Rescued Orchid

[bennnn]

Hi, I figured I would dive right in with my first post.

I recently rescued an orchid plant that was being thrown away off the shelf at Trader Joe's. They drop off all of their "expired" flowers and some produce at a charity that I volunteer at, and if no one takes them they get tossed. I saw this orchid sitting there and decided to give a second chance - if I can..

Things I do know:

It was dry as a bone when I got it.

It had flowers, but they were dead, and all of them fell off on the way home.

Things I don't know:

What kind of orchid it is.

If it can be saved.

How to save it.







I did some reading online, and the first thing I did was get it some water - misted on and a little bit poured in the pot.

Second thing I did was to trim back the dead part (or what I thought was too dead to save).

Please take a look, and offer any advice or thoughts to help me along.

---------- Post added at 05:31 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:30 PM ----------

Well, I can't post any pictures. Hmm. I post pics online all the time, but this forum won't let me load my photobucket pics.

?

[kindrag23]

1st you have to make at least five posts. So you can say hello 4 more times to post.

2nd. Welcome and good job on the rescue.
I promise everyone is super nice on here and will help you as much as they can.

---------- Post added at 05:37 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:37 PM ----------

Ohh and good things to have on hand are sterilized utensils, and cinnamon.

[gdupont]

First thing I would do is getting some new potting soil and take the chid out of the pot. If the roots are thick like phalaenopsis roots? if so, do any turn green when you water them? Thats a good sign... Second, either thick or thin rooted, try lightly squeezing sand pulling some roots, are they firm, or do they come of and leave a thin, black, cord-like structure behind?

How do the leaves look? green and meaty, yellow, shriveled?

[kindrag23]

Does it look something like this? This is my phalenopsis orchid or "moth orchid"

[kindrag23]

Which I have found you can get at most big box stores

[bennnn]

Ah, so after a few more posts I can put my pics up. Okay, thanks for the info.

---------- Post added at 08:16 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:11 PM ----------

I wonder if this is the crucial post?

[kindrag23]

Yep you can post pics of it next.

[bennnn]

Yay!

---------- Post added at 08:19 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:19 PM ----------

Here's what I started with:




---------- Post added at 08:20 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:19 PM ----------

Here is what I cut off of it:








And here is where I clipped it:







Here is what the flowers look like, if this helps identify what kind of orchid it is:

[kindrag23]

Yep looks like a phalenopsis orchid. Have you repotted it yet? What do the roots look like?

Orchids like quick draining mediums so that they can get the nutrients they need and not get soggy.

I used better gro phalenopsis mix for my phal's,
I try to let mine get nice and dry before I water. One way to check this is the wooden skewer method.
I have a tub that I put all of mine in and soak them: i fill the little tub up until the water reaches the tops of the pot, for 15 min or longer. Also you will need to fertilize WEAKLY, WEEKLY. I was told 1/2 tsp for each gallon of water you use.

Where the leaves meet at the top (the crown) try very hard not to allow water there because that can cause black rot...

Also any place that you cut or trim off dab with some cinnamon to prevent disease and infection. Cinnamon is a great spice it makes food taste good and helps block possible infection.

Also check out the sticky the phal abuse ends here. It is also a great tool.

Hopefully someone else will come along and give you more advice.

[bennnn]

Ah, so pouring water down into the middle of the leaves = bad.



That's the first thing I did.