paul Mc]

I know there is such a mechanism with dendrobiums and phal's, so it would stand to reason it's the same with other types of orchids. Phal's and dedrobiums will bloom and produce keiki's when they sense they are in danger of dying.

Best of luck! Could you post pictures? I'd love to see them!

[Orchidreamer]

Sometimes ignoring orchids is the way to go. I'm often too obsessive with orchids and I like to prod and pull at the roots to see how they're doing. Sometimes you just need to leave it there and let it do its thing.

[silken]

Well, I am letting it sit there and die or whatever then I guess cause I am off to the lake again

But I am really not happy about this one going downhill.

[tolumnia]

I will post pics tomorrow when the sun is up.
I have intentionally pulled a few phals and left them totally unpotted for a few days before repotting into a basket, that has proven time and again to be a good idea for me. But I have big problems with root rot on phals. If you've tried everything and it's still dying pulling it out of the medium and ignoring it for a few days might be a worth-while last effort.
I'm glad to hear others have had this experience too. I don't have any currently sad orchids, but if I keep up this addiction I am sure to again in the future. I'll add this to the arsenal. Thanks for all the feedback!! I haven't been in the hobby long, but thanks to lots of help I am learning very quickly.

[sii]

Originally Posted by silken

Well, I am letting it sit there and die or whatever then I guess cause I am off to the lake again

But I am really not happy about this one going downhill.

Yup, my catt sits there potted in damp medium, out of direct light, with a bag covering it. I probably do fuss with it. I check it everyday. Not ready to toss in the towel yet.