I moved around the end of November, and had to leave my orchids with my in laws. They were there until I was finally able to retrieve them last week. They were left outside all winter, and I don't think they were watered once. My mother in law hacked off some dead stuff (at least I hope it was dead...) so some of my plants looks pretty bare. The Phals are the worst off, with their sensitivity (compared to my other varieties) to drought and cold.
Here are the pictures of the carnage after I had repotted all of them except for the Phals:
This is my Blc. Worth Gold x Lawless Feishutz. I received it from my mother in law, who received it herself as a seedling. The little guy hasn't grown much since I got it, though it sprouted one more leaf. I'm hoping to get another one this season, and we'll see if it gets much bigger. I'm worried about those yellow leaves. Its roots looked great when I repotted, so I'm not sure what's bothering it other than lack of water at the moment.
My No-ID bifolate Catt seemed to not care at all about the neglect. Its roots have gone absolutely insane, and I wish I had the before pictures from when it had engulfed both of its neighboring pots. It took me an entire afternoon to disentangle this thing as delicately as possible from the side of the house, the neighbor pots, and finally cutting away the plastic pot it was in. It was so tightly root bound that pulling it out was impossible. I'm pretty proud that I managed to pull it off while only breaking a couple of small sections of root. All that with a toddler "helping" the whole time.
I didn't learn until *after* I had repotted that bifolate Catts hate being repotted when they aren't in a growth cycle...
Luckily for me, this dude is growing a new cane and its roots were obviously growing like crazy, so I think we'll be okay. I've been very conservative with the watering since repotting just in case. Can anyone possibly help me identify this orchid, by the way? I got it at last years Houston Orchid Society show for five bucks, it was unlabeled and in a box with a bunch of other unlabeled orchids. It hasn't bloomed for me yet, so I'm very curious about what it will look like.
This dude is my Encyclia Cordigera "Hinomaru". Yeah, I don't think it'll be blooming for a few years at this rate. I got it as a single bulb, and this little guy sprouted off of that bulb. While repotting, I found that the larger bulb that it sprouted off of was rotting, and some of the rot, while not effecting the newer p-bulb, was killing the roots on the new p-bulb, so I reluctantly cut it off. Now I just have this little guy, but luckily it has a new leaf coming in and, though not visible in this picture, there seems to be yet another p-bulb coming in on one side of it. I'm not sure if any of that made sense, but the gist of it is: we've got a long road to recovery, but I have hope.
Look at those sad, dehydrated canes!
The top one is my Den. Nestor "NN", the bottom one with the leaves is my Den. Nobile Red Empress "Fly Hirundine". The Den. Nestor looks mostly fine, and is digging its new pot. I'm happy to see the new little canes poking up at the bottom there. I'm a little concerned about the Den. Red Empress, but hopeful that it will bounce back once it gets rehydrated.
These No-ID Phals are the worst off. They were rescues to begin with, but I had them on the road to recovery before moving. The Phal on the left might not make it. It only has the one leaf left and I don't see any signs of new growth, but we'll see how it goes. At least its roots look good. The one on the right is still hanging in there, but I'm considering chopping that flower spike off so that it can put more energy into recovering from two months of neglect.
My Oncs are troopers, apparently. The one on the left is an Onc. Twinkle "Red Fire", and the right one (that is blooming in spite of being dehydrated!) is an Onc. Tsuku Margarite "NN #1". Sorry for the blurry picture, the wind was blowing so I couldn't get a clear shot of its blooms. I'm really hopeful that these guys will have a growth spurt once they get rehydrated.
Finally, we have my Bletilla Striata. The reason it looks so happy, aside from being a little cramped in that pot, is because I was able to bring it home a little sooner, so it's been getting water and love. I'm excited to see this one in bloom again, those nodding purple blooms are so gorgeous. I'll be sure to post them once it bursts into bloom.
If you made it all the way through this overly verbose post, thank you! I hope you at least got a chuckle out of my awful orchid care. I think most of these little guys will be just fine with some TLC. I'm lucky I pretty much live in the tropics, and the orchids probably were in a kind of semi-hibernation over the winter and as such weren't so effected by not being watered for two months. If anyone has any tips or suggestions, I am very open to them, as I'm still a beginner. They're still living outside, and are enjoying our unseasonably warm February. They seem to be waking up a bit under my care over the last week.
I hope everyone is having a wonderful St. Valentine's Day!
Edit: Fixed the images!
A Glimpse Into the World of Neglected Outdoor Orchids
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