Sick paph has only one root :(

[kalanchoe]

I just got this NOID paph last week when I was at the local orchid greenhouse. When I took it home, I noticed some gnats around it, so today I applied some neem oil to the leaves and noticed it was very loose in its pot. I took it out of the pot and found it has only one root which seems questionable itself. Without trimming anything, I repotted it in a 2" plastic pot with some sphag dampened with superthrive water.

-What else can I do to help this plant?
-Should I have trimmed anything? I was too scared to disturb it!
-Have any of you brought a similar paph back to health? I love hearing success stories!

Thanks!

(Photos show the bare root plant and the repotted plant next to its original pot.)

[slipperfreak]

Ouch... I would've cut off all the dead stuff. I also wouldn't have planted it in sphag - it tends to encourage root growth at first but then rots them.

I have rescued near-rootless Paphs a number of times. Most recently, I bought a complex hybrid at a local nursery on sale, which was planted in sphag and most of the roots were rotted (there was one left, just like this one). I put it in a bark mix, kept it moist, fertilized sparingly, and voila - 6 months later I've got several nice long roots visible against the pot walls (clear pot) and two new growths coming along. The trick is really just to keep them moist - but still allow air around the roots. High humidity helps too, and your Superthrive will surely encourage new root development.

[quiltergal]

Yikes! If it were mine I would have returned it ASAP. That's really bad! Joe's right though you can bring it around, but geez if you paid good money for it ask for a refund or store credit at the very least.

[slipperfreak]

Yeah you know what Terri's right. I read your post really fast and didn't notice you wrote that you bought the plant at a local orchid greenhouse. That's pretty bad for an orchid nursery. It's one thing when you buy it from some garden center on sale, but from an orchid specialist, that's not acceptable.

[kalanchoe]

Thanks for the guidance, you guys! Joe, that's good to know about sphag- I'll get some bark mix asap. I try to keep the humidity up by growing over trays of water, but my living room where I grow usually stays between 40-50% RH.

As for the greenhouse, I did get it from an orchid nursery, but I didn't buy it. This was just a freebie, something the owner picked up and said, "This lost its tag. Take it home and try to bloom it.". I've always gotten great, healthy plants there, so I'm just going with the theory that this tiny one was accidentally waterlogged...?

[slipperfreak]

Oh well if it was a freebie then that's okay. Good luck with it!