inherited wrinkled orchids

[bporcell]

Hello!
I have had orchids for a few years now. I think I finally got a handle on caring for them. Recently I have inherited wrinkled orchids. The previous owners couldn't take care of them anymore and they weren't watering them. They all have different severities of dehydration. One has a new flower spike and the other has new growth on an old flower spike. Both wrinkled orchids with flower spikes have leaves that are dying. How do I get them looking healthy again.

Thanks,
Brianna

[Orchid Whisperer]

Hi & welcome to orchidboard

The plant in your photos seem to have OK roots, but I would check the medium & make sure it is not decomposed, or better yet, just go ahead and re-pot into new medium (I recommend a bark-based medium; get rid of the moss medium shown in the second pot).

When you repot, use the smallest well-drained pot that you can get the roots into. Pull off any dead roots first. A well-drained pot will have many holes in the bottom to allow water to pass through. Terracotta pots also provide good drainage; they are my favorite for Phalaenopsis.

Check the orchids for insects (scale, mealybugs etc.) at the time you repot. Treat if you find any.

After repotting, you want to water. I would place the pot in another container that is slightly deeper than the pot. A little at a time (meaning maybe an inch of water every 5-10 minutes or so), add water so that water gradually rises to the rim of the pot, but not over the leaves. Leave the orchid to soak like this for a few hours, then drain. Allow the plant to dry for a few days, then repeat. After a couple weeks of this (maybe 4 to 5 soaks in 2 weeks), you should see some improvement in the leaves. They will be healthier, but don't expect all the wrinkles to go away. Your goal is to get the plant healthy enough to make new healthy roots and leaves. After the initial 2 weeks, just water like any other Phalaenopsis, remembering to keep water out of the crown of the plant.

Oh, and don't worry about fertilizers or other supplements at this point. You just want to get water into the plant tissue for now so that it stops dying and starts growing. I would completely expect that you might lose some of the lower leaves as the plant recovers, so if that happens, don't worry.

Good luck - I have seen Phals come back and bloom after looking much worse.

[WhiteRabbit]

The current foliage may never look any better, but with proper care, new leaves should look much better.

[astrid]

The first one looks really bad, but it doesn't look hopeless to me!

I agree with others that a healthy root system is most important, and will allow a faster recovery.

I would suggest cutting the flower spikes for now because they may take energy away that the plant could use to recover itself instead. The second one looks like it could handle flowering, but the first one looks like a wreck, haha!

Give them good water, love, and patience. Those old ugly leaves will eventually fall off, and the plants look like they can make a good recovery. I'm still recovering phals I got that were in even worse shape (only 3 leaves and one root!!) so these will probably be fine.

[bporcell]

So i went to look at the 1 medium for the one that is in really bad shape. The medium looks fine. I found out that the roots grew out of the pot and most have died. I have a few healthy roots with new growth on them.

[MamaLiberty]

Just one little addition to the excellent advice here... don't pull off dead roots. Cut them at the base of healthy tissue with very clean and very sharp scissors. Pulling might damage healthy tissue, and almost always leaves an ugly "string" from the root center. Using clean, sharp tools will remove the dead matter and preserve the healthy without trauma.

[astrid]

Originally Posted by bporcell

So i went to look at the 1 medium for the one that is in really bad shape. The medium looks fine. I found out that the roots grew out of the pot and most have died. I have a few healthy roots with new growth on them.

Even so, those are enough roots to probably nurse these to health. Now you must ask yourself: "is it gonna be worth it to recover these?"

If you want to try, go for it!! It will probably take a year of TLC and proper conditions to get these guys back in good shape, so maybe buy yourself a healthy orchid to look at. Sick orchids make me so sad to look at, but seeing new roots and leaves come along is pretty awesome.

[sweetjblue]

Something else not touched upon beside giving them a drink is to give your plants slightly less light, this will give them a better chance to rehydrate.

At this point a warm, humid, shaded environment would be best.

Good luck!