Can I save this rootless orchid with velamin?

[milkygato]

Hello everyone, need your expert opinion once again. I have an orchid that suffered bad root rot (I think I overwatered it) so I removed the rotten casing, submerged in kelpmax, repotted in fresh bark, watered once a week with kelpmax. It’s been about a month and a half since and the leaves are still droppy and one of the stem looks like it’s drying up. Interestingly, there are new shoots growing from stem. I took it out of the pot today and I don’t see any new roots yet. Should I continue with just leaving it potted in bark to see if it survives? Should I cut the stems? I was thinking of leaving the velamin submerged in water for now with a plastic bad wrapped around the entire leaf and root area to increase humidity. What are your thoughts on this?

Thank you for your advice in advance!

[Roberta]

Velamin is what you removed - the outside "casing" on the roots. So what you have is the bare "core" of the root, which is not very efficient in getting water into the plant but better than nothing. If you have shoots growing from the old flower spike, they are probably keikis - an attempt by the plant to survive. Put it back in the medium. With such poor roots, once a week watering is likely not enough. The fresh bark dries out much faster than whatever it was in before (sphaghnum?) Leave the old spikes alone - as long as they are green, they are "reserves" for the plant, and it needs all that it can get. If the old spikes dry up you can cut them.For now, put it back in the bark, and leave it alone (don't unpot again for a year or so). Increase the watering, and see if it perks up. What's to lose? If it revives, you have won a victory. If it doesn't you have had a chance to learn some things that you can apply the next time around.

[SouthPark]

Originally Posted by milkygato

Interestingly, there are new shoots growing from stem. I took it out of the pot today and I don’t see any new roots yet.

That could be a good sign - and hopefully new roots can develop too. The new growth is definitely using up whatever energy the orchid has left in it. So hopefully some of that energy can go into producing roots.

One way to help recovery is to keep humidity up (such as in a humidity tub). But also got to watch out for fungus/mold buildup in the tub. A nice and warm tub - with some wet sphagnum moss in separate bowls next door to the orchid (kept away from the orchid) can keep the humidity up. Or even just dishes of water kept in the tub away from orchid - can help.

Other growers may opt for the water method ..... where they submerge the remaining stringy portions of the root in water. And hopefully some water can still get drawn up into the plant, and give it time to grow new roots. But here - will need to avoid getting the crown of the phal wet - to avoid crown rot. So the level at which the plant stem sits above the water can be very important here. And warm enough temperature will help. Cold and wet roots is generally not desirable. So needs to be warm enough ----- the water that is.

[camille1585]

I agree, best you can do is pot it up (don't use a too large pot, otherwise the media takes forever to dry), don't mess with it anymore, and keep it humid in either a small tank, in a makeshift plastic tent or large plastic bag. PLace it in a bright spot, but without direct sunlight (which would cook the plant). Resist the urge to unpot to see what's happening, the plant needs to settle in, and anyways root growth will happen at the base of the plant, where you can generally see it without unpotting.

I build a mini plastic tent last fall with wooden stakes and a transparent plastic sheet to use as an ICU for some rootless Paphs, and now a rootless Phal. In the bottom there is a pan with leca beads that is half filled with water. Plants are set in saucers above it and I water them every 2-4 weeks (due to the high humidity the plants - and substrate- transpiration rate is very low). It works extremely well, and have had suprisingly zero issues with mold. I have a nearly rootless Phal that I put in it nearly a month ago, after a good soak in Kelpmax. The leaves are already less limp, and there are a couple new roots sprouting.

[aliceinwl]

I’d give it another overnight soak in Kelpmax (you can soak the whole pot and drain it out in the morning). Make sure it’s submerged and potted to the base of the leaves / spikes. There may or may not be living tissue for uptake below that point. If you’re growing at room temperatures, it can take months to see progress.

[milkygato]

Thanks everyone, the orchid has a humidifier going on next to it and I will be increasing my watering per your suggestions. Wish me luck!

[yug]

If that was mine, and I really wanted to save it, the first thing I'd do would be to cut off those old inflorescences. The plant expends energy to keep those alive, but it doesn't need them at present, and if you truly want to save the plant, then remove them to conserve what energy the plant has so it can use it to grow parts that it needs now - like roots. I know it seems harsh, but how much do you value the plant?

If you don't want to just toss out the old spikes, lay them on damp sphagnum and perhaps some new plantlets will sprout. Some folk even put them in ziploc bags or some sort of closed container in order to keep the humidity level up. But no matter what you do with them, as long as they stay attached to the main plant, they are draining it of energy it needs to survive.

[Roberta]

I leave green old inflorescences... with the hypothesis that if they are green, they can actually be reserves for the plant - the plant can re-sorb the tissue and nutrients in the spike, and anything green can photosynthesize. The plant isn't adding to the old spike, it's not growing, doesn't have much surface area to lose water, so I suspect that it may be be giving more to the plant than taking from it. Flowering takes energy, but the flowers are done and gone.

[yug]

Well, that may be true, but I wouldn't know for sure. I always thought that the p-bulbs were supposed to act as reservoirs to help get past the dry spells.

[Roberta]

Pseudobulbs are an efficient storage mechanism, for sure. But Phals don't have pseudobulbs. So they don't have much in the way of reserves. When they have good roots, and the water that they need they don't need reserves. But if supplies get cut off, like with bad roots, they can't do much to keep going while they grow new ones, except by cannibalizing themselves... old green spikes, then leaves then...