Please help my Rhynchostylis from dying!

[LaceCrown]

Hi!!

This is my first orchid, I got my orchid over a year and a half ago. It was living with my mom in San Diego until recently I got her to ship it to me in Baltimore. My mom would maybe fertilizer it once a month for half of the time she had the orchid, occasionally put it in the sink and wet the wood and mist it once a day when she was home, the orchid got a little indirect light. My uncle did nothing when he took it for 6 months. So that's why she is where she is right now.

I posted on identify my orchid to see what it is because I never knew and some folks said it was a Rhynchostylis and they thought either a gigantea or retusa.

I have the before picture of when I bought it, sorry its not the clearest. Now the orchid doesn't have leaves on one of the growths where the blooms were. The roots use to be much longer and plumper. They have shriveled and most became really hard, I cut the dead parts of the roots and left the portions with green in it. I just got it last Wednesday so I have been soaking her roots once a day in the morning for approx. 30 mins. She has two, 10ft West facing windows with sheer curtains covering them. I have her hanging 8-10ft back from the windows. I plan on feeding her one of the 20-20-20 fertilizers and doing it weakly weekly (im getting it this week along with a mister). She has what looks like two new roots one in the back and one in the front. The one in the front hasn't really grown since my mom sent a picture of it a couple weeks ago?

I was also wondering will the growth with no leaves ever grow more leaves or is it a lost cause?

Can someone please help me figure out what to do to nurse her back to health!!!! Any suggestions or steps to take would be so helpful!

[Bud]

you may want to repot it in a basket and sprinkle the roots with orchid media mix....or in a netpot....your environment might not be conducive to mounted vandacious orchids especially if you have indoor AC that can be very dry....its best to put it outdoors this warmer months because the humidity in the atmosphere in your grow zone is good for this kind of plant.
I find that this plant is finicky= it grows roots and leaves very slow....so if you lose a couple of leaves it must be a humidity issue....they don't give up leaves unless they need sustenance from it....the roots do not get enough moisture hence you need the media mix.

---------- Post added at 02:01 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:53 PM ----------

water this plant in the early morning and early afternoon this summer even if it is outdoors....weakly weekly fertilizer(you got to feed it)
I noticed the mother plant that flowered died and only the keiki is thriving....

[LaceCrown]

Yes the keikei which was there originally when i got her, which you can't really see in the old photo is still alive and the mother died several months ago the leaves weren't too happy when I got her and from all the neglect it just died. I wonder if the mother could come back?

I will get a wooden hanging basket then to put her in? And put the potting mix and water her 2 times a day. Do I soak her or just pour water over her?

I wish I could put her outside, I kno she's loved this humidity but I live right in the city and have no outside space unfortunately. (I wish!)

[Bud]

you can spray it or put it under the sink and let the faucet drench it.....it needs bright shaded light....do not put it directly in sunlight it will burn its leaves....sorry, the mother plant is dead ....

[LaceCrown]

Okay I can do that!

I'm sad about the mother, I knew it but I held some hope.

Can I in the future if my kei kei makes it and those beautiful roots of her own grow bigger, detach her from the mother?

I really appreciate your help and advice Bud!

[flexdc]

I wouldn't detach the keiki. To grow the keiki to mother plant size takes a long time.
I live in a dry climate and my Rhyncostylis got transplanted into S/H (semi hydroponic) it actually thrives and gave me a few flowers back in January.
Don't know if you want to go to all that trouble, but the roots stay moist and you don't have to water daily. Bud is very good at the S/H method.
Here is a pic after I reported it in S/H



Andrew

[Bud]

no need to detach the baby plant(keiki) from the dead mother....find online the proper culture for this plant and follow it religiously(baker's culture=http://www.orchidculture.com/COD/FREE/FS998.html)....these kind of plants are endemic to equatorial southeast Asia so it needs to be warm and humid....

---------- Post added at 04:23 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:18 PM ----------

Andrew, I didn't know you're on the other side of LA near the desert where its dry and can be very cold at night....where I once lived was near the balmy sea of LA and I had no problems with frost or humidity....
S/H is also a very good alternative for this kind of plant....I suggest you go to firstrays.com and read all you can about the S/H method

[flexdc]

@Bud
I am not near the desert I am actually in Hollywood. But we don't have hot and humid climate, and not too dry but definitely not Florida.
The S/H method worked very well for me. The plant can even withstand some cold, down to 45 on a few nights. It even flowered for the first time in 4 years, though not a very big spike. Mine is a R. retusa x coelestis.
I put it in S/H because I am just too lazy!!
Andrew

[LaceCrown]

Just to give an update I started soaking her roots every morning anywhere from 20 mins to 1 hour. I am feeding her weakly weekly and I mist her roots 1-3 times a day and sometimes water her again if its not too late, she's been hanging in my front window and it seems like my apartment has pretty good humidity because we don't have central air.

So I think she's happy because when I was feeding her today I saw she's growing a new leaf her new root in the back is slowly growing, the one thats peaking through the front hasn't grow but the leaf is good news!


I have a question though I was all ready to transfer her to a wooden basket but with the new leaf growth should I leave her until her leaf comes out more or can I still transfer her over?

(I also have a Brassavola Nodosa that's getting 2 new leaves and 2 newly grown leaves are getting ready to flower and an older leaf is getting ready to flower hopefully soon, so excited I had to share!)

[WhiteRabbit]

Yay!