Help with two NoID Phals. Severely neglected, Ugly roots - Orchid Board

Lingshen · #1 08-30-2017, 07:42 PM

Hi Everyone! I am finally feeling a bit more confident with my orchid care abilities. I have had two mini phals that are doing great.

I recently got a larger phal as a gift, and adopted a dying phal from someone else in my office. I keep all my plants on my desk which is about 15 feet from some huuuuge east windows. I also keep my desk light on them. Temperature is a steady 75 all year round, nothing I can change about that.

Help with two NoID Phals. Severely neglected, Ugly roots-img_8800-jpg

Help with two NoID Phals. Severely neglected, Ugly roots-img_8801-jpg

On to the sadness. This phal is near death, but I think it will perk back up. The leaves are both very very shriveled and droopy, but I can see a new leaf coming in. It has exactly two healthy roots (one ariel) and one new root coming in. The container is way bigger than it needs to be, so I plan to re-pot it as soon as I can. It is literally just sitting on top of moss. The moss was dry as a bone when I received it so i ran it under some warm water just to get some moisture back into the plant. Is there anything else I can do to help this little guy without shocking it too much?

Help with two NoID Phals. Severely neglected, Ugly roots-img_8805-jpg

Help with two NoID Phals. Severely neglected, Ugly roots-img_8804-jpg

Next is another NoID Phal that was given as a gift. It had two flower spikes, one dried up and broke off very quickly, the other is taking its sweet time. It has dropped one of its 4 leaves, but the other 3 seem to be doing just fine. My concern with this one is its roots. They really don't look very good. I see a lot of brown and black spots, and I have pulled a lot of rotted roots out of it already. I have only had this phal for a couple months. I only water it when it feels light and dry. The moss is very very dense, so I don't think the center ever dries out. Should I re-pot it? I have some orchid bark I could use.

Thanks for all your help!

greenpassion · #2 08-30-2017, 10:06 PM

In regards to the one just sitting on the moss, you might want to get it out of the moss, and repot it in a bark mix (that's been presoaked) along with some clean neew moss. This is as to not make such a drastic change from straight moss. I'd trim off any rotten roots, repot it in a smaller pot in the moss/bark mix, and maybe try a tiny amount of rooting hormone in the next watering. I've had luck doing this with recue phals coming out of straight moss. In reply to the second phal, the one that had two flower spikes, if it were me, again I'd get it out the moss, clean it up: trim off any dead roots, be sure the remaining ones are clear of moss, and give them a spray of physan 20 before repotting it in a bark mix that has been presoaked for a day or so. I happen to have heat mats , and I would put this guy on a warm heat mat in a north or east facing window. Others with much more experience here will undoubtedly chime in. Good luck!

---------- Post added at 09:06 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:37 PM ----------

Linshen, when I had posted a reply earlier to your dilemma, I was unable to view the pics at the time. Just now I changed computers, and in seeing the first one, with the long 'stem', I think there are members here who could advise you differently. I remember reading a post where someone was able to cut the plant off from the stem and get it to root...but I don't have a fragment of that expertise. That said, I still stand by my suggestion about the one packed in moss. Again, I hope you get some good answers. This is great board.

Orchid Whisperer · #3 08-30-2017, 10:33 PM

Hi Lingshen

My recommendation for the shriveled plant. Take if out of the moss. Hang the plant in an empty jar, glass or vase, similar to:

Link:
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/OYdqQjKEgrs/maxresdefault.jpg

You want to soak the roots in water periodically for about a half hour at a time, similar to:

Link:
https://i3.ytimg.com/vi/SQJNzGQMeqE/mqdefault.jpg

After the soak, drain the jar, leave the roots in the empty jar. Try to soak the roots daily, always soak then drain. The wrinkly leaves will never look normal, but hopefully will rehydrate so that they can help the plant again. New leaves will look better.

You can actually treat the other plant the same way until you are ready to repot.

It will take months for the unhealthy plant to recover enough to be able to repot, but you can repot the healthier one as soon as you think there is enough of a root system.

When you repot, do so by planting in orchid bark medium. Don't pot in sphagnum moss. I strongly recommend terracotta pots for healthy roots systems, though other people like plastic pots. To keep the roots in good shape and the plant healthy, do not keep the bark wet all the time. Let it go nearly dry between watering (just slightly moist).

Edited to add links to original photo sources.

Lingshen · #4 08-31-2017, 12:05 AM

Thanks! I will give that a try tomorrow. I have orchid bark and plenty of different sized pots I can use.

hopefully they perk back up soon!

j_orchids · #5 08-31-2017, 01:46 PM

Orchid Whisperer, that is a stunning plant. What is it? It looks like a hybrid with stuartiana influence. The mottling on the leaves is particularly striking.

~Jon

Quote:

Originally Posted by Orchid Whisperer

Hi Lingshen

My recommendation for the shriveled plant. Take if out of the moss. Hang the plant in an empty jar, glass or vase, similar to:

greenpassion · #6 08-31-2017, 03:25 PM

Orchid whisperer, is that a phal schilleriana? (spelled wrong, but its close

)

Orchid Whisperer · #7 08-31-2017, 06:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by j_orchids

Orchid Whisperer, that is a stunning plant. What is it? It looks like a hybrid with stuartiana influence. The mottling on the leaves is particularly striking.

~Jon

Sorry, in my original post, for informational purposes, I was trying to post some examples from the web since i didn't have my own photos available when I posted. I think you can get the image url from the photo, but just in case, i have added to my post the links to the data source for each photo. The photos are not mine.

It is not my plant, but I think that plant may have a lot of stuartiana in it. Maybe the data source will have that information.

j_orchids · #8 09-01-2017, 01:40 PM

Google image search reveals that it's from "Samantha's Orchids" on YouTube. She was asked in the comments section a couple times what the ID of the plant is, but she just responded that it had died of sunburn. Perhaps she doesn't know. It looks like a schilleriana/sturartiana cross of some sort, but not quite the same as any I have been able to find by searching Google images.

~ Jon

Quote:

Originally Posted by Orchid Whisperer

Sorry, in my original post, for informational purposes, I was trying to post some examples from the web since i didn't have my own photos available when I posted. I think you can get the image url from the photo, but just in case, i have added to my post the links to the data source for each photo. The photos are not mine.

It is not my plant, but I think that plant may have a lot of stuartiana in it. Maybe the data source will have that information.