Is this Orchid dyiing?

[suefourmet]

Hi, I'm Sue from Lake Arrowhead, CA and have several orchids (purchased in bloom) for about a year. (Mostly Phals. and a few Dend. I've decided to see if I can actually keep them alive and maybe even get them to reflower (a couple of Dendrobiums and Phals. have, but I don't know why) I decided to work on this one first since it looks like it's dying.

It is a Dtps. hybrid that has just put some new growth at the end of a long stem but a lower leaf is turning yellow and bumpy. I took it out of its plastic pot and removed as much of the moss as I could before taking these pictures. Now what do I do?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm afraid I am totally hooked on orchids and have learned quite a lot already by lurking on this forum, but I'm not sure how to proceed at this point.
Thanks,

Sue

[suefourmet]

Well, I already screwed up. I thought I was posting my question in the Beginners forum, not the introduction forum.

Sorry about that!

Sue Fourmet

[cb977]

No way! You've got some nice-looking roots there
The bottom leaves yellowing or dying back is nothing to worry about. Now, you just have to clean up those roots, rinse them to remove all that yucky sphag moss and get it repotted. Most folks use bark mix.

Let us know if you need any help with it.

By the way, I'm happy to see you've decided to join us

Don't worry about where you posted it...I'll move it

[suefourmet]

Thanks, Susanne,

I think I already did re-post to the right forum. Hope I didn't mess things up.

Some of the roots have black places on them that look like they are rotting away. Should I cut those off?

Sue

[cb977]

I saw the re-post and deleted it so you're back on track.

Yes, use sterile clippers to remove any black or mushy roots you see...the majority of them look good

I always spritz mine with a little regular Listerine but lots of folks use Physan20 to clean them up before repotting.

[suefourmet]

Thanks, I'll give that a try right now. I have my clippers soaking in alcohol.

Sue F.

[quiltergal]

Sue, it's growing a Keiki from it's spike. Leave it there until it has 3-4 roots at least an inch long. Then it can be removed from the mother plant and potted up.

The mother plant looks pretty good. I think it's just shedding a lower leaf which is completely normal. Do repot into bark. There are a few folks who are successful growing in moss.....I'm not one of them. I always end up with root rot.

[suefourmet]

I'll try to get some bark as soon as this darned storm goes away, and then will repot.

Sue

[marymac]

Susanne B,

I'm very new to orchids, so forgive this question if it's totally stupid . . . you listerine your clippers? or the roots?

marymac

[cb977]

Originally Posted by marymac

Susanne B,

I'm very new to orchids, so forgive this question if it's totally stupid . . . you listerine your clippers? or the roots?

marymac

No such thing as a stupid question

I mist the roots of the plant. I also spray the clippers but the best way to sterilze your tools is with fire. A lighter...or even better, a small kitchen propane torch works well.