oncidium dancing lady root rot

[aemiklain]

This is probably a gower ramsey or something similar, does anyone know if these are considered miniature or just smaller than momst, just wondering as it's so compact but still has nice big spikes. I got this guy in the spring or early summer and it had three consecutive flower spikes, the last one I cut of just a bit ago because the bulbs were getting pretty wrinkled and I knew it probably needed to be repotted, which I had put off because it was in bloom ever since I purchased it. It ended up being in peat moss, or basically soil, it was a soppy mess. So here are the roots now, not sure what to do, it has 2 new growths and the larger is starting to root. I set it on moss in a vase, a variation off sphag and bag I guess. Its my favorite plant so this is a bummer if it's going to be all shriveled. Definitely will repot right after buying now. Any ideas on what I should do to ensure it's survival? I don't really have any warm spots in the house, it's 50s-60s and not ready to turn on the heat yet. Also I couldn't find any info on these as cut flowers, but they do last quite a while, I found out after putting the bloomed stem in a vase, it was starting to drop flowers, but it still lasted 2 weeks in a vase, I imagine a just bloomed one would do even better.

[Pilot]

Tough spot to be in. But cutting the spike was likely a good move. These bulbs will likely not grow new roots but with the last spike gone, the plant has its signal to grew new ones, which will grow roots.

Best you can do now is trim off the dead roots and repot. If you can't provide warmth they place it in the warmest spot you can. I highly recommend heat mats, ones used for seed germination. It'll help your plant a lot. Keep the humidity up and the warmth at least in the pot and it'll bounce back.

[aemiklain]

thanks so much! I had no idea about heat mats and couldn't think of a simple contraption to use, I'll definitely get one of those!

[Pilot]

They're not always the cheapest but they're worth it. They also sell windowsill versions if that is your light source. Check out first rays website, he carries them. Good luck!

[silken]

I agree with Pilot, heat mats work great for helping something to root. Also using some KLN rooting hormone or kelp (seaweed) seems to work to help stimulate the root growth. But you will likely need new growths to get new roots. Hopefully it can stay alive till it produces some.

[sarahliz79]

looks like you could get some good roots to grow from that new growth in the second picture... definitely pot it up IN the spag as opposed to just on in tho ;P