I figured I will tell you the story on my 6 inch moth orchid I originally posted about. That way you can be like: Yes, I was right, or darn I was wrong, instead of never hearing from me and forever wondering what happened to my orchid.
I finally decided to change the medium. I wanted to wait a few more weeks so the plant would have time to adapt and not get too stressed. The problem was the orchid was in serious trouble. I examined the roots and the ends were a lush green, the middle yellow, and the top black or dead. I'm not sure why root rot seems to happen right at the top, near the crown/stem. I can never tell which is the crown and which is the stem. Either way root rot vexes me because the bottom root and roots on the side look great, yet the great looking root are useless because the plant has been infected with rot at a higher point.
To make a long story short I cut off all the roots, and about half the stem/crown. I put cinnamon on the bottom and planted the poor orchid in the new medium in the same pot, but sterilized the pot with vinegar first. Only two leaves and half a stem/crown left.
My conclusions/hypothesis on what happened:
The leaves started dying because the plant turned off the leaves in attempt to stop the rot. The flowers started wilting because the plant turned off the crown/stem that was attached to the flower spike, thus the spike got no more nutrients. The crown/stem was yellow because it was dried up and turned off in an attempt to save the orchid's life.
If I ever decided to buy orchid's again I would:
1. Assume orchids from a big box store have root rot even if all the roots you can see look healthy, you need to remove the medium to see root rot apparently. Thus, you must remove the medium and re-pot.
2. Don't trust salespersons, the guy at a premium nursery where I spent money, said it was probably too low a light. In other words he gave me bad advise, and my orchid had less chance of survival because of it. Why would he want my orchid to live? If the orchid dies I'm more likely to buy an orchid from him.
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