Help, my recently repotted Paph is going downhill fast

[Ray]

Unless the foliage is wet, the lack of air movement is of no consequence.

[estación seca]

I prefer an aquarium with a glass top to plastic bags for propagating and rescuing various kinds of plants. If the plastic bag adheres to a soft leaf, like a Paph or hibiscus, and I don't notice it, rot often starts. I have an aquarium set up with plastic light grating in the bottom for this. Of course when space is tight this would not be ideal.

[WaterWitchin]

Yup, what ES says. Plus better air flow. You need one Camille. Start thrift shopping or get a $20 cheapie.

[SouthPark]

Originally Posted by Ray

Unless the foliage is wet, the lack of air movement is of no consequence.

Maybe depends on temperature too. High humidity and still-air at certain temperature can start growing unwanted things maybe.

Although ----- I don't know how air-movement in high humidity environments cuts down on (suppresses) the growth of unwanted things - mildew, mold, fungi etc. Or at least that is a correct/incorrect assumption. Assuming it is correct. A nice topic.

In any case ----- temperature could be a factor. As in condensation etc. So I do agree that if leaves/stem etc remain dry enough, then ok. But some air movement is nice for other parts of the orchid too.

[camille1585]

Time for an update, now that the plants have spent nearly 2 months in ICU. I didn't get a small tank as strongly suggested by several of you here (space was an issue, and boyfriend not too keen on the idea), but my plan was to get one only if it seemed that the plastic tent wasn't working. I didn't see any rotting where the leaves touched the plastic, so left the plants as they were.

Today I pulled the plants out of their tent for the first time in a month, and was very surprised and happy to see so many nice roots! Both plants also have a new leaf growing, and the youngest leaves are now staying upright instead of flopping over.

I'm going to leave them in there the rest of the winter, but it seems that they're turned the corner and are on the road to recovery. Thank you all for your help!

First 2 photos are the from one plant, and the other 2 from the other, larger plant.

[WaterWitchin]

Great looking new roots... Congratulations!

[DrDawn]

YAY!!! Thanks so much for this update, very good news indeed!

[Orchidtinkerer]

congrats camille.
Instead of an aquarium you could get a cheap wire frame shoe rack, they are sold on ebay as metal sticks that can be slotted together into a shoe rack but if you leave a few sticks out you end up with a great plant frame that you just need to cover with plastic again.
I know you have done it now but those shoe rack frames are really cheap and so useful for making plant stands too so just a thought to make it look as good as an aquarium but can be flat packed at any time, I would image would be a bit easier making a flap to open to water them too.

[camille1585]

Originally Posted by Orchidtinkerer

congrats camille.
Instead of an aquarium you could get a cheap wire frame shoe rack, they are sold on ebay as metal sticks that can be slotted together into a shoe rack but if you leave a few sticks out you end up with a great plant frame that you just need to cover with plastic again.
I know you have done it now but those shoe rack frames are really cheap and so useful for making plant stands too so just a thought to make it look as good as an aquarium but can be flat packed at any time, I would image would be a bit easier making a flap to open to water them too.

Good idea, I'll look into that! It would certainly be useful to have something like that for next time. (though I hope that I won't need an orchid ICU too frequently!)

I'll be giving the plants another dose of Kelpmax this weekend, I'm pretty sure that part of that lush new root growth is due to long soaking in kelpmax before I repotted the plants. And the higer humidity then helped those roots develop.

[WaterWitchin]

Excellent idea! I've been trying to figure out how to tent a start of sundew seeds. My coconut project requires the only cloche I have large enough for the job, and I don't want to haul an aquarium upstairs.

Have a foldable shoe rack sitting in closet doing nothing at the moment. WhooHooo!