Hi Doc, I haven't had great experiences with anything in sphag so I'd agree with that. It's also what this little one was in before I cleaned it up, and I couldn't believe just how tightly it was packed in such a little pot! Since two of you have now said it, I'll definately look into to rooting hormone (starting with the ones you've mentioned) and see what I can get hold of round here :)

Hi guys, thought I'd give an update - I held off using rooting hormone as I wanted to see how it'd do on it's own first. So, I've been dunking the roots in pure water 4-5 times a day (unless I've been at work and then maybe 2-3 times a day!) with occaisional dunks in water mixed with a little splash of Orchid Ultra and Orchid focus grow.

Two of the old roots now have new bright green growth spurting out of them :)

The oldest leaf is half dead, but this is taking place very slowly, which is good. Ok, it's not good it's shrivelling up, but it's good that it's slow and not rapid!

Lastly, the new leaf (which was just a tip in the original pictures posted) has grown a bit too. Not a staggering amount, but the little phal is certainly putting in an effort :)

Looks like it might just pull through :)

Just a quick thought (my two cents so take it or leave it). Even a dying leaf takes energy from the plant as it is trying to repair it. As it is dying out already, you may want to let the plant use that energy for root and new leaf production by cutting it off now.

Again, just a thought. I do this all the time with my phal's if there is an issue going on and it seems to work.

Hi Paul, I never mind collecting peoples' :twocents:, it's one way to fill the piggy bank ;) When I first took charge of this one, I did take off the two lowest leaves which weren't in a position to contribute greatly to the cause (one was practically dead and the other was nearly at that point). I'll keep an eye on how things develop and keep in mind what you say :)

Since the roots are currently spread around horizontally (as they were ariels propped up by the pot edge) it does look an good candidate for mounting. However, I spoke to the 'parents' and I don't think they could fit mount care into their dialy lives! oh well, I'll get this little one back in a pot if it's the last thing I do!

Hi Jenny,

Re-potting orchids is not rocket science. You are making this far too complicated! :roll: You will have far more success with this plant in my opinion, if you gently compress the roots in your hand and carefully twist them into a 4" or 5" pot, whichever is smaller for the plant. Add the mix of your choice, pack down firmly, water and fertilize. The leaves will come back as soon as these roots start bringing moisture up to them, often in a week or two.

Arial roots easily convert to a pot in all my experience. If you think of what they would do in nature: they wander from the plant and when they find a natural bole in their tree, in they go. If you have ever had several plants together, the arial roots often will go from one pot to another.

:twocents:

CL

The roots look really nice to me.
Is there a new leaf growing from the crown? I thought I saw a shadow in Pic #3 that looked like one.
If so, then you are off to a running start.
Love your set up...learned a few things there as well :D

Thanks guys, yes, Eyebabe, there is a leaf coming up from the crown :)

@ Cym Ladye, yes, I've put phal ariels back in the pot during repotting before with no problems, so I understand your point. However, these ones really don't want to play and when I tried potting a couple of weeks ago, I snapped a couple so I stopped as I didn't want to cause more damage. I dare say that I am overcomplicating things, but this is probably due to the plant not actually being mine and so I want to make sure it lives! But, thanks for the advice and, once these new little roots take hold (maybe another week or so), I'll try and pot again and see what happens

When you do try and pot those aerial roots you're going to have to soak them for A LONG time to make them flexible so you don't break them! I once had to leave mine a good day and a half before they were flexible enough to pot & not break...
Good luck!

I agree with Nenella, Howard and CL. It's better off in a pot, and will recover faster. I have done what Nenella suggested and soaked the heck out of one before those roots limbered up enough to bend and go in the pot.

Ok, she's now potted. The best I could do was a larger pot than I would've liked, but I've reduced the volume of the pot on the inside before adding bark. Just goes to show, if you nag me enough, I'll give in ;)