Trying to Save my mothers 2 neglected Phalaenopsis Orchids O.o

Since I told my mother about this forum she has brought me her 2 "dead" Orchids in the hope that I may be able (with your help) revive them! :O

They look to me like they have badly outgrown their pots (she has had them quite a while and had them re-flower several times).

The leaves are worse than they appear in the pictures and have shriveled up a fair bit. (they are still green at least!)

Looks like some of the roots that are in the pot have mould on them and many of the roots outside the pot seem to have breaks in them and/or lose at the plant itself.

So far all I have done is to mist them frequently, as the plant does not seem to have been able to absorb much water from the roots in the pot (The pots themselves are quite damp).

I'm pretty sure they need re-potting, but am unsure what is the best way to do this and how much of the roots to keep (the base of the plant itself that goes into the pot looks a bit black/rotten, so I don't know if I should clip this off?).





Any link to more info or advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks

it looks like they were doing quite well for a while. the shriveling if the leaves shows not enough water, my guess is someone began to over water to try and perk them up. the problem with that, is the roots inside the potting medium have probably rotted away. the roots in the air are not getting enough moisture to sustain the plant. i would take them out, cut away anything that is rotted, and repot them in new bark mix. or if you know how to do it, sphagnum moss, but here is a real balance to using moss and you could over water easily again. tuck as much of the roots into the medium as possible and hope for the best with normal watering. they will recover, but it will take some time to grow new leaves. phals like to stay damp, not wet. if the medium is soggy, the roots will rot. also other bacteria etc will grow in the medium and cause problems. they should dry out a little between waterings, not stay waterlogged all the time.

Thanks

Wow very mature Phals but severly neglected! I would thake them out of the pot trim away all dead roots and use a bigger pot enouugh to fit some or all the aerial roots inside the pot and use bark and packing peanuts for aeration i would also suggest using a clear bag to cover the phal. Be sure to pierce lots of tiny holes in the bag though! This will create a nice humid enviroment so that the leaves do not have to work overload in trying to conserve water. I did this on one of my phal and the wrinkle leaves are now perky .

I'll have a go with the bag once I get the repotting materials and larger pots, Thanks for the tip