I repotted my epidendrum (I think that's the type), but I'm not sure if it'll help :(

[jaydlyn123]

Hi there everyone, my name is Julie. I received a beautiful orchid about a month and half ago, with bright purple blooms. I've never had one before, so I got online and researched. I kept it where the sun could be on it, but never make it too hot. I only watered it once a week, and not too much. I fed it some orchid food with the water, and even crushed up egg shells into powder and mixed it with the water. It began to look like a harvested corn stalk after about a month, and it looked as if whatever was causing that spread up the stems to the blooms. They began to wither and fall off layer by layer.
I recently repotted it in a bigger ceramic pot, used orchid bark mulch that I soaked in water mixed with the orchid food for about an hour. While that was soaking I took the orchids out of the old pot and let cool water run over the roots...I noticed that some of the roots seemed spongy so I removed them. I let them hang to drip dry for about 30 minutes, then repotted them with the drained bark and put it in the window. It's only been a few days, but I'm worried I was too late. How long should I wait before taking any other action? I love my orchid and don't want to accidentally kill it! Help help help, please. I've attached a picture of the withering blooms and a picture of the drying stems. Any ideas?

[cbuchman]

Just a word of caution about ceramic pots. Some glazes can be toxic and they don't "breath" which can lead to soggy medium and rotting root. And I am assuming that the ceramic pot has a hole in the bottom (at least) so that excess water drains easily...

Also, in general, orchids should be potted in the smallest pot in which the roots and plant will fit with enough room for 1-2 years growth. So a larger pot is not what you want. The larger the pot, the longer it takes to dry out and when it stays to wet, well you know what happens - rotted roots.

Good luck!

[Gage]

I second the previously stated advice. Just wanted to mention that your orchid is a Dendrobium.

[ALToronto]

Hi Julie,

First, the orchid you have is most likely a dendrobium, not epidendrum. I don't know much about dendrobiums, and I've never had much success with them, but I suspect that a couple of things you did in the first month contributed to its degradation.

If you've been using plain tap water, you should not have used eggshells - the tap water has a high enough pH. If anything, it should be acidified a little.

This 'orchid fertilizer' - did you buy it at a big box store, and is it in the form of a blue powder? Don't use it; it's far too harsh and far too high in nitrogen. And fertilizing while the plant is in bloom is not a good idea.

Watering once a week - in some cases, that's too often. Many commercial orchids are potted up in tightly packed sphagnum moss, which stays soggy for 3-4 weeks. The fact that some roots you felt were spongy indicates that they didn't get a chance to dry out and therefore rotted.

Not all is lost, dendrobiums are very tough plants, and while yours may have been set back, it will most likely recover and adapt to your growing environment. In the meantime, do some research on dendrobium culture and especially fertilizers. There is a lot of information on this forum alone.