Paph Insigne with no roots rescue

[Ale_V]

Hi everyone,

This is my first post, though I’ve been reading the forum for a while now and have found it really helpful, so thank you in advance!

I’m also relatively new to orchids, having started this hobby less than a year ago.

Back in March, I bought what I believe to be a Paph Insigne (based on my research) in Liguria, Italy, where these orchids were popular in the 70s but are now becoming quite rare.

Unfortunately, I think I made a mistake by repotting it into a self-watering pot (which has worked great for my other orchids) with a mix of fine bark and sphagnum moss. After some time, I noticed something was off, so I unpotted it, only to find that almost all the roots were gone. I believe the plant had been kept too wet.

A month and a half ago, I repotted it again in just fine bark, hoping to save it, but so far, nothing has really changed. I suspect the mix dries out too quickly now.

Today, I’ve repotted it once more in a 4-inch pot, added a couple of wooden sticks to support the plant, and put a layer of sphagnum moss on top to increase humidity at the base. I’m hoping this will encourage new root growth. There seems to be a new shoot developing, though it hasn’t formed any roots yet.

I keep all my orchids on a windowsill facing northwest, with a light curtain. The others are doing well, so I think the conditions are generally okay. With winter approaching and the days getting shorter (I’m in northern Italy), I’ve ordered an LED grow light for extra help. The humidity is around 60%, but it will drop to 40% soon due to the heating, and the temperature will go from about 20°C during the day to 17°C at night.

I water exclusively with RO water and use MSU fertilizer at around 100/120 N ppm.

Is there anything else I can do to help this orchid recover?

I also have a small room (1m x 2m) that I’ve set up as a mini greenhouse for my Araceae, with grow lights on for 12 hours a day, constant 23°C, and 98% humidity (soon to drop to 80% with the heating). Would it be beneficial to move the Paph there, maybe in a less bright spot, to aid its recovery?

I’ll attach some pictures for reference.

Thank you very much!!!

In the pictures attached:
- Paph with the flower;
- Current root situation;
- Some shots of the new pot;
- Greenhouse

[Ray]

First, welcome!

Many paphs in the wild live with their roots spread widely in the interface between the ground and the layer of leaf litter that accumulates on top of it. In that environment, they stay pretty much constantly moist and never soppy.

Your latest attempt with a top-dressing of sphagnum is probably the best of the three alternatives you described.

One thing to keep in mind is that water does not kill roots, suffocation does. I grow paphs and phrags in semi-hydroponics, using LECA as the medium and as the wick to raise the solution up from the reservoir.

My approach to rescue would be as follows:

1. Acquire a bottle of Kelpak. I don’t know sellers in Italy, but Besgro EU sells it.
2. Using tepid water, mix a 10 ml/L solution and immerse the entire plant for an hour or so. With no roots, you have to rely on foliar uptake, and that is not particularly efficient.
3. After the soak, pot it up however you want to grow it, stake it to prevent wobbling, water it in with that solution, then invert a plastic bag over the plant and pot to trap humidity. (Do not seal the bottom.). The plant is currently unable to take up water, but it can lose it through the leaves, leading to desiccation and death. Maximizing the humidity slows the loss, giving the plant more time for recovery.
4. Keep the plant very warm and in indirect light.
5. Keep the potting medium moist, use no fertilizer, and in two weeks, water it again with Kelpak solution.

In about 6-8 weeks or so, it ought to have the beginnings of a root system, and will form new growths soon.

[Ale_V]

Dear Ray,

Thank you very much for your warm welcome and detailed reply!

I couldn't find the exact product you metion here in italy but I've found two possible alternatives:

One is a powder of Ascophyllum nodosum, which is hydrolyzed kelp extract, and it is stated to give up to 0.5 gr/lt when sprayed or up to 0.3gr/lt when watering.

Another one is a liquid made from brown seaweed not better specificated...

I know is very little information but it is all I could find on these product?

Otherwise I've found the generic Kelpak online (so it will take up to a week to arrive) but only the generic one, not the one I've seen specifically designed for orchids.

Also, may I ask you how you grow Paphs and Phrags in semi-hydro? I guess my vases were pretty much the same concept: I had a water reservoir where the spaghum moss, immersed, acted like a sponge to draw the water up in the vase. In the vase I had very little moss surrounded by very fine bark (6/9mm dalton's). I'm wondering what went wrong...

Thanks a lot!

[Ale_V]

Here is a couple of pictures of the vases I am using, the setup for the Paph was exactly the same.

For this Psychopsis Mariposa Mountain works perfectly.

[tmoney]

howdy!

realizing you asked ray and not anyone else, i will interject a thought (though ray is much more experienced and you should listen to him over me)

moss for semi-hydro (in my experience) is not a great substrate. the issue is air. with leca (or other large-grained inorganic) there are lots of air spaces even though the media will wick. with sphag, while it will wick water up, but if water is present it will completely fill up all avaialable spaces, and not much air will be available. this is what ray meant (i believe) when he said water doesn't kill roots, suffocation does.

if i had to guess, i would say this is the issue (the sphag). but then again i absolutely hate the stuff so i am nobly biased!

good luck with reviving the plant! don't mess with it anymore tho!!!

[Ale_V]

Apologies for addressing Ray directly, I didn’t mean to leave anyone out of the conversation! I just wanted to acknowledge the person who replied to me. :-)

Thank you so much for your explanation, it makes a lot of sense! I don’t have much experience with leca—isn’t it typically in the form of small spheres? I’m wondering, is the contact between these spheres enough to retain enough water to keep the whole medium moist, or should I consider adding something else to improve the contact points between them?

[Ray]

Originally Posted by Ale_V

Otherwise I've found the generic Kelpak online (so it will take up to a week to arrive) but only the generic one, not the one I've seen specifically designed for orchids.

Kelpak is not designed for orchids. It has been used on foods, fruits, nuts, grains and turf for over 40 years. The manufacturer in South Africa just designed a label specifically for me with a cymbidium on it. Same product, and far superior to those others you mentioned. Get the Kelpak and don't waste your money on the others.

Also, may I ask you how you grow Paphs and Phrags in semi-hydro? I guess my vases were pretty much the same concept: I had a water reservoir where the spaghum moss, immersed, acted like a sponge to draw the water up in the vase. In the vase I had very little moss surrounded by very fine bark (6/9mm dalton's). I'm wondering what went wrong...

My pots are plastic with two, 6 mm holes next to each other in the sidewall about 3 cm up from the bottom. No other perforations, so the space below the holes is the reservoir. The medium is LECA pellets, typically 8-16 mm diameter.

The more or less spherical shape maintains about 30%-40% open volume, so the roots can "breathe" while staying moist. I'm guessing that the medium you used had a much smaller open volume, and many of the pores filled with water, suffocating and killing the roots.

[Ale_V]

Thank you for the clarification, eventually I’ve ordered Kelpac this afternoon and it should arrive next week.

In the meantime I’ve matured some other questions:
- Shall I pot the Paph in S/H with LECA directly straight after performing all the operation you suggested?
- Instead of the closed vase with the two 6mm holes at 3cm can I use the vases I’ve already use (kind of self watering ones in the previous pics - they have additional holes on the sides)?
- Shall I top the LECA with sphagnum moss as I’ve seen somewhere else here in the forum?
- Shall I move the Paph to the “greenhouse” or leave it where it is?

Thank you so much!

[tmoney]

hey there!

no need to apologise, you didn't do anything wrong, i just felt bad for joining in mid-conversation and basically all you need to know ray can tell you

but to second what he is saying, we have a bunch of paphs in s/h all in leca pellets. our containers are similar, but usually we only include one drain/vent hole, not 2 like ray uses. but otherwise, the same. he told us how to do this just like he is doing with you now! and yes, the results prove out what he is saying!

my only thing would be to NOT do anything more with the plant for now. what you have it in will probly help it regrow roots over the next few months, so i would suggest leaving it as is for now, then repot into s/h as you go into spring. either way, good luck!

but usually, no, we don't top dress our s/h pots with moss. if we put anything on top of the leca, it is some heavy rocks just to keep all the leca from floating away when we flush it!

[Ray]

Originally Posted by Ale_V

Thank you for the clarification, eventually I’ve ordered Kelpac this afternoon and it should arrive next week.

In the meantime I’ve matured some other questions:
- Shall I pot the Paph in S/H with LECA directly straight after performing all the operation you suggested?

If that’s how you intend to grow it from now on, yes.

- Instead of the closed vase with the two 6mm holes at 3cm can I use the vases I’ve already use (kind of self watering ones in the previous pics - they have additional holes on the sides)?

Unless those containers fit snugly into an outer one, I would recommend not using those.

In S/H culture, you’re relying on the LECA to wick water and nutrients from the bottom up to the root system. Evaporation tries to dry the LECA from the top down, defeating the wicking. With those extra holes in the sides of your containers, evaporation will be accelerated.

- Shall I top the LECA with sphagnum moss as I’ve seen somewhere else here in the forum?
- Shall I move the Paph to the “greenhouse” or leave it where it is?

The idea behind top dressing is to slow the evaporation. If your growing environment has low humidity or a lot of air movement, that may be an advantage, as might the greenhouse.

As to the one or two holes in the side, you must understand that when I invented the technique, I had a greenhouse with as many as a thousand plants in it. I watered at 5 am before going to work, so I didn’t have a lot of time to inspect each pot. Occasionally, a LECA pellet shifted and blocked the hole, preventing drainage (especially if there was algae on it). By placing two holes side-by-side, the other hole remains open.