First orchids, rescued, unpacked and repotted

[RosieC]

Hi Stephi,

I agree with what Ted has said above. The first one looks fairly OK. The wiry remains of the roots are probably pretty useless unless you want to leave them to help anchor the plant in the pot.

The dendrobium roots don't look great to me, but while I grow a couple of those I've never taken them out the pot (yet) son can't comment that much.

As far as 'adequate drainage', orchids in general don't like to be standing in water at all. They can be given plenty of water provided that there are also plenty of air gaps in the medium so you would usually want to water thoroughly them then allow ALL excess water to drain away. (Having said that there are methods for growing in water culture but in general always drain them).

[johnblagg]

In all I would say you have done exactly what needed to be done and if you are as digilent with the care you give them from now on have a decent chance of growing some fine plants.

everything the other members have said is great advice to follow from here on out but you have started your rescue efforts very very well.

We all look forward to seeing you rebloom your new chids.

[Erce]

take the dens. put dem on top of spag with root homone - thtas works for me, i got new growth and roots!

the phals need some spag and bag

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Here's why there's this whole "confusion" about drainage.

Take a look at this set of pics from someone's Flickr page. There's a whole set devoted to Phalaenopsis in the wild.

Phalaenopsis in situ - Flickr: Search

Here's an example of an epiphytical Dendrobium species:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarawaklens/1808160897/

I'm sending you these links as a point of reference. It might not seem apparent that I'm helping at all with these pics, but I encourage you to "think out of the box".

A tip:

You can't think of the many commonly grown orchids like your normal tropical potted plants. The commonly sold types are not terrestrial, they're epiphytes.

There are definitely terrestrial orchids, but you don't currently own any, yours are epiphytical.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

I recommend going through this book sampling on Google books, it's about orchid growing:

Understanding orchids: an ... - Google Books

[kaitala]

Thank you all for your thoughtful and helpful replies!

I went to a local orchid society's website, and found this article, too. That seems to be along the lines of my need for "orchids for the everyman" (I don't want to insult the author, dummies sounds deragatory).

Now, I have a question, after viewing the photos of some orchids in situ:
I see orchids cultured to have an upright flower stem. I didn't see a good shot of the whole plant with the stem of flowers (inflorescence?). If mounted on a fern bark panel, what will the flower spike do? Stick straight out? Be upright? Pendulous?

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Originally Posted by kaitala

Now, I have a question, after viewing the photos of some orchids in situ:
I see orchids cultured to have an upright flower stem. I didn't see a good shot of the whole plant with the stem of flowers (inflorescence?). If mounted on a fern bark panel, what will the flower spike do? Stick straight out? Be upright? Pendulous?

The answer to this question depends on the orchid in question.

Even amongst Phalaenopsis, the spikes will have different modes of growing (some are pendulous, others grow upright, etc)

[Blueszz]

Hi, you allready got some great advise.
With rescue's like you got it's important to choose the smallest pot you have for them.
The second Phal. might become a challenge for you but the fist one does't look too bad to me.
When I get in plant in this shape I pot in pure bark as that works best for me. After I did surgery on the roots I make sure I don't water for a few days. After I started watering I keep the plants a tad bit drier than I normally do with Phal's to encourage root growth. Don't fertilize these plants now, when the start new growth it's time to start fertilizing them.
About the Dendrobium's. I've had ones in the same bad shape. Den's seem pretty difficult to kill. I had succes with laying them on Sphagnum moss that was a bit damp but also just by potting them in the smallest pot they fitted in. In a while you see a new growth that will put out new roots too.
Another think I want to mention: make sure the plants don't wiggle in the pots. If so, anchor them someway, even if it means you have to use cable ties to attach them to the pot.

I don't agree with the Sphag and Bag for most of them. Only the second Phal. might be a candidate for it. For Dendrobium's I highly vote against it as the canes still look OK and prolly store enough energy to grow a new cane.

Happy growing!
Nicole

[wgama]

Then den on the left has what appears to be a healthy root on the new growth and it should grow more roots from the new growth. The den on the right also looks looks like it has a few healthy roots and it will probably get more once it gets a new growth it should get more. Good luck!

[kaitala]

It's been forever since I even posted, but this is worthy of an update.

It wasn't one of the original orchids I posted as a rescue, but this one was a rescue from Lowe's. $3 or so. Well here she is:



Two second place ribbons, one Tuesday one Friday in the novice class!


Rescue orchids can end up to be beautiful, too!

Thanks for all your help and advice that got me here!