Paphiopedilum has decided to live!

[lauraeli]

The parent plant died months ago and for at least 3 months now i have been caring for this completely rootless pup.

I forgot about it soaking in water in its shotglass for probably 3 days and today when i went to dump the water out i noticed- root nubs!

See the little white spot in the third picture

It has decided it wants to live

...i hope to wake up with root nubs someday also.

[aliceinwl]

Nice! I have a couple of these potted up too in ICUs. It’s always good to see successes.

[lauraeli]

I dont know what to do with it now to be honest

[aliceinwl]

I’ve have mine in 3” slotted pots with a couple of rocks in the bottom to provide an inch of air space and the plant in lightly packed sphagnum moss. I keep the moss damp but not wet. I put the whole pot in a larger clear plastic container with a bag over the top with holes for ventilation.

I hope mine are pushing roots too: they’re definitely growing leaves. I’m not sure if I should poke around and check for roots, just pull the bags off the top, or leave them as is for another month. This setup is very low maintenance, but I know they will benefit from better air circulation at some point.

[lauraeli]

I get issues with mold in closed containers so i dont attempt it anymore

[aliceinwl]

The bags over top have lots of large holes in them and I’ve been keeping the moss damp but not wet. I haven’t had any issues with mold in the month and a half they’ve been in these containers. I do have to give them water every 2-3 weeks.

If your ambient humidity is decent, maybe you could just try potting it up without the secondary container. Or since it’s worked so far, just keep doing what you’re doing until the root is developed enough to support the plant.