Oh boy, now I don't know what's goin' on!
 

Purchased this Neo Amanogawa from Seed Engai Auction 2 1/2 weeks ago and when I came home tonight:

http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/g...psasqqfaex.jpg

http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/g...pscxlqineo.jpg

Same thing is happening to my new Neo that just arrived in the mail last week. I showered it with lots of hydrogen peroxide in case it was stem rot, then tried to dry out the excess. Hope somebody can help us save our Neos.

all you can do is dry it out and wait. the second growth seems unaffected.

I won this Auction plant to help me try to get over a very recent trend of orchid losts :(

this is not helping...me

This is awful Charles. The main growth got a bad case of crown rot. This happens when a plant is very wet and there is a sudden temperature drop. The best you can hope for is nurture the second growth.

Do this early in the day:
1. Wet the moss, so that you can carefully unwrap the plant from the moss.
2: gently remove the dead plant from the living plant.
3: get fresh moss and repack the surviving growth in a smaller pot.
4. Place newly reported plant in a warm, bright shade, lots of moving air.
5. Let the plant dry before watering again.

Oh Charles, I'm sorry to see this. Hopefully you can save the remaining plant. Follow Matt's advice, I could not advise any better. Experience is your friend.

I have occasionally lost a leaf or two when new Neos are adjusting from growers conditions to my conditions along with stress from shipping. I absolutely hate to see it happen! Eventually it stops. I grow indoors and feel I am able to control my conditions better, maybe at some point I will be brave enough to move them outside, maybe.

Good luck with the remaining plant, don't over water.

I'm so sorry. Fingers crossed here that you can save it.

Thanks for this advice Matt, it seems to be doing a little better after following these steps.

I now do have similar problem with my Himeseikai I'll be posting later about. :(

Hi Charles - Vanda alliance plants very often offset from the base, and you can usually save the offsets if the main growth dies.

Some orchids just can't take drying out. This is definitely NOT one of those. It should dry out when it's cool.

Before getting one I read all about them here on Orchid Board. The main thing I noticed is they die quickly when they are cool and wet. I saw people writing over and over again that they let the moss get crispy dry through and through during the winter. Some of the experts here like Matt wrote of just misting the exposed roots during cool weather, and not wetting the moss.

I bought the cheapest mutt seedling Neofinetia falcata I could find to learn on. I still don't think I'm ready for a more expensive one. I got mine from Hausermann's for $8. That sale is over but right now they have multi-growth blooming size plants for $18.

I have verified mine can live a long time with not enough water. It is in large chunk bark that dries out in about a day. Sometimes I am gone for a week, and mine gets no water, even when it's hot. Sometimes I work too much and don't water it enough for weeks at a time. It might get wrinkled leaves and root die-back, but it never looked close to dying. It didn't bloom this year, either, but I didn't lose any growths, and it's making more as we speak.

So I would suggest following the above suggestions. Repotting is to be sure you can see and remove all the dead growth. I personally would take it out of the moss right this instant, if you haven't, and leave it exposed and dry until it warms up tomorrow, when you can finish repotting. Based on my experience, I have a strong suspicion Neos can easily be grown bare-root with no medium, like more tropical Vandas.

I grow mine bareroot in little glass candle containers, as I overwatered my first and the leaves browned and fell of like Charles's. It recovered, I soak it twice a week and spray the roots a couple of times a week too.