My dog ate my orchid

[Chane Coetzer]

Hi all, I am new on this forum. I am also a new orchid lover. I bought a new Dendrobium tortile in this week. My dog got hold of it and started chewing it. The plant is now in half. 1 part has the roots and canes, but no leaves. The other part has the leaves and a bit of the stem but no roots. I have planted them again. Will they grow again?

[estación seca]

Welcome to the Orchid Board.

The bottom may grow again. The top won't. Unless your humidity is very high, the large bark you're using might not be the best medium. Those pieces need to make new roots to survive. I would suggest putting them inside an enclosure to maintain humidity high. You could use a large lidded jar, or vase with a covering over the mouth.

Put a thin layer of barely moist sphagnum moss on the bottom, then set the pieces vertically on top. The humidity will help with rooting, not the wetness, so the moss should not be very wet. If you can't get sphagnum moss, you could use a thin layer of barely damp perlite, pumice or perhaps dead pine needles.

Put it in bright shade with no direct sun. Sun would heat the enclosure and cook the plant.

[NatalieS]

If you're living anywhere near joburg, you're going to have low humidity, so best to follow estación seca's advice in that case.

[Leafmite]

Fortunately, orchids are non-toxic.

[BON]

Not only are orchids non toxic, they are edible, plants and flowers. Unless they have been treated with a pesticide.

[SteveM]

I have a cat that has gotten a pallet for them. Caught her in the act with leaf in hand and mouth around the leaf. She only likes cymbidiums and oncidiums. I keep the door to my grow room in my house closed when they are not in the greenhouse. She hasn't killed any, but they have seen better days.

[Leafmite]