Look what I found in the garbage can...

[Autumn Child]

Yup, two perfectly healthy phals. Picked them up and put it on my balcony waiting for a new home. One of them has absolutely healthy root system while the other one have some rotting roots. Both have fungus growing inside the medium due to overwatering by the vendors. Everyday, hundreds of plants like this get thrown away (from just one flower market, i estimate tens of thousand get thrown everyday in Shanghai) because all their flowers wilted not because of disease of dying plant. The flowers ussually wilt within a month in poorly built flower shops in shanghai. I wish i could set up an orchid refuge in this city and donate these plants away.

As for the fungus...what should i do with them? i cannot repot the plant because they have no root growth and would stress them out further. Should I just let them dry out?

[bdelfiero]

Hi Autumn Child, I can't believe they are throwing some healthy plants instead of nursing them and wait for the next flowering cycle and sell them.

Anyway, I would love to re-pot your plant immediately and remove all the medium. Cut the spike to the base of the plant. Don't forget to clean the roots very well and use fungicide as well. As for the media, you can use orchid mix like bark, perlite and charcoal.

In my situation most of my rescued Phals without roots are successfully thrive in s/h culture because of my warm weather and humid environment.

[Autumn Child]

Well you see, unlike the retailers in the western or developed countries, the chinese orchid retailers focus on plant turnover. Their shop is tiny in comparison to their western counterpart and cannot affort to nurse plant for more than a couple of month. Furthermore, most local residents do not know how to grow orchids and buy the plant solely for the flowers, not the whole plant. Infact, the cut flowers sells about the same price as the plant with flowers.

My intension is to keep the plant healthy give it away because i have very limited space and i am saving it for more exotic orchids. However, i just can't stand seeing healthy plants goes to waste.

P.s. I can never find a fungicide in shanghai. I guess people don't buy fungicide when plants come so cheap and plentiful.

[trdyl]

Nice find!

[Brotherly Monkey]

"Well you see, unlike the retailers in the western or developed countries, the chinese orchid retailers focus on plant turnover. Their shop is tiny in comparison to their western counterpart and cannot affort to nurse plant for more than a couple of month. Furthermore, most local residents do not know how to grow orchids and buy the plant solely for the flowers, not the whole plant."

this is true in the west, as well

[Forever-mango]

Even for the florists in Australia. They purchase the orchids and flowers for their blooms. With blooms they go for average $80AUD, and without the blooms, i got 5 for $20!