Mini Orchid Doing Poorly

[medlefang]

Ok so I don't know what variety of orchid it is, but I bought it in the clearance section of Walmart because it had no flowers and I wanted to pot it in a blue ball jar. So I thought what the heck $2 for an orchid isn't bad, even without flowers. Well two weeks ago the newly bloomed flowers(which were a really nice purple color) started closing, then fell off. Well some leaves around the bottom fell off, so I gave the plant some new potting material(coconut fiber stuff, I read I can use that online) and I've been feeding it water soluble orchid food(20-14-13 I think) and today one of the larger leaves and one of the other leaves which turned yellow fell off, and I was unaware of it because I've been busy all week. Now it has one leaf and the main thing looks slightly wilted. I have it in indirect sunlight, in a well lit room, and I can move it if I have to, but I just need to know if it's too far gone, and what I can do to save it. I mean if I do lose it, it's not too much of a loss because it was only $2, but it was a really nice plant, and the color of the bloom I really liked. I've been watering the orchid weekly, I don't think I'm overwatering it, but I may be doing that. I tend to keep the fiber moist, and it says to water it with an icecube but I never do that.

[catherinecarney]

Hi and welcome! The brain trust on this website is incredible, so I'm sure you'll get plenty of help from more experienced people (I'm still an orchid newb), but wanted to give you at least a starting point....

It looks like you have a phalaenopsis orchid--and from the pic you posted it looks like it's on a jar without drainage holes.

Phals like to have humidity around their roots but they must also have air flow around the roots as well. From the looks of it your orchid doesn't have that. Based on the leaf drop you've seen and the way the remaining leaf looks I'd bet your phal's roots have rotted. Not a 100% death sentence, though, so don't give up just yet unless the stem is also showing rot.

First, take your phal out of the mason jar and look closely at the roots. Healthy roots should be firm and either silvery/white (dry) or greenish (wet). If the roots are brown/black/mushy/slimy/soft then they've rotted.

You will want to trim back any rot to healthy tissue--again, if the stem has rotted there's really no way to salvage the plant....Depending on what you have left after trimming (no roots, one root, etc) you may or may not be able to repot right away. If you can, post a picture once you have your plant out of your jar--once you (and the board) have an idea of what you're working with we can be more helpful!

On a final note, if you do lose this orchid, please don't give up on keeping them! Everyone on here will tell you they lost a lot of orchids when they first started growing them. Once you get the hang of it they're really pretty easy (most of them, anyway), but they certainly need to be treated a bit differently than the houseplants we're used to growing.

Good luck!

Catherine

[estación seca]

Welcome!

Catherine gave GREAT advice.

You're keeping it WAY too wet. The pot is WAY too big. Phalaenopsis are epiphytes, meaning they grow on tree branches, with their roots exposed to the humid air. Their roots need to dry out between waterings, and they need excellent air circulation at the roots. A huge pot with no drain holes takes months to dry out, and has no air circulation. Meanwhile, the roots rot.

Most Phalaenopsis bought at big box stores die because the new owners keep them constantly wet and the roots rot. The directions they come with are often wrong. Don't be fooled into putting ice cubes on tropical plants.

To keep it in a decorative container, put it in a small, appropriately-sized container, and nestle that in the decorative container.

Even a Phal that loses all its roots to rot can recover, if the stem doesn't rot. So don't give up.

Read through these threads:

The Phal abuse ends here.

Using skewers to determine when to water

[bil]

and now the pessimist's report. Chuck it and buy another.

Repot this one in bark and in a larger pot. I say this because keeping phals in moss is hard work and you need to be good at it.

Pot them in bark and you can water them all you like. You can't overwater them or over pot them in coarse bark, and your plant will thank you.. They aren't meant to be rammed into a tiny pot, their roots are meant to spread out.

[Leafmite]

If you want to continue growing this in the jar, just remove all the medium, put in a few small pebbles and a little water in the bottom (away from the roots if there are any). The medium's purpose is just to keep humidity around the roots and the jar would do that very well. The roots need air as Phals grow bare-root, clinging to trees, in humid, tropical forests. By leaving out the medium and keeping the root-section in a jar, they would get the needed air and humidity. You can water the roots by filling the jar, letting it soak for about ten minutes and then dumping out most of the water.
If the orchid is rootless but the stem part is okay, it has a chance to recover. Good luck!

[medlefang]

Originally Posted by catherinecarney

Hi and welcome! The brain trust on this website is incredible, so I'm sure you'll get plenty of help from more experienced people (I'm still an orchid newb), but wanted to give you at least a starting point....

It looks like you have a phalaenopsis orchid--and from the pic you posted it looks like it's on a jar without drainage holes.

Phals like to have humidity around their roots but they must also have air flow around the roots as well. From the looks of it your orchid doesn't have that. Based on the leaf drop you've seen and the way the remaining leaf looks I'd bet your phal's roots have rotted. Not a 100% death sentence, though, so don't give up just yet unless the stem is also showing rot.

First, take your phal out of the mason jar and look closely at the roots. Healthy roots should be firm and either silvery/white (dry) or greenish (wet). If the roots are brown/black/mushy/slimy/soft then they've rotted.

You will want to trim back any rot to healthy tissue--again, if the stem has rotted there's really no way to salvage the plant....Depending on what you have left after trimming (no roots, one root, etc) you may or may not be able to repot right away. If you can, post a picture once you have your plant out of your jar--once you (and the board) have an idea of what you're working with we can be more helpful!

On a final note, if you do lose this orchid, please don't give up on keeping them! Everyone on here will tell you they lost a lot of orchids when they first started growing them. Once you get the hang of it they're really pretty easy (most of them, anyway), but they certainly need to be treated a bit differently than the houseplants we're used to growing.

Good luck!

Catherine

Ok I'll go ahead and take it out of the jar and look over the roots when I get home! I'll remove all rot, and try my best to get it in a more air friendly container or find a way to introduce air to the jar(would it be ok to have roots over the top of the jar?) and I defiantly won't give up! I've been messing around with my standard size phals, I've actually bred and harvested a seed pod to try growing them from seeds as a neat experiment.(they are in a flask in a gelatin based growing medium, since I couldn't find any agar!) so I will defiantly stick to growing them because they are so pretty! Anyway after I remove rot, I'll post a picture of what I've got left of the plant. Thanks so much for your advice! And thanks to everyone else for the advice too!(even the pessimist, although your advice was slightly negative about the plant, I will end up tossing it if it doesn't make it!)

[catherinecarney]

Roots over the top of the jar should be OK--the phals I have around here seem to send out aerial roots on a pretty regular basis. You may have to mist the exposed roots daily if your humidity is low, though.

Please do post pictures when you get the chance. With luck you will be able to save it!

[medlefang]

[medlefang]

There is the photo of the plant with the roots cut off, there were 4 roots with rot, and i cut off the parts that had rot on the 2 that were not completely gone. I planted it so more root was exposed, allowing it to get more air. How is it looking? Do you think it will do fine? I put plenty of rocks at the bottom so it can drain if I do accidentally overwater.

[estación seca]

It can recover. Just remember the roots can't stay wet and need plenty of air.