orchid rescue

[csolano]

Hello everyone. Earlier today i was given a orchid that has been sitting around in a dark office for days. After looking closely at the orchid it looks pretty ill. Limp Leaves and 90% of the roots are dry and dead. attached are images of the plant.

can anyone tell me if this orchid can be saved. it has about 4-5 small roots that look OK i guess. Please help

[RandomGemini]

It can be saved.
It's a question of whether you want to. It will take a year or two to recover from this mistreatment. It looks to me as though it has been overwatered at some point. All of the bad roots have either fallen off or been cut and there are a couple of new roots growing.

I would cut the spikes so that the plant can direct more energy into growing new roots and leaves and pot this guy up in some bark. Place it in an east facing window and water about once a week, whenever the center of the bark is dry (search the forum for the skewer method. It will help you determine when to water). And I would fertilize using a 20-20-20 balanced fertilizer diluted to one quarter the strength recommended on the package.

[csolano]

Thanks!! I was reading about a bagging technique to help promote new roots. do you think that will produce fater results. FYI i live in florida so humidity is no problem down here.

---------- Post added at 04:09 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:08 PM ----------

Originally Posted by RandomGemini

It can be saved.
It's a question of whether you want to. It will take a year or two to recover from this mistreatment. It looks to me as though it has been overwatered at some point. All of the bad roots have either fallen off or been cut and there are a couple of new roots growing.

I would cut the spikes so that the plant can direct more energy into growing new roots and leaves and pot this guy up in some bark. Place it in an east facing window and water about once a week, whenever the center of the bark is dry (search the forum for the skewer method. It will help you determine when to water). And I would fertilize using a 20-20-20 balanced fertilizer diluted to one quarter the strength recommended on the package.

Thanks!! I was reading about a bagging technique to help promote new roots. do you think that will produce fater results. FYI i live in florida so humidity is no problem down here.

[RandomGemini]

No, I don't. Not in your climate.
This plant is already growing new roots. I think bagging it is not necessary now, and might encourage new rot to set in. So the best thing to do is pot it up in some bark, in a pot that has holes for air on the sides, and set it someplace warm and not too sunny and wait.

There's no fast track to recovery here. Nothing good happens quickly in this hobby.

[Cntry]

Good Luck with your new recue, it takes lots of love and patience. Don't be surprised if you even see a leave yellow on you as your orchid has been in stress for a while now. Use room temperature water on your orchid never cold. Make sure your pot has many holes in it for the air to circulate around the root system as it begins to grow. If the crown of the Orchid gets water in take a paper towel and blot it out of the center of your plant. Water only in the morning so it has time to dry out. Don't let it stand in water as it is what causes the root rot as well as crown rot when it gets into the crown. Hope this helps as you begin caring for your new orchid.

[james mickelso]

What I suggest, cut the flower spikes down to the base. Get some sphagnum moss and place the phal in a small pot. Base of the phal even with the top edge of the pot. Take small wads of moistened moss and start poking the moss into the pot around the phal. Snug is nice. But not tight. Not dense. just snug. Fill the pot with moss. Water and let dry completely. Yes....completely. then water again. There are no viable roots on this phal that I can see so fertilizing is moot. Place in north or east light and then leave it alone. Phals are slow growing so it will take time. Those leaves that are shriveled and droopy will stay that way. but they are still photosynthesizing so new roots and leaves will grow. I have lots of pics of phals rescued this way that I won't bore you with. But there are some back a month or so if you want to see. Ok. Here are a couple of recent pics of my recent rescues. I left my camera at work so I can't show you pics from tonight. the roots are really going crazy. Growing new leaves too in only a month. I'll take some tomorrow night for ya.

[lauraeli]

This reminds me of my orchid Stubby. Except mine has only one root.

A few days ago it started to push out a new leaf. Today I noticed no less than 3 new bumps at the base which are likely to turn into new roots.

My orchid had root rot when I bought it. Only the aerial roots were still alive. After cutting off the dead roots and repotting (and burying) the aerial roots, it was not long before even the aerial roots had rotted away.

It did not turn itself around until I removed it from growing medium entirely.

Stubby now grows on a stick suspended over wet sphagnum for humidity. He lives inside a large glass vase (/fish bowl?) with an open top in an east window. I drop him, stick and all, into the aquarium every other day for 5-10 mins. When I take him out, he gets the upside-down treatment until he dries.

He has responded favorably :-)