Rootless noname oncidiums... help help!!

[zesty]

Hi there!
I'm very new to this site, but have skimmed a few threads before and they were very helpful! I'm hoping someone out there can help me with a new oncidium I recently bought... I'm fairly experienced with phals, and am fairly confident recognizing warning signs, so I figured I'd try something new in the orchid world and picked up a new oncidium! The flowers were beautiful, and it looked like it had lots of healthy roots, but once I busted open the pot, things definitely weren't right... it was PACKED with spagnum moss, and all the roots were papery, mushy and rotten! Now there are no roots, and other rotten spots at the base of the plant.. what now?! If anyone had tips on how to save this lil guy, I'd be very grateful!

[Optimist]

re-pot in finer grade bark. Allow the right amount of light, and some warmth. I personally do not cut off roots. They harbor (or could harbor) beneficial bacteria. They also hold the plant steady in the medium. But any way, the old psuedo-bulbs will be feeding the baby pseudo-bulbs, so it is okay if they wrinkle up. Because the plant was potted in too-wet medium, the plant went for the only reserve of energy there was-- the old pseudobulb. Think of it like a camel. If the camel has plenty to eat, the hump fills and he does not use any of the built up fat, but if there is no water (in this case, dead roots mean no water) then he will get his energy from his hump (built up fat reserve.) This built up carbohydrate/sugar reserve is feeding the plant right now. If you give it good healthy treatment, it will grow roots under the new pseudo-bulbs, but not the old ones. (The old ones are now a food source).

Spag and bag might help (there are instructions for the technique all over. I prefer to give it all the "ingredients" it needs for photosynthesis, and growth-- the full spectrum sun, clean water, some micro-nutrients (ferts), and keep it warm because it is a tropical plant.

[zesty]

Thanks for all the info Optimist!

The only reason I cut the roots was because they were all pretty squishy, and I figured they would only rot more and cause mold problems... in the future should I just leave them anyways?

I will definitely look into spag and bag! Is there anything I should do about the brown squishy stuff between the psuedobulbs? There are lots of new bulbs coming, so I'm hopeful about that... wish me luck!

[estación seca]

Oncidiums rot from the roots up. If the base of any pseudobulb is brown and soft, it is a goner. Most likely the plant is already dead. Cut off dead pseudobulbs one by one, hoping to find white rhizome. Any pseudobulb with a firm base and rhizome may grow, but it will be 2-4 years before you see flowers.

There is also a chance for a new plant to develop from the pseudobulb apex if kept in a very humid environment, but this will not work if the base is rotten. I rescued one healthy pseudobulb from a rotting plant of an uncommon Sharry Baby clone. I potted it in fine bark and put it into a humid terrarium. Almost a year later a small plant began sprouting from the apex. I unpotted the pseudobulb and turned it sideways on sphagnum so the new roots could reach the medium. In a few years I might see flowers.

[Optimist]

In agreement. The root area was I talking about is under new growths mostly. If you do have a healthy growth with roots,you could try to save that. You know that the plants you buy at stores are already 5-7 years old so you may be in for a long wait getting your little piece to bloom again, but it is doable. I did not realize the P-bulbs were gone. All orchids can get rot id buried without air too long. I have soaked some of mine for 24 hours. Rotting bulb meant it was neglected for weeks.

[Orchid Whisperer]

Separate (remove) any growths with rotten spots. Most growths seem white at the base, those may be salvageable, if they are attached to a pseudobulb that is not rotten.

The white explains to me why some growths have rotted. The base of the pseudobulbs, and rhizome, were buried, then kept too wet.

The young growths are not old enough to survive on their own without attachment to an old pseudobulb.

I would get a deep pot, fill only 1/4 full with fine bark. Set the healthy remainder of the plant into the pot, the base of the plant will mostly just sit on the bark. The tall, mosty empty pot should keep the plant upright. Water the bark to keep humidity up.

Hopefully the old growths will feed the new ones until roots start growing. Add a bit more fine bark after roots start growing (Do NOT bury the base of the pseudobulbs).

[Salixx]

I have nothing new to add to the mix to save the plant, but I did want to say not to despair. I have had excellent success bringing Oncidiums with no roots back. Most have a strong will to live!

[bil]

I never yet bought an oncidium that didn't urgently need repotting.
This one on a mount had lost all its roots when I took it out of its pot that I bought it in, but I just repotted it in shallow fine bark,and treated it as tho it had roots. In the end it grew so vigorously and with such a lean that I gave up and mounted it where it seems ecstatically happy.

Point is, they usually have enough reserves to come good with no special care.

[snowflake3111]

Yes it will take a long time for this plant to recover could be 2 years or more. I have had great luck with growing rootless orchids in Semi Hydro. Fine bark works too. I have started plants from a back bulb that was an old wrinkled bulb with no roots at all. Now After a year I have what looks like a seedling with nice roots. It will take 5 years till it is big enough to bloom.

That said don't under estimate an orchid.

[Optimist]

Have you used rooting hormone or Keiki paste?