possible to split without damage?

[gary710]

got a phal split from a frost damage plant in a 3" pot during last winter (6 pics in link). the split seems to be very healthy.

the original mother plant has one healthy leaf, the rest either got some brown or white spots or dying off. no additional growth

what is the best thing to do? right now it's a mess.

scared to split as the roots of the "split" is tangled with the mother plant.

[Subrosa]

Soak the whole plant, mother and child in a bucket until the roots are nice and bright green. They'll be very flexible then, and if you're as scared about the process as you claim to be, you'll be more than careful enough to untangle the roots. Just take your time.

[gary710]

thank you.
1. with regard to water: straight tap water? or wait til warming to room temp?
2. everything under water?

[Subrosa]

Room temp to lukewarm is fine, if your tap is safe to water with then use it. If the crown gets wet make sure to turn the plant upside down to pour off any collected water, particularly on the mother before you repot

[Ray]

It was kind of hard to tell from those photos, but if the base of the plant is shared with the "mother", I would leave it as-is, as the risk would be too great in separating them. The old stuff is dying away anyway.

[gary710]

thanks to all that responded,

I took another look of the orchid. Here is the look of the tightly bound root mess in the photos. the photos were taken after soaking the pot in old water for 1 minute.

there is some root rot but also some good roots.

is this a good candidate for water cuture, or, reporting in 6" pot?