Paph in bud has limp leaves

[Jmoney]

As Louis said, s/h is not a cure all. Many plants will indeed lose some or most of their old root system upon moving to s/h. Sometimes this process is delayed--the old roots will die off months later. Ideally young roots will have replaced them, but a minority of paphs seem to despise s/h and never do well. I found that brachys hate s/h (maybe it works for some people, but it doesn't work for me). But even types that "like" s/h will still give you the occasional problem. I moved at least a dozen or so Maudiae-types into s/h, all with good existing root systems. Most did very well, but one started to lose its old roots without replacing new ones. It just happens sometimes.

[Cinderella]

So I unpotted yesterday and not surprisingly, almost all of the roots are hollow. Only one really good, viable root is left. Why would an orchid like this go into bud? Only to torment me? I will try to get a picture up tonight but I'm sure you will tell me to cut off the inflorescence. One leaf yellowed and a second one is starting to yellow already.

It did seem to happen so suddenly....

[LJA]

There's a myth that goes around every once in a while which claims that orchids will bud as a last-ditch effort at reproduction before dying. That sounds rather romantic and desperate, which is what makes it a good myth. Roots can rot in a pretty short amount of time, so the plant went into bud before the rot became really bad. Yes, definitely cut the inflorescence if you want to save the plant, and put it somewhere "high humidity" so it can stay alive while developing new roots.

[Cinderella]

Should I put it in low light or under the florescents? I'll put an open ziploc over the top....thanks.

[LJA]

Lower light would be better, until the plant starts getting more roots. Then you can move it back to its normal location. The ziploc over the top should work fine!

[Cinderella]

Louis do you think my one root paph (!) is in too big a pot even though it is potted in s/h? Maybe I should downsize?

[Jmoney]

Personally, I find that s/h is an easy way to kill paphs that are root-deprived. Some people swear by s/h as a rejuvenation method. I am sure it is fine under high humidity. It does not work for my windowsill. The root-challenged go straight into moss for me.

[LJA]

I personally have never tried to rejuvenate a root-deprived plant in S/H--the ones I've potted up that way were already very healthy to begin with, and I'm frankly still on the fence over whether the S/H is growing me a better plant than leaving it in traditional media would have.

So I'm with Jason on this one: repot in sphag (or you can use fine coconut husk all by itself, no bark) in a pot that's just large enough to accomodate the good root with a little room left over for new growth. You can also dip the base of the plant in RootTone hormone before you repot--that might speed up the root growing process. Hard to say without a pic to help determine size, but I would think that a 4 inch square pot would work just fine, with the lower third filled with something inert (styro peanuts, lava rock) to provide drainage and keep the medium from staying soggy. Then, keep the humidity high with your ziploc over the top, and give the plant low light until new roots emerge. That might take a month or two so don't get anxious when it doesn't happen right away. You want the medium to stay consistently damp about an inch or so down into the pot, so water only when a q-tip stuck down that far comes up barely damp.

[Dana]

You want the medium to stay consistently damp about an inch or so down into the pot, so water only when a q-tip stuck down that far comes up barely damp.

I use toothpicks.
It works great for me, I haven't overwatered a plant yet. (knock on wood)