How to revive Phragmipedium orchid?

[missleanne524]

Hi everyone! I've had this Phragmipedium orchid for a few years and it's only bloomed once. I need some help to revive it. The bottom of the shoots look dead and shriveled, but the leaves look ok. What should I do?

[silken]

Welcome to Orchid Board. Can you give us some information such as if it has a name and how you grow it (how much water light, feeding etc.). I see it is not standing in water as many Phrags like to do, so that me be some of your problem.

[missleanne524]

I water it once a week with distilled water. It's in a bright window- not super sunny. I can definitely put it in standing water- that's an easy fix! I attached a picture of the tag below.

[silken]

I don't grow this species but have one Phrag. with besseae as its parent. I always have it standing in about an inch of water. They live along wet banks in humid areas where temps don't vary much year round. Are you feeding it? Distilled water will have no nutrients. They need very light amounts of regular fertilizer. Attached is the watering info from OrchidWiz:

[Zabeta]

I concur with Silken, but take my advice with a grain of salt, as I JUST acquired a phrag, like, a month ago. But hear me out.

I bought it at an orchid show. The guy who had grown it instructed me to place it in some water so it was always moist, because it grows by streams in the wild and always has water running over its roots. He had it potted in coconut husk, some Leca pellets, and a couple other things that I can't exactly remember now.

By the time I got it home (in the heat and car, etc.), it was looking pretty sad, and got sadder, with some yellowing leaves and browning tips. I repotted it into pure coconut husk because that was all I had at the time. It didn't have a huge amount of roots, and there were a lot rotting.

When I repotted it, it was sort of leaning over, and I started to really dislike looking at it. I worried that the coconut husk combined with the standing water was suffocating it, and eventually I bit the bullet and repotted it, partly to add something to the mix to give it more air, and partly because I desperately wanted to make it stand up straighter in the pot.

I expected it to not be doing very well, but when I unpotted it I was pleasantly surprised. There were seven or eight new white roots that were several inches long (they had grown in maybe a few weeks), PLUS several tiny new growths starting. Kicking myself for unpotting it in the first place, I added some perlite, bark chips, and sphagnum to the mix and made sure it was straight.

Now it's in a very bright window, getting mostly bright shade, and I keep it standing in the water because it definitely likes that. I plan to water it from the top once a week with very weak fertilizer (also something the guy suggested).

So, for what it's worth, these plants need a TON of moisture. What I thought was surely going to be a damp, dank, failure turned out to be a very good breeding ground for new roots and growths. And the leaves are looking greener and holding themselves up more firmly now.

Good luck!

[My Green Pets]

I agree, more water, and maybe a teeny bit of fertilizer next time you water. If you can raise humidity levels, better still.

[Paphluvr]

It's hard to tell because the mix is so dark, but it appears to be very coarse for a Phrag., especially if you're only watering it once a week. Even with a finer mix, when grown as a house plant a Phrag. will probably want to be watered at least twice/week.