Is this worth saving?

[BArmstrong]

Hi all,

I just ordered and received a Dendrobium Falcorostrum which needed to be repotted right away. When removing from the original pot it separated into three sections (it seemed to do this very easily so I am assuming and hoping they were like that when originally potted). Anyways, one of the sections are two old wrinkled canes with a very small root system (I attached a picture), my question is, is this worth saving? Will these produce any new growth or should the become compost?
Thanks for any help anyone can offer!

[MrHappyRotter]

That's really a personal judgement call, I would think. The answer is, "Is it worth it to you?"

If it's a hard to find species, rare, expensive, or has a lot of sentimental value, those all would factor into the "yes" decision. If you just want to do it because you want to see if you can, then that would be a "yes".

If you don't have much space or don't have much patience, then that would probably be more of a "no", since growing orchids to maturity from small back bulb divisions can sometimes be a surprisingly long process (years upon years).

As a general statement, pretty much any sympodial orchid whose bulbs still have some "green" to them has the potential to produce new growths.

[rbarata]

While there's green there's hope!

[Paul]

As Rotter said ... it depends.
If you are new to orchids, have the space, and want to see if you can do it -- go ahead. If it dies you haven't lost much and for that matter may learn something in the process. If it survives and better yet flourishes, then -- again -- you will have learned something and will have a backup plant should something happen to the other. Furthermore, if it grows and does well but you really don't want to have two, you will have a plant that you can gift to someone else or trade/sell at a later time.

[rbarata]

You will always learn something...
But you'll learn more by trying to save it.

[MattWoelfsen]

The stalks look healthy—not desiccated. You might consider laying the stalks on their side on a bed of sphagnum moss, keep warm, provide good humidity. This might encourage each node to develop keiki.

[BArmstrong]

Thanks for the replies. I definitely don't mind putting in time and patience, I just wanted to make sure that there was some viability to reward that time and patience eventually. I like the idea of encouraging keiki's to develop. I'm one of those people that likes to propagate a plant as much as possible (yes I have a problem). I read somewhere else about a hormone paste that can be applied to encourage the growth of keiki's (I'm assuming it's essentially a rooting hormone). Would that be helpful here? Thanks again for all of the replies and advice!