Phal Lost Roots and is Yellowing

[drewtoby]

I bought two phal. orchids to keep on display while my first orchid is recovering (seems to be growing some new roots thanks to your help ) Anyways, one is fine and one lost roots/had bad roots from shipment (the one labeled tiger in the photo below). It has about 1/4 of its original root still working, even if they are a bit dyed from the coconut medium. As expected, the plant is yellowing.

I currently have 6 leaves on the yellowing plant, but only the newest leaf shows no traces of yellowing. How can I retain at least 3 firm orchid leaves and stop this process? I've been as generous as possible on watering, but it still isn't enough without the plant's full roots.

[turock]

It could be the image, but that yellowing doesn't really look like dehydration to me. I can't see the typical wrinkling and limpness that usually goes along with root loss and dehydration. Is it possible that the plant got too hot for quite a while during shipment?

If the culprit is indeed dehydration, as far as I know, the only way to coax the plant to stop losing leaves is to provide it with ideal conditions, and even that isn't a guarantee, especially if it's lost so many roots.

Unless you have a very humid indoor environment, I wouldn't recommend keeping a stressed phalaenopsis in an open basket like that. I would instead pot it into a plastic pot with some extra ventilation holes and keep a thin layer of slightly moist sphagnum moss near the base of the plant to encourage new roots.

Try to keep the growing area as humid as possible, but let air circulate around the plant's roots. Keep the temperature warm (no less than 70F) and use a nitrogen-heavy fertilizer to try and get some new roots to develop, and to provide the orchid with necessary nutrients to preserve its leaves.

Despite your best efforts, it may lose several leaves. The orchid will decide what it can best support, and what it needs to chuck to preserve itself!

[estación seca]

I agree with the idea it might have become too hot during shipping, and you are probably going to lose more than one of the leaves. Recovering from mostly-dead roots takes a months, so be patient. Keep the humidity around the plant as high as possible to minimize water loss from the leaves. Keep the plant as warm as you can, up to the mid 80s is not too hot. Keep it about 70 degrees. In this high humidity the roots must not stay wet for more than a day or they are risk for rotting.

Definitely get a kelp product and soak the roots in a kelp solution for several hours. The root hormones in the kelp promote root formation.

When I see yard sales I look for aquaria. They can be used as humidity chambers even if they leak.