Help - can I save this orchid?

[Alex R]

Many thanks for the advice!

I completely forgot about the weighing method -- and it so happens that I have an accurate electronic scale to 1 gram resolution (kudos to the missus who bought it for cooking).

Should I spray orchid mist daily? I bought 750ml of it, this stuff: https://smile.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00IJZGL1A

What about orchid food? Bought this stuff (says to use every time, or every other time): Miracle-Gro Orchid Concentrated Plant Food 236ml: Amazon.co.uk: Garden & Outdoors

[SouthPark]

If you have good air-movement and the temperature is nice and warm for the orchid, then maybe misting is ok maybe. Just be careful of conditions with not much air-circulation and moisture buildup in between leaves etc ----- can promote unwanted conditions - like fungal issues, bacterial etc.

[Roberta]

Originally Posted by Alex R

Should I spray orchid mist daily? I bought 750ml of it, this stuff: Growth Technology GTOM750 Orchid Myst 750 ML Spray: Amazon.co.uk: Garden & Outdoors

What about orchid food? Bought this stuff (says to use every time, or every other time): Miracle-Gro Orchid Concentrated Plant Food 236ml: Amazon.co.uk: Garden & Outdoors

Misting isn't useful... the water evaporates too fast to significantly improve humidity, and it may even create an environment where fungal or bacterial disease can set in. So just maintain the watering schedule that you determine from the weighing. The goal is "humid air" rather than "wet" in the root zone.

As for fertilizer, orchids don't need much. Whatever the dilution called for in the instructions, you can use about half as much. About once a week will give the plant what it needs. ("Once weekly, weakly" is a good approximation) So how often that is with respect to watering, depends on how fast the plant dries out. Think of fertilizer as "vitamins", not "food" ... photosynthesis provides the "food" part - the carbs needed for day-to-day living. Fertilizer provides minerals to build new cells, a process that is very slow in orchids which is why they don't need, or want, much. And while the plant is recovering, its fertilizer needs are probably even less. (If you're sick, extra vitamins aren't going to get you healthy any sooner) So while you'll see huge amounts of discussion about fertilizer and fertilizer concentration on the Forum, it is the least important factor in orchid growing... get the rest of the culture (watering, warmth, indirect light) working for you first.

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[Alex R]

A question on the weighing method and my fighting-for-its-life orchid: should I wait until the drop per day is really 0 grams, i.e. completely dry? The weight drop in the last two days was 3-4g/day (8g drop in last 2 days). It's been 5 days since I watered it.

[Roberta]

You don't want to go totally dry. So look more for a leveling off of change. With fresh medium, you may find that you need to water several times a week... That is good, because fresh water flowing through the pot pulls fresh air into the root zone. If it seems to dry out fast, you won't have to "study" it for long - as long as it is drying out quickly you can't overwater it, it's the long time staying wet and airless in the old medium that was the problem.

[Alex R]

Makes sense, thank you.

[Alex R]

You'll be glad to know that the orchid has been fighting and seems to be winning. Some photos below. One leaf is now pretty sturdy and sits nicely up in the air, a second gained sturdiness, and the flowers all opened widely and their petals are no longer mushy. I took extra care wrt watering and daylight.

Many thanks everyone for all the advice! I'm sure the orchid likes the new pot with extra holes on the side and the lack of an external pot (that was impeding air circulation).

[Alex R]

Orchid is recovering. Three leaves are now perky. The fourth gained volume and perkiness but started to turn yellow on one margin (likely shedding it soon).

I had a question: This time around, I noticed the bottom half of the medium stayed damp for a long time (12+ days) while the top half dried up fairly quickly. I suspect two reasons: One, roots aren't long and don't reach the bottom half much (if you recall my first photos).

Two: I suspect there aren't enough holes in the pot for air to circulate (or they aren't big enough).

I attached some photos.

Would it be beneficial to drill more holes in the bottom half of the pot? Any specific advice as to number and size of holes?

[Fishkeeper]

There we go! Love the improvement, it looks so much better.

More holes in the pot wouldn't hurt, if you made sure not to let it dry out. Some people grow these in mesh pots, some people grow them mounted on things like how they live in the wild. As long as you don't let them get too dry, it's pretty much impossible to have too much ventilation and airing-out of the media. The only potential downside to more ventilation is that you might have to water more, if you poked a ton more holes.

If it were me, I would honestly start with however many holes looks aesthetically good.Maybe another row below that second row, offset, or double the number of holes in the second row. See if that looks good, and if it's not enough ventilation, add more holes.

[Phalaenoptics]

I love seeing an orchid recover!! Post an update if you can. Hope adding more holes helped!