Healthy roots at last!

[stever_sl]

After losing orchid after orchid to root rot (no matter how infrequently I watered, it seemed) I finally took the advice of some of this forum's fine people about water culture, or semi-water, and saved a plant! The poor thing (unidentified, naturally) had one sickly root left to support 3-4 leaves, and was clearly not going to make it. So I trimmed off all the rotten brown junk from the bottom and suspended it in a large drinking glass half-full of water, so that about 1/2 inch of the lowest part of the plant was in the water. The hardest part - I just left it alone in an open-topped aquarium in front of a south-facing window with partial screening. Now, two months later, there are roots everywhere! Roots under the water, roots above the water. The plant has lots of new leaf growth, too. Right next to it I have a Phal in a cage with bark, and that's part 2 of the experiment - I don't water it directly, I just keep a bare skim of water in the bottom of the aquarium. The bottom layer of the bark stays wet, the rest just sees vapors, and that plant is also throwing out new roots and leaf growth for the first time. So I'm convinced - these plants CAN be saved after all!

[JP020366]

Hi

Nice story...was this a phal? You say it was unidentified but thought you might know this much. If it was, I managed to save a phal recently using another method but keen to try new ways. Still have a few that I almost killed with kindness when I first got them.

Cheers

John

[trdyl]

Congratulations on your save!

[RenéeS]

Well done! Persistance helps . Do you have any before and after photo's?

[stever_sl]

As to the identity of this orchid, there's a 50/50 chance it's an Otaara Jane Fumiye "Hawaii" -- I had two that I put in the "hospital", one with that tag and one with nothing, but somewhere along the line the tag fell out and I couldn't remember which pot it was in. And I'm afraid I didn't take any before/after shots - I honestly thought the plant was doomed and it didn't occur to me, after all my previous failures, that this one might succeed!

[Orchid126]

Otaara Jane Fumiye is a beautiful orchid, well worth saving. It sounds like this orchid is a good candidate for semi-hydro. Nice growing!

[stever_sl]

I just did a quick count and found over half a dozen good long roots (all but one in the water - one in the air) and at least 15 little nubs where roots are starting to break out. After all the dying plants I've had to deal with in bark and in sphagnum and various other things, this is just incredible. I can't believe what a difference this method of culture has made!

[Undergrounder]

Congrats! it takes guts to culture orchids like this, if only people knew how successful it was!

Out of interest, the water is just plain tap? Some people say it needs to have algae in it but my own experiments suggest just plan water no algae works fine.

Also, are you brave enough to cut off the air roots? If it survives with all its roots completely under the water it would prove that Phalaenopsis (at least) get all the oxygen they need from water and don't need air pockets at all.

[stever_sl]

I used tap water, which in St Louis is pretty hard and alkaline. For several weeks there was no algae, then it started but I left it alone since the plant didn't seem to be bothered by it. I would top up the water occasionally, and a couple of times I set the glass out when it rained -- orchids seem to love that. I only emptied and refilled the glass once or twice in two months. The last time I put a tiny drop of fertilizer in the water.

Cut off a living root??? I don't think I could -- and most of the 15+ new root nubs are up on the air side, not in the water...

[Ingrid76]

Will you post a picture? I'm thinking about using this method for one of my sick phals and I would love to see your set-up.