Plants rotting from center, will they ALL die?

[plantluvver]

This post is getting long, so perhaps look at the pictures first. Leaves are dying from the bottom up. These were all taken from the trash.

About 3 weeks ago, I became lost. My sister started screaming "STOP ORCHIDS!!!" (However, I am FORBIDDEN to bring home any plant materials right now.)

We had passed several trashcans full of plants. We grabbed a trash bag from the can and went home. I could not pot them up until the next day. Among them were some Bromeliads too. All of the Bromeliads were dead in the center with horribly smelly, smelly, liquefied leaves. I tossed the worst of the orchids.

The rest I potted into coarse, new bark. Working in the wind, at a park, nearing sunset, I finally resorted to just cramming things into pots.

I soaked them overnight, then went out of town and have been busy since.

---------- Post added at 09:48 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:25 PM ----------

I have been having a lot of trouble with the forum tonight. I can't see my photos, but when I have tried to add them, I get an error saying I have posted more than 10 to the thread.

To clarify, the photos (if they are there) are of three different plants that were potted together. When I capitalized "ALL",I meant to discuss other plants too. But only had time for these three.

---------- Post added at 09:48 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:48 PM ----------

I have been having a lot of trouble with the forum tonight. I can't see my photos, but when I have tried to add them, I get an error saying I have posted more than 10 to the thread.

To clarify, the photos (if they are there) are of three different plants that were potted together. When I capitalized "ALL",I meant to discuss other plants too. But only had time for these three.

Edit: these are all the same plant. I did not include the other photos, because of all the trouble I was having.

[aliceinwl]

The one pictured looks like it has a long road to recovery, but it doesn’t look hopeless. I’m not sure about the crown, but some of the roots look viable and if they’re attached to a viable stem it could produce a keiki even if the crown doesn’t make it.

If it doesn’t look like any of the leaves will make it and the crown is dead, it might be worth trying to leave one viable root exposed to the light so that the plant can photosythesize through that.

I also stake the plant if there aren’t enough roots to prevent it from wiggling when I pick up the pot. This seems to prevent growing root tips from getting damaged.

I’ve seen others recommend the spag and bag method for plants in similar shape but it seems like if there is some wet rot going on that letting the crown dry might be best.

Hopefully someone more experienced will chime in, but I think it’s definitely worth a try!

[Orchid Whisperer]

What you show should be salvageable.

When you say "potted together" I hope that is not all of the plants in one pot? That is often not a good idea due to the problem of separating them later if needed (too many inter-grown roots) and potential to spread diseases between plants. I would pot each into it's own small terracotta pot, the smallest that will fit the roots. A 4-inch diameter, or smaller pot, my be fine.

If your living conditions and climate allow, I find that the best root recovery happens if you can grow outdoors in a shady location.

[plantluvver]

Thank you for your advise Yes, I did pot them in the same pot together. I agree that potting individually is best for the plant's health and easy maintainence. But I will explain why I broke the rules.

I intended it as a temporary situation. I had particular reasons to do this. First my concern for stealth, the limited time and supplies I had, and my growing space.

I would rather underpot than overpot, especially since these plants were not very vigorous. The pots and media I bought before I had a chance to actually look at the plants which were being hidden in the trunk of a car in a black plastic trash bag. I needed to travel the next day. And I did not want the plants discovered while I was gone.

Since the plants had all had been in the same trash bag, there was less need to quarantine them from one another. I started out trying to just pick the best, but that was going slowly. It looked like many were the same variety, so I did my best to match similar plants. (Not all had flower spikes.)

[Dollythehun]

All I can say is, well... actually, I'm speechless.

[Orchid Whisperer]

I take it your hiding / stealth / etc. is from your sister and possibly other friends and family?

You might want to reflect on that a bit.

Plants in the trash may be there for a good reason. In most cases, hybrid orchids, unless hard-to-acquire known types, are not much more valuable than a head of broccoli, and probably less nutritious. There is no good reason to keep every near-dead discarded orchid, bromeliad, etc.

Over-acquisition is not a virtue, and if you are hiding this from your family and friends, you might want to seek advice on how to curb those impulses. I'm not judging, just suggesting that you might end up better off if you can find a way to curb you acquisition impulse. Good luck.

[aliceinwl]

I don't know, I think it can be rewarding to nurse salvageable orchids back to health and my favorite Phals are all grocery store NOIDs. Plus there's the element of mystery, we recently got 8 non-blooming Phals from a friend moving out of state;I can't wait to see what their flowers end up looking like.

Sometimes it's advisable to use stealth, I brought my office orchids in one at a time after hours. If I showed up with 10+ new orchids all at once it would have raised eyebrows, but in adding the new additions one by one no one noticed. The same strategy works well at home (many an orchid has spent the night in the car some even went on road trips while I waited for the opportune moment to work them in). The real hurdle is getting them in the door, once they join the horde, they blend

[estación seca]

I agree with a numbr of things posted here.

Don't rescue plants from the trash. You don't want to bring home pests and diseases.

Don't be dishonest with the people you live with. Don't be dishonest with your family.

Don't waste time on trash plants.

[greenpassion]

Hmm. And I thought MY obsession was bad...