No Leaves &/or No Roots

[Water]

Hello i just joined and have a couple of questions. I received a couple of Phalaenopsis from my freind and they weren't taken care of at all. So i repotted them all about a week ago. here is my question

1) one plant had no healthy roots at all! but it still have 2 big slightly yellowish leaves. so i continued with its potting. was that the right choice??? is it still alive even without roots???

2) the other one has a few okay roots and 2 yellowish leaves, but just today both leaves fell off! its like they were too heavy for the poor fellow. i freaked out, hopped online and posted this thread to figure out what should i do.

plants are living organism and they have every right to live just as we do, so if anyone can help me with my question i would be much obliged.

[Cjcorner]

Pictures are a big help to id your problems...but i'm sorry it sounds like you have two almost dead plants from my guess. It's important to check the roots of potential new additions to your collection. Almost every sellar drops the plastic pot into a clay pot for looks. Lift the plastic pot out and look for plump healthy roots with no brown ones visible. Also, when I get them home I segregate the new one from the others until it's checked for bugs and sprayed. A dendrobium I bought six months ago still has me chasing bugs off my phals because I didn't do this.
Good Luck
Connie

[Gin]

Hi , The one with no leaves might start a basal keiki (baby plant) from the base of it, the other with no roots is another deal , shade it, some light but not direct sun , You can place a plastic bag over the plant to stop dehydration making sure the bottom of the bag is not sealed , also cut a couple of holes in the top of the bag this is for air flow , The plant should be in as small a pot as you have . water the one with leaves but not wet wet , the rootless one can't drink , just very little water for it just enough to keep the humidity up in the bag . Some times it works sometimes not ...... Gin

[ischel1]

I agree with Gin. If you feel compelled to try something, that's they way to go and who knows miracles do happen.

[hcubed]

I have a couple rootless wonders that have lived to tell the tale. I have a rootless phal that I gave up on long ago but it hasn't even lost a leaf...

If it keeps the leaves, there may be hope. I personally don't like plastic bag solutions since they tend to kill things very quickly for me. My rootless phal is just cleaned and potted in bark as usual with some string and stakes to keep it stable in the pot. I keep it quite dry, but I do water occasionally. It's been like that for months!

[Kerry]

Just adding my opinion too, I had a plant that lost all it's roots and having put it in a humidity tent in gentle light, a couple of months later it had developed a few nice new roots, new leaves and now it's started spiking.

I was thinking that I would just give up on it, but am now really pleased that I tried, so give it a go, even though it may take a few months it is so satisfying to have such a good result.

[Water]

yay, Thank you for your help, ill be sure to try the bag thing out on the rootless one. as for the one with no leaves, ill just continue as i have hoping something will happen.