Sharry baby (need help)

[ksc]

Hi All

I dont have much experience of orchids! can somebody tell me what is wrong with my Sharry Baby and what I should do?

Thank you so much

[edytka]

Hi your orchid looks like it's either overwatered or underwater ... Have you checked the roots ? Could you tell us how often do you water it ? And post a pic of the roots

[HighSeas]

Point well made. Either you aren't watering it enough....or it's been over watered and you've lost the root system, which can no longer transport. Once you figure that out, stimulate root growth either way with Kelp. In either circumstance, it won't do anything but help the plant. Use a bamboo skewer to help you determine the need for watering.

[judith_arquette]

I'm looking from a small phone screen and can't really tell but it looks like you may have some rot in the bottom right of pic?

[ksc]

I give half water glass of water once in a week. There are some new baby roots that you can see on the last photo. we dont have good wood for ocrhids, I think this wood from pine tree. I think first I should split off the sallow leaves, right? and next ?

[LovePhals]

The roots look good. It is not overwatered or rot. It is under watered and the bulbs are dying back b.c it has no energy to sustain them. This orchid needs a lot more water than half a glass once a week. Especially when the humity is low. I need to thoroughly soak my Onc. hybrids in water twice a week.
The same thing happened to my sweet sugar 2 years ago it looked like that from underwater. It is finally recovering and the bulbs are small but plump.

[ksc]

Originally Posted by LovePhals

The roots look good. It is not overwatered or rot.

when I bought it, roots were white! why are them brown now? is only water enough or should use something additional? finally are these pine tree woods useable to grow orchid or Should I need something different, for instance I found something called Spagmoss as a orchid soil! is it something better ?

Thank you

[My Green Pets]

my first thought upon seeing those roots was not that they look good, but that they look dead.

i would wash the whole plant down, remove all dead roots and leaves, and repot in fresh bark mix. It will need plenty of time to recover, too.

[LovePhals]

Well some look dead but for the most part they look good (... from what I can see... )from the picture. A lot of my Onc's have brown stained color but they are alive. They are stained from my medium. Not sure what the case is with yours. If they are mushy they are dead. If they are plump and have some green hue when watered they are alive. I don't like using any bark for my oncidiums it doesn't have enough water. I use the oncidum mix from repot me .com

[edytka]

You should check on your roots , what I do to find out if the roots are dead , I gently pull on the root , if it comes off easily ,and its only a wire than the roots are dead,also if the roots are super soft to the touch more than likely the roots are dead... if you have checked and correclly identified that the roots are dead, I would recommend cutting them off , my method of saving orchids is the sphagnum moss and bag. In one corner of the bag put the orchid , and in the other put the sphagnum moss ( moist it ).you can make the bag out of a ziplock bag , just cut off the top and leave the bottom , and of course supply it with light. I would recommend moisting the sphagnum moss every day , this will allow the roots to grow. if you have good roots and you checked , than you should reconsider your watering technique because your not supplying enough of water. You should soak the plant in water once a week for like 10-15 min . So just put a pot of water luke warm and than place your orchid in the pot with water. I hope this will help you Keep us posted on your orchid and if anything you can always talk to me on private.