Is This Sick Little Guy Going to make it? :(

[edytka]

Hi I was able to save a few of these sicky orchids in the past few years, I would recommend for you to get a zip lock bag , or any type of bag ... But ziplock is better. Cut the ziplock bag so your only left with the bottom. Put your orchid in one corner of the bag and moist sphagnum moss in the other corner. And give it light of course, and no fertilizer ! Try misting the moss with a spray bottle. I hope it helps

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[bil]

One point someone made on one of these threads that hit home with me.

In anyone's situation, they only have so much space to house orchids reasonably well. Bearing that in mind, I'm sticking to buying descriminatingly, and not rescuing anything that hasn't got a decent flower, unless it's for learning purposes.

I admit to picking up a shedload of hard cane dens that were compost bound, but saving them taught me a lot, and the flowers turned out pretty good in the end.

In short, if you can save this, do so, because then you will learn that there is no magic involved in a rescue. I also am no fan of spaghnum moss. It has its uses in retaining water, but in a lot of cases that is the last thing you want. The plant on the OP has two green pseudobulbs, and that's way more than the cantabrigis that I got to grow. It had two yellow bulbs, and one yellowing leaf, but it shot roots and even is showing a couple of flowers. That got no pampering, and the only sphag I put in there was a couple of small wads, just to keep a moistness in the large bark fragments. Were I doing it again, I might well skip that sphag.

One question I would love to have answered is this. Is sphag more harm that help? I suspect it is, except in plants that need a semipermanently moist medium. In phals, is crown and root rot restricted to sphagnum potted plants? Does it occur in pots where the medium is open and allowed to dry?

[bil]

One point that cropped up in my hindbrain this morning was this.
If you put the sick plant in a medium that holds water, then that will cause a high risk of root rot in the future unless you are pathologically careful about watering it, and ensure that it dries out..

If you plant it in a moisture retaining media, and then repot, you risk damaging the new roots.

Orchids hold a good reserve of water etc in the pseudobulbs, and as soon as they start putting roots out, those roots will need the proper media, so surely, isn't starting them out in a normal medium the best way?