help me save this dendrobium nobile

[NYCorchidman]

Healthy (and relatively new) dendro roots are white. As they get older, they can get "stained" brown of varying degree, sometimes at a point where it is dark brown and you think it is dead. Well, it may or may not be. Quite often these dark colored roots are very much alive in the core and brandnew white roots may sprout out of them.

Another way to tell if roots are alive is to feel them when they are dry. Maybe gently try and bend them. Live roots will not easily bend or may well just break in two. That's why "gently". Dead roots will easily break off.

[djuna]

Originally Posted by NYCorchidman

Djuna- Please do not take your plant out of the pot. It is only going to further disturb and stress the plant that is already in poor condition. Hanging it upside down won't do a thing. Only if there are enough roots to uptake water, which will then be pulled up through the entire plant, the plant will be "hydrated".

hi again NYCorchidman. not to worry, although i have been on several occasions extremely tempted to peek at the roots, i have not done so. that is not to say that this waiting period has been harder on me than nursing this over the winter. i'm attaching pictures as an update. so far, there does not appear to be any growth whatsoever above the roots. since repotting this in march 18, it has been sitting on a south-facing window with only the window frame to provide some shade on the hottest part of the day. i have been misting when the moss looks bone dry, although i must admit that on a few occasions i've watered it lightly as well. this has more to do with my worrying and the size of this clay pot which positively haunts me to no end that the orchid's roots which i cannot see are just drying out and i don't know it. oh well, i shall sit patiently and wait. all summer if i have to.

	Mistking Looking for a misting system? Look no further. Automated misting systems from MistKing are used by multitude of plant enthusiasts and are perfect for Orchids. Systems feature run dry pumps, ZipDrip valve, adjustable black nozzles, per second control! Automatically mist one growing shelf or a greenhouse full of Orchids. See MistKing testimonials

[NYCorchidman]

Ok, so there are no leaves left. Some roots look fat and very much alive. The plant is not growing.
This means underwatering won't hurt the plant much at all while overwatering will.
So light misting is fine but I would be very careful with watering in general until there is any activity.

I think I see the dorman eye dead and black in the first picture. Keep an eye on this plant and it may sprout a new growth or keiki, hopefully.

	Mistking Looking for a misting system? Look no further. Automated misting systems from MistKing are used by multitude of plant enthusiasts and are perfect for Orchids. Systems feature run dry pumps, ZipDrip valve, adjustable black nozzles, per second control! Automatically mist one growing shelf or a greenhouse full of Orchids. See MistKing testimonials

[Dendy83]

Well my roots definitely don't look like that, but thank you djuna for posting those. Perhaps with the combination of a large pot (poor advice from my nursery) and underwatering (due to not fully understanding the needs of the plant) and low humidity has made mine shrivel up. Are they dead, dormant, lack moisture, or too far gone?

Also, these were taken a few months ago, you can see the larger cane starting to turn olive green and it is now turning darker so I anticipate that one falling off.
[IMG] IMG_8795 by Blehri, on Flickr[/IMG]
[IMG] IMG_8804 by Blehri, on Flickr[/IMG]

[NYCorchidman]

Originally Posted by Dendy83

Well my roots definitely don't look like that, but thank you djuna for posting those. Perhaps with the combination of a large pot (poor advice from my nursery) and underwatering (due to not fully understanding the needs of the plant) and low humidity has made mine shrivel up. Are they dead, dormant, lack moisture, or too far gone?

Also, these were taken a few months ago, you can see the larger cane starting to turn olive green and it is now turning darker so I anticipate that one falling off.
[IMG] IMG_8795 by Blehri, on Flickr[/IMG]
[IMG] IMG_8804 by Blehri, on Flickr[/IMG]

This is not nobile but one of those "hard cane" dendrobium hybrids.
Just by looking at it can't tell you whether the roots are alive or not. Best thing is to touch and bend slightly when they are very dry.
Dead roots will break easily.

Larger pot is not a problem as long as the drainage is great. I prefer larger pots.

You said it is months old now. Given the proper conditions (warm, bright, moist), these can grow throughout the year, but many will "rest" for a couple to several months before resuming growths again.

I see only one leaf on the shortest cane. This is not normal for this type of plant.
Check the roots to see if they are alive. then if they are alive, leave it in the pot. If not, trim them off and lay the canes on a container and hope for some keikis.
sorry to tell you but doesn't look too promising though.

By the way, you might want to start a new thread on this. I feel bad this original thread seem hijacked a little at this point.

[Dendy83]

Oops Well the tag that came with it said it was a nobile, but honestly the nursery didn't seem too organized so it's possible it was switched. It did have more leaves on it, but they fell off.

Anyways, thanks for the responses, I just did a search and wanted to thank those for the helpful advice on this older thread.

[djuna]

Originally Posted by NYCorchidman

Fertilizing is not necessary because there is no activity other than staying alive which can be sustained by what's reserved inside the canes.

hello again, NYCorchidman.

i am curious about this, because i cannot say with any certainty that this plant was able to gather "reserves" from its previous owner's evident neglect. could you care to comment? i will for now hold off watering and simply mist the surface of the medium when needed.

on a sidenote about the new roots that did emerge from the rootball, they were only a couple of millimeters long when i finally repotted. how slowly do roots develop?

Originally Posted by NYCorchidman

Keep it from bone dry, give good strong light and warmth and the plant should sprout somewhere on the canes. wish you luck!

i often read about repotted as well as ailing repotted orchids needing to be situated for a couple of weeks in a spot where it will get less light than it is normally used to, to lessen the stress and aid its recovery. does this, however, not apply to dendrobium nobile? is it possible i have been further stressing it with full sunlight all this time?

[NYCorchidman]

Originally Posted by Dendy83

Oops Well the tag that came with it said it was a nobile, but honestly the nursery didn't seem too organized so it's possible it was switched. It did have more leaves on it, but they fell off.

Anyways, thanks for the responses, I just did a search and wanted to thank those for the helpful advice on this older thread.

Hi, I just followed your pictures online and I think the tag says dendrobium Genting Glory, which is supposed to be a beautiful rose red variety.
It is not a nobile.

With the way that one leaf is still attached to a older cnae and the shape of the leaf and everything.

---------- Post added at 12:39 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:32 AM ----------

Even if the canes are wrinkly, they have what they need to survive. Wrinkly canes mean the loss of water content for the most part.
With your plant not in active growth (or any growth) at the moment, you don't need water or fertilizer much at all.
I dont' know if fertilizing will harm the plant (I doubt it) but it just is not necessary.

Newly transplanted plants are advised to be protected from the strong light, but your plant doesn't have leaves to lose water and it is not growing. I don't think that recommendation is relevant.

[Dendy83]

Oh crap, you're right! It is a genting glory I keep all my tags in a folder instead of keeping it with the plant...think I'll go ahead and put them back.

I've been fertilizing very weakly and then skipped two waterings and just let it run under a faucet with tepid water to clean out any salts. I'll probably just lay off the fertilizer for a while until I see new growth. Thanks again for all your advice and will definitely keep you updated.

Sorry djuna for going off topic! I hope yours is hanging in there as well.

[djuna]

no problem Dendy83. the nobile and i are definitely hanging in there. of course, it might help ease some worry if i refrained from staring at it every single day.