Jumping in with both feet in Germany
 

Hi! I am an American living in the southwest corner of Germany. I'd been thinking about getting an orchid for a while when I saw a post on a local Facebook group offering a bunch of orchids for free. The owner had passed away and the family just wanted to be rid of them. I jumped on the chance and found myself the owner (parent?) of 20 orchids, I think all phalaenopsis. Looks like I have a new hobby!

Many or most were in rough shape. I think someone had "given them a good drink" then stuffed them all into a couple of big cardboard boxes. When I got them, I know they'd been in the trunk of a car for at least 3 hours on a cold morning (temps in upper 30s F / 3-4 C). Most of them had standing water in their outer pots, and many had obvious signs of insect problems.

Three weeks later I'm still trying to figure out what I'm doing. I've cleaned scale insects and mealybugs off the plants with rubbing alcohol, sprayed with insecticide, repotted a number of them, etc. Two tiny ones have already died. A few are starting to look like they're improving, a few are dropping leaves and looking poorly. I'm hoping to get some guidance in diagnosing and treating the issues I'm facing.

Thanks in advance!

After you post a few times, you can do a post with pictures so people can see what is happening with the orchids. Also, it is helpful to know how you are keeping them now...temperatures, humidity, light, medium, how often and how you water, etc. Do they have healthy roots?

First, Welcome!

On thing that might help these Phalaenopsis... heat. Perhaps get a heat mat or two (to warm the roots, certainly cheaper than heating the whole house...)

I second the need for heat. Phals prefer temperatures over 70F/21C and even better if you can keep it over 75F/24C. Plants recovering from poor treatment will do significantly better with warmer temperatures and seedling heating mats are great.

Welcome. Also, you may need to check your expectations. If you have only had them for three weeks then don’t expect much change - orchids do everything slowly, especially in a northern hemisphere winter. Resuscitating a sickly orchid can take a couple of years even if it goes well.

Welcome to the Orchid Board!

As epiphytes, Phalenopsis are okay "bare root" for a while. But the cold and car trunk may have injured some. From what I understand 55 degrees F is about the coldest they can get without cellular damage. I think just keep going, let them acclimatize, treat individual issues, and then after a few months, re-assess. Phals are beautiful. I am going to get a few this year coming up.