New to caring for orchids and trying to save one... help? - Orchid Board

RoHa · #1 09-05-2013, 02:33 AM

Hei everyone! I am very new to this forum and very new to the orchid world. Yeah, I have bought them before and given them as gifts. But I have never had my own until now. The story is that one of the friends I am renting with found a pretty sad orchid in their closet. It had been sitting on the kitchen counter out of the sun for a while and looking sad. About 2 weeks ago it got put away into storage where there was no sunlight and a few days ago it was passed on to me. I just thought it could be fun to take a crack at it and see if I could ever get it to grow and bloom again. As a child I had really green fingers so I feel up to the challenge.

So now to the orchid. I do not know what species it is. Most likely it was picked up at a local flower shop. I have included some pictures of it so that someone with more knowledge might be able to tell me if there is any home for it and if so where I should start. The root system seems quite dried up though without taking the plant out of the pot I seem to have been able to feel a few roots that are still a bit plump. The base area is brown, though the upper leaves are looking pretty healthy. There were two spikes on the plant that I cut down. One is green and has to keiki on it while the other one is totally brown and has a small keiki on it. I am guessing that the last one would need to be removed since the spike seems pretty dead?

Hope that explains a bit of what I am working with. Here are some pictues though....

Bud · #2 09-05-2013, 02:55 AM

WELCOME ABOARD!!!!
You need to water your plant ....it is dehydrated.
The keikis are alive. Please do not remove the spike until the keiki has roots no matter how dead it looks. When you start giving it proper sunlight, humidity and feed it fertilizer weekly weakly then the keikis might root faster.
Trust your instincts on this since you say you have a green thumb....you can make this Phalaenopsis hybrid bloom again.

RoHa · #3 09-05-2013, 04:02 AM

Thanks for the welcome and the tips Bud!

I have watered it again and will keep trying to ensure that it is properly hydrated. In regards to the one keiki. It is not dead. But the spike that it has been growing on is brown and dead looking. Not sure if I was very clear about that. But I should still leave it on?

Silje · #4 09-05-2013, 04:29 AM

Hei og velkommen til OrchidBoard!

Agree with Bud. Give that plant some water and TLC and it will bounce back. And if it doesn't, at least it will stay alive until the keikis are big enough to be potted up on their own.

Do not remove the dead, brown spike either. Just let it be as is, for the time being. You can mist the keikis now and then and you can try with a bit of rooting hormone powder in the misting water. I've sometimes used a mix of rooting hormone in water as a foliar feed and it seems to be working because roots normally develop shortly afterwards.

Sea weed extract also work for encouraging root growth.

Your plant is growing new leaves and I think it will recover with time and proper care.

RoHa · #5 09-05-2013, 04:41 AM

Hi and thanks for the advice and welcome Silje!

I just watered her and checked her root system a bit more thoroughly. It looks like all but one of the roots are totally dried up and dead. I am going away for the weekend and put her in a room where she should be able to get a decent amount of indirect sunlight. Hopefully she will survive.

RosieC · #6 09-05-2013, 06:57 AM

Welcome to Orchid Board.

I agree with the advice above. The spike does not actually look dead to me from your pictures. I think it's just the usual colour of it. Definitely don't remove it until you have roots on the keikis.

terracotta7 · #7 09-05-2013, 02:00 PM

Welcome to Orchid Board, RoHa! I think you have a pretty good chance of a save with that one. Fact is, I've seen a lot worse!

Please keep us posted! We love a success story!

WhiteRabbit · #8 09-05-2013, 07:07 PM

kindrag23 · #9 09-05-2013, 08:27 PM

Welcome Welcome, Phal's are VERY resilient....trust me. ..Ask any questions you may have everyone here is always glad to help you! good growing

RoHa · #10 09-19-2013, 06:45 AM

Well I figured it would be easier for me to just drag this board back up to the top and give you all an update and ask for more advice/double check what I should be doing.

First of all, the small keiki that was on the brownish spike has started to wrinkle. I am guessing then that the spike is too far gone to sustain the keiki. Am I therefore correct in assuming that the spike should be removed?

Secondly the roots are still in quite bad shape. I have been trying to keep it watered properly. I check it every few days to see if the planting mass is damp and if I feel as if it is getting too dry I water it again by putting it in the sink and pouring water through into the planting mass, letting it drain and then repeating. As you can see from the picture of the roots. I am pointing at the only root I have been able to find that is not totally withered without repotting. I am also guessing that I should try to trim off all these dead roots.

Lastly I just want to ask again about the leaves and "stem" area. There were three leaves when I first got it. The largest one is not becoming a bit withered, and the second largest (which never fully unfolded) is also starting to get a bit wrinkled. I am guessing this could have to do with the fact that it probably is not getting enough water, which is probably also connected to the fact that there seems to only be one functioning root? Is it ever feasible to remove leaves at this stage so that the plant can use more energy on other areas? And the "stem" area, not sure what to call it, but I mean the area where the plant connects all it parts. It seems quite dry when I touch it. Is it possible for this part to die and the rest of the plant just keeps going on trying to live as long as it can or is there most likely some part in the center that is still functioning?

Lots of questions here I know and I am super thankful for all the help. Added some more pictures below.