Help bc saint andre with bad roots

[Foxy2702]

Hello lovely orchid people. I have been given BC Saint Andre, I was over the moon until I saw the plant. It was totally soaked and had gray mould on roots, all roots look like they are rotting away, they are not firm. I took it out of the pot and sprayed with fungicide. It is now bare rooted in the pot as I am affraid to repot plant with rotten roots. Problem is here in UK it is definately not the best time of year. It is way too cold and I am affraid new roots will not grow. I really want to save this plant but just have no experience with bc as of yet.
Leaves are still green and firm, and pseudobulbs are also still not too wrinkly. Can it be saves at this time of year?

[estación seca]

The plant is not nearly as sick as you fear. It should recover well.

It will, however, prefer being warm and brightly lit. I would pot the plant in the freely draining medium of your choice - large chunk bark or large chunks of LECA. I would not put this plant into semi-hydroponic cultivation now. It is not making new roots, and you are going into the winter. Plants in S/H often have cooler roots due to evaporation from the medium.

BC Saint Andre is a primary hybrid between Cattleya dowiana and Brassavola nodosa. Both grow better if quite warm. Is there any way you can keep this plant fairly warm this winter?

[Foxy2702]

Hi m and then you for reply. I will pot it up in large bark that I have. My little apartment is warm in winter so much so that some oncidiums and miltoniosis has to go to the separate room so I can keep them cooler. I might get a little heat mat for my recovering cattleya type orchids. I have been given few but know still very little about them.
After unpotting saint Andre and drying out it seems ok, so I will now pot it up and wait for spring for some new roots. Shall I just lighly spray top of the bark for now instead of watering properly?

[Roberta]

Originally Posted by Foxy2702

Shall I just lighly spray top of the bark for now instead of watering properly?

If there are any roots at all, I think it will benefit more from an infrequent thorough watering - water well, until it runs out of the pot, then let it go pretty much dry before watering again. Even roots where the velamin (the outside spongy part of the root) is gone, the core of the root can (if inefficiently) hydrate the plant by capillary action (think "wet sting") Since this hybrid is half C. dowiana, it may surprise you and start rooting soon. That's one reason that C. dowiana and its immediate hybrids can be tricky... they will produce new growth in the spring and early summer, but that's not the time to pot it because the roots won't show up until fall and it's new roots, not new growth, that signals potting time. (They usually come pretty close together, but C. dowiana is very different) Being a hybrid, this one may well have two rooting seasons, from the different parents. But one of them is very much in your favor.

[chickazilla]

Hi,
I'm not an expert but from everything I've read and watched, providing a moist environment encourages root growth. I would stay away from bark until you at least have a few roots. I've had good luck with setting rootless orchids on top of constant damp sphagnum moss in a jar or vase for a few weeks. There's tons of youtube videos using this strategy to encourage new root growth and I found it very effective. Miss Orchid Girl has a bunch of videos of orchids in "ICU" where you can also see the stages of root growth. Hope that helps and good luck! ps. very jealous because I've been on the hunt for Saint Andre for several months now.