Rescued Orchid -- need advice!

[oceanwithin]

Hi all,

A few months ago, I rescued an orchid from Lowe's which looked like it was in horrible shape. Poor thing was somehow blooming beautifully while tipping over, dead roots grown out everywhere, withering up, and severely in need of some TLC! The tag identifies it as a "Den. burana sunshine" and it has 3 long stems, the largest of which is at least 12" long. Soon after bringing it home and repotting it, the leaves on 2 of the stems fell off and more of the roots shriveled up. The 3rd stem dropped few leaves but otherwise looks happy. The other two stems pretty much look dead and feel a bit squishy to the touch. My question is, should I just leave it be? Or try to remove the dead stems/roots and replant the healthy part? This plant is leaning over quite a bit and is pretty unbalanced due to the way the stems angle out over the pot, so I would like to remove the dead parts and re-situate the stem that is still growing but I'm not sure if this is a good idea or not.

Thanks in advance!
(I'm pretty new to orchid's, by the way... )

Kelli Bricker
Chandler, AZ

[quiltergal]

Hi Kelli, welcome to OB! What you are seeing is a pretty standard response Dendrobiums have to any kind of stress or change in their environment. Unless the bare canes are black and look like they have some bacterial rot I'd leave them. The plant will use those as reserves and draw energy from them while it tries to re-establish it's root system. Repotting was a good thing even though Dens don't generally like that. Did you cut off the rotten roots before repotting? Dens tend to be top heavy. Stick it new pot and all into a heavier clay pot. That should help balance it out.

Your Den is a Phal type and likes to be warm, in bright light (not direct sun), and is a heavy feeder during it's active growth cycle. It doesn't require a winter rest like some of the other Dens. I just reduce the water and fert in the winter months.

If you post a pic we can get a better idea of what you're dealing with, and maybe have some more specific answers for you.