Save my Phal

[terro59]

Hi guys, I was given this poor baby to rescue. When I took it out of its pot the roots were almost gone except for 2 fairly good looking ones. I cut out the dead stuff and repotted it. Is there anything else I should be doing? Thanks!

[OrchisAmor]

Yeah, that poor guy/gal looks dehydrated because of the root loss! Here's what I've read and heard to deal with this situation: You can drench the roots in a liquid rooting hormone like Dip n' Grow or something similar to help induce some new root growth. Let it sit with the liquid hormone for approx. 1 hr. You can then repot the orchid in fresh medium and put the potted orchid in an enclosed terrarium or empty aquarium with damp sphagnum or pebbles in the bottom to increase humidity to 100% OR I've also heard of people putting the orchid un-potted into a plastic bag that can be zipped closed with moist sphagnum and closing it up for a while to help the roots get started growing again in this 100% humidity environment. For disease concern, you can spray the leaves with a disinfectant solution prior to putting it in an environment with 100% humidity. It's going to take a while for the orchid to bounce back, so be patient. I believe the main thing is to try to keep it in a 100% humidity environment to help the leaves not dehydrate so there is reduced stress while more roots grow.
Hope that helps!

[terro59]

Thanks for your help. I'm on a mission.

[Carolla]

Also, its good to know the leaves you have now will not recover and get plump, so don't be concerned about that. It will have to grow new roots and leaves and the wilted ones will die off, hopefully after the new ones grow. Be alert if you put it in a bag with sphagnum moss - I've found that I get mold pretty fast when I try it. It seems to work great for others. It needs pretty good humidity and probably some air movement (or pretreatment for possible fungi infections). I like the bark mix you have it in, though if that is your new potting media, it may not hold water very well for a time. If you keep it in the pot (I probably would, but my experience is just what works for me), you may want to soak it every few days so it takes up water and put it on a pebble tray to keep the humidity up a bit.

Do you know what caused the root loss? Overwatering and rotting? More details on the cause of the problem might help us help you to figure out the solution. I do think its quite possible to save this one, good luck!

[terro59]

Yes it was over-watering. Thanks for letting me know not to expect the leaves to recuperate, or I'd be scratching my head bald on this one. It's good to know there's hope for this baby.

[OrchisAmor]

I usually put some bark mix that I'm going to use to repot an orchid in a bowl or bucket, add hot water to cover it really well and let it sit overnight before I repot. This way, the bark mixture is able to retain moisture better.

[terro59]

Thanks. That's what I'm doing right now!

[Carolla]

Here is one I managed to save. Admittedly it came to me under watered and had more roots than yours. Gradually it lost all the leaves it came with, but it grew new ones first and the old ones slowly turned yellow and fell off. That was three years ago, its a happy and strong plant now, but I haven't gotten it to bloom again. BTW, it threw out a keiki on the bloom shoot which has been doing fine too. It's supposed to be a bright pink, I guess next winter I'll have to be sure it gets a temperature dip to trigger blooming, I'd like to see it! I guess some of them need more of a trigger to bloom.

[ksriramkumar]

Agree with Annette and Carol.

[terro59]

I hope it blooms in gratitude for all you've done to save it!

---------- Post Merged at 02:23 AM ----------

I hope it blooms in gratitude for all you've done to save it!

---------- Post Merged at 02:25 AM ----------

I hope it blooms in gratitude for all you've done to save it!

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Sorry for the multiple posts.