Four Different Phals with Four Different States of Health (help greatly appreciated!)

[Rexcalibur]

I'm in the middle of unpotting Sophie right now. These are what her roots look like.

I'm also finding these spongey-looking substances... I'm not sure if that may be part of the media or what's causing her to be sick in the first place? I'll be doing some more research tonight, gahh.

[fishmom]

Yep, that ice cube method is designed to kill off the phal so you will buy another plant. They are selling flowers, not plants. But the plant can regain health and give you satisfaction for years to come. Good luck!

[gngrhill]

The "just add ice" thing with orchids is because a lot of people buy the orchid in bloom and just want to enjoy the bloom and then discard the plant when the blooms die. they are not thinking of keeping the plant and trying to get it to rebloom. A lot of orchids come from the store packed in spaghnum moss so they won't dry out while they are sitting in the store for weeks. Not good for long term care. You have been given good advice above for correcting the problems.

[Helene]

You're doing okay- the sponge thing in the mix is normal. Sometimes they use that.
But as you notice: you never know whats hidden in the pot. And if you dont know what the media is, its really hard to water correctly.

I would repot them all, start with the ones that need it the most, like you did. After a repot you know all the roots are healthy, and you know what media they are in.

When I repot, and I find a plant with not very much roots, I like to keep it in a vase while recovering. Mist it every day. You can put it in a pot- with new media. (I have a repotting thread for my phalaenopsis- if you want to search and find it, lots of pictures). Yours seem to have enough roots to just repot after removing dead roots.

New pot. New media. Water, and make sure it drains well. Hopefully they will bounce back in no time
Edit: can use the old pots, just clean them. Just meant giving them a new start.


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[Rexcalibur]

I brought my phals (excluding the blues) to work today and a nursery afterwards. They gave me a visual walkthrough with how to soak the plants when it's time to water them. I'm still baffled that the instructions said to just ice em once a week... plus that "Just Add Ice Orchids" site I thought legitimized the method so :/. Thank you all for pointing that out to me before I continued doing it haha.

Turns out the other three are recovering pretty well! I was advised to wait on repotting Mathilda (white vase) and to repot Olivia (purple flowers) after her blooms fall off. Phoebe (newly repotted) has a new leaf growing in, despite having no roots - just gotta keep taking care of them!

I trimmed off Sophie's dead roots earlier. She's still got a few thick ones with substance, so despite losing about half her roots, she might have a chance at recovery. I'm following Estacion's advice and letting her dry another night before I repot her.

I've also been pouring through that Abuse thread and will be checking out the repotting thread Helene mentioned too! Thank you all SO much for helping me out!!