Please Help ASAP: my blue mystique orchid is dying....

[meridith_cantelli]

It was given to me by my friend. She thought it was dead and I wanna try to save it. Can you help. I'll post a picture of its current condition.

[lotis146]

Originally Posted by meridith_cantelli

It was given to me by my friend. She thought it was dead and I wanna try to save it. Can you help. I'll post a picture of its current condition.

I'm a bit of a newbie (and growing) myself but from what I do know this plant was dyed, like mine. What do those words say on the side of the pot? That's probably the name (not necessarily registered) of the actual plant. The blue roots are what give you away, but maybe you know that; next time it flowers they probably won't be what she first had (nothing wrong with that though.)

What do the rest of the roots look like? Mushy and/or hollow roots are dead roots. This plant's media looks a lot like the dyed Phal's I just repotted, in other words, pretty broken down. So it should probably be repotted in some bark or coconut coir (there's a lot of good info from the pros on here on how best to go about this).

But here's my concern, those leaves. The pros here will weigh in with better info I'm sure but I wonder if that could be some kind of bacterial or fungal thing going on, especially if the medium is so broken down. I just barely kept a rescue Phal alive after it had been overwatered and then wasn't able to get water to the leaves. The ends of the leaves turned yellow then brown and kind of mushy. These spots ultimately dried up like a dead leaf, dry like yours look but BROWN. Maybe it's the flash but yours look kinda more grey. Also my dead leaf ends turned yellow first. I lost a leaf and am about to lose two more but they're turning yellow and falling off. I have two sturdy leaves keeping it going, one is brown on end yellow a couple inches back from that then green. ALL of these leaves were limp and wrinkled when I "rescued" it and that's a sign that it's not getting enough water either from rotted roots or under-watering. But your leaves still appear to be erect so that's what makes me wonder if it's something else UNLESS they were limp, yellow then brown first and it's getting better?

While you wait for the pros here to chime in you might want to have a look at its potted roots & look in the pest & disease section, the sticky link at the top. It may be that you need to treat this with some kind of fungicide and/or insecticide but especially repot it. But it does look like you've got at least some happy green firm roots (if those weren't blue...).

My feeling is that you probably can save this guy, but don't be surprised when next time it flowers (could be a while) they're a totally different color because the dye is a patented injection. Again, take note of the name & numbers on the side of the plastic pot. That's most likely your real flower. (Mine is this beautiful dark purple/blue but its pot reads 'Pink pirate', I'm sure it's still beautiful, I'm waiting to be surprised next it flowers!)

Good luck!

[meridith_cantelli]

I haven't looked at the roots yet. I wanted advice before i did anything to it that might damage it more. All I've done thus far is watered it according to the instructions.

Originally Posted by lotis146

I'm a bit of a newbie (and growing) myself but from what I do know this plant was dyed, like mine. What do those words say on the side of the pot? That's probably the name (not necessarily registered) of the actual plant. The blue roots are what give you away, but maybe you know that; next time it flowers they probably won't be what she first had (nothing wrong with that though.)

What do the rest of the roots look like? Mushy and/or hollow roots are dead roots. This plant's media looks a lot like the dyed Phal's I just repotted, in other words, pretty broken down. So it should probably be repotted in some bark or coconut coir (there's a lot of good info from the pros on here on how best to go about this).

But here's my concern, those leaves. The pros here will weigh in with better info I'm sure but I wonder if that could be some kind of bacterial or fungal thing going on, especially if the medium is so broken down. I just barely kept a rescue Phal alive after it had been overwatered and then wasn't able to get water to the leaves. The ends of the leaves turned yellow then brown and kind of mushy. These spots ultimately dried up like a dead leaf, dry like yours look but BROWN. Maybe it's the flash but yours look kinda more grey. Also my dead leaf ends turned yellow first. I lost a leaf and am about to lose two more but they're turning yellow and falling off. I have two sturdy leaves keeping it going, one is brown on end yellow a couple inches back from that then green. ALL of these leaves were limp and wrinkled when I "rescued" it and that's a sign that it's not getting enough water either from rotted roots or under-watering. But your leaves still appear to be erect so that's what makes me wonder if it's something else UNLESS they were limp, yellow then brown first and it's getting better?

While you wait for the pros here to chime in you might want to have a look at its potted roots & look in the pest & disease section, the sticky link at the top. It may be that you need to treat this with some kind of fungicide and/or insecticide but especially repot it. But it does look like you've got at least some happy green firm roots (if those weren't blue...).

My feeling is that you probably can save this guy, but don't be surprised when next time it flowers (could be a while) they're a totally different color because the dye is a patented injection. Again, take note of the name & numbers on the side of the plastic pot. That's most likely your real flower. (Mine is this beautiful dark purple/blue but its pot reads 'Pink pirate', I'm sure it's still beautiful, I'm waiting to be surprised next it flowers!)

Good luck!

[RandomGemini]

I think the leaf damage is sunburn/fertilizer burn. No big deal to deal with. Just keep this plant out of direct sunlight and whatever fertilizer she was using, stop using it. Get something different, mix it at one quarter of the strength recommended on the back of the package and only apply it once a week.

Not everything is a bug or a virus. I do not see evidence of either here.

You can cut off the damaged part of the leaves with a sterilized knife and apply a dusting of cinnamon to the cuts, which will keep out infection if you'd like. That's the most I would do to those leaves. I would keep as much of the healthy, green part of those leaves as you can. Phals store energy and water in their leaves. This plant will need that energy for growing new roots and leaves.

I don't think the medium on this one looks broken down, but it's hard to tell with the pictures turned on their side. The bark actually looks fresh enough that I don't feel that a repot is necessary at this time. I would wait until there is evidence of new growth, new roots in particular, before repotting.

I would not water this plant more than once every 7 to 10 days, maximum.

Do cut back the flower spike. I'd take it off about an inch above where the spike meets the stem (the area where the leaves weave together to form a kind of braid is called the stem). It will grow a new one when it's time for it to bloom again, maybe in a year or two. When it reblooms, the flowers will be white.

I've seen phals in much worse shape than this. Yeah, the plant is rough looking, but it can recover if you have the patience.

[Joyorchid]

The leaves look like they have been burned, perhaps by too much direct sun. What I can see of the roots down in the pot appear to be good. You may want to consider repotting it. Can you tell us more about the enviroment? Light, humidiity, watering?

[meridith_cantelli]

However; I am new to gardening so some of the terminology I don't quite understand.

I don't keep it direct sunlight, I water it once a week by submerging the pot in water for 5 minutes, I remove it from the water and let it sit to ensure all the water has drained.

She never used any fertilizer on it. So I'll look at my local Garden center to see what they recommend.

What are the Phals, the medium, & the flower spike?

To give a more description of what I would call the stem that flower would bloom off of is brown and dark in some areas that I assume is dead. But I am so new to this but I'm really eager to learn. Especially now that my new home has a garden with several rose bushes, that's a whole other topic & forum I need to find lol.
but thank both for trying to help me.

Originally Posted by RandomGemini

I think the leaf damage is sunburn/fertilizer burn. No big deal to deal with. Just keep this plant out of direct sunlight and whatever fertilizer she was using, stop using it. Get something different, mix it at one quarter of the strength recommended on the back of the package and only apply it once a week.

Not everything is a bug or a virus. I do not see evidence of either here.

You can cut off the damaged part of the leaves with a sterilized knife and apply a dusting of cinnamon to the cuts, which will keep out infection if you'd like. That's the most I would do to those leaves. I would keep as much of the healthy, green part of those leaves as you can. Phals store energy and water in their leaves. This plant will need that energy for growing new roots and leaves.

I don't think the medium on this one looks broken down, but it's hard to tell with the pictures turned on their side. The bark actually looks fresh enough that I don't feel that a repot is necessary at this time. I would wait until there is evidence of new growth, new roots in particular, before repotting.

I would not water this plant more than once every 7 to 10 days, maximum.

Do cut back the flower spike. I'd take it off about an inch above where the spike meets the stem (the area where the leaves weave together to form a kind of braid is called the stem). It will grow a new one when it's time for it to bloom again, maybe in a year or two. When it reblooms, the flowers will be white.

I've seen phals in much worse shape than this. Yeah, the plant is rough looking, but it can recover if you have the patience.

[RandomGemini]

The stem the flowers bloom from is the spike. The medium, is the material that the roots grow in. The plant you have is a phalaenopsis orchid. We call them phals. Shorter to type, easier to spell.

[quiltergal]

Your roots look good on the outer edge of the pot. You can tell because they look green after they have been watered. It's hard to tell what's going on in the center of the pot without actually repotting it. IMO that's not a bad idea. Phals are starting to go into their active growing season right about now so it's generally a good time to repot.

I agree that the one leaf looks sunburned. Cut away the dead part & dust with cinnamon as previously suggested.

[vjo]

Dust only the cut edge of the leaf with cinnamon, don't get any on the roots.

[meridith_cantelli]

Thank you random for schooling me. Okay so after I cut back the dead part of the leaf put cinnamon on it but don't get it on the roots. I put Elmer's glue on my rose bushes after I cut them back; I can't do that with this plant? I can't quite remember the planting zone I'm in but I believe it's 7 or 8. I live in Alabama on the south east side. We do have a lot of humidity here, I don't keep it directly in the sun light (I open my curtains up daily for the natural light to shine through), and I'm not sure what you mean by watering. However; I only water it once a week. I submerge the container up to the line indicated for 5 minutes; afterwards I remove it until all the water is completely drained before putting it back in the pot.

after watering it today I noticed (what looked like to me was a root) coming out of the bottom of the container. So should I repot it? And should I be concerned with the blueish "stem" growing out from the base?