Neofinetia Orchid Rescue

[MikeV]

Is this Neo salvageable? We left on vacation for a week and our only guess is that the house sitter got water between the leaves causing it to rot. Any help is greatly appreciated. It seems like it has one fan that is still in good shape.

[estación seca]

Yes, it's salvageable. The moss is very broken down. It should have been repotted many months ago. I don't think the problem was water between the leaves. The plant was either dry for too long or the old moss was so wet the roots rotted.

Get the moss wet. Remove the plant from the pot and gently pick off all the old moss. Cut off the dead part of the plant together with the roots attached to the dead part. Don't cut any roots attached to the good part.

It is tricky to learn growing in moss. I suggest you repot it into medium bark in the smallest pot holding the roots. Water thoroughly when the bark is dry. Depending on the temperatures and humidity this might be every 1-5 days.

[MikeV]

Thank you for the help. I'll be sure to get on that right away. We haven't had this orchid long and the moss it is in is what it was potted in from the nursery. I was worried it was older, but I figured I should trust the nursery. I'll be sure to trust my gut and do more independent research in the future. Again, thank you so much.

[Roberta]

Originally Posted by MikeV

Thank you for the help. I'll be sure to get on that right away. We haven't had this orchid long and the moss it is in is what it was potted in from the nursery. I was worried it was older, but I figured I should trust the nursery. I'll be sure to trust my gut and do more independent research in the future. Again, thank you so much.

Very frequently, newly-acquired plants need repotting due to broken down medium. If they look like they need it, they probably do.