orchids

i'm learning how to use this site still but i need some questions answered. i have an orchid that has sever root rot damage and saw a post on here about putting it in a zip lock bag with sphagnum moss around the base of the pant. it hasn't seamed to be helping and it would make me really sad to see this plant die! is there anything else i can really do?

 

You need to cut the infected/rotted root off before you do the sphagnum baggie treatment.... If you can post us a picture of the plant, we'll be able to give you more detailed and specific advice. (How to attach images.)

 

i will get a picture by tomorrow, i put the plant in the green house at my school cause i thought that would be better then just in my house. i read somewhere before about cutting the dead roots off so i did that before i did the bag thing. Thanks for your help!:)

-Emily Stone

 

Aw I hope it does'nt die! It would be helpful to know what kind it is, there are several different kinds of orchid, and each kind can differ in there care.Send us a pic so we can help

 

the first one is a pic of how it used to look and then now:(

 

this is a pic of the base of the plant and the small root that had begun to grow but there hasn't been any progress in it. these pics are very sad looking:(

 

You have a nice-sized Phalaenopsis. :)
I would carefully cut off those bottom three leaves and leave perhaps the top two or three leaves for now. You'll probably loose those upper leaves eventually, while the plant slowly feeds off of them until it can regrow roots. After everything dead is trimmed, it could use a soak in a fungicide. Then I would pot it in a 5" clay pot with 100% long-fibre sphagnum moss (sometimes sold as orchid moss at the home centers). Pre-wet the sphagnum moss and wring out all the moisture you can, then pot loosely but without any voids.
Two stakes and some careful tieing. Bright indirect light, perhaps with a little supplemental fluorescent lighting. If you live in a very dry house, you might close it up in an inflated clear plastic bag to raise humidity. Average house temperatures, but not on the cool side. Water just when the top of the moss gets dry (just before it gets crunchy).
With very bright light (no direct sun) and sphagnum moss for soil, it should make a full recovery. If you see any flower spikes make sure to trim them off until the roots are healthy and you have multiple new healthy leaves. :)

 

Tom's got it bang on - and he's waaaay more versed in Phalaenopsis care than I am. (My experience extends only to my native orchid species.) If you follow his advice, it should recover nicely. Best of luck!

 

Thank you sooooooo much!!!!! i really didnt want to see it die!:)

 

p.s. whats a fungicide??:)

 

Something that kills fungus. Common ones you likely already have in the kitchen include cinnamon and weak chamomile tea; you can also buy chemical ones at most garden centers.

 

Wow really good info I struggle with my orchids sometimes, I will definintly save this.Thank You from me too.

 

oh ok!! Thank you!!:)

 

Commercial fungicides include RD-20, Phyton 27, Physan 20, and others. Cinnamon works great as a spot fungicide for the cut ends of leaves. I use Chammomile tea for seedlings, but I haven't tried it yet for orchids; I wonder if it would work as well as the commercial fungicides.

 

Tom, I've used chamomile on some of my more delicate native orchids, and it works wonders. I'd think it would do the same on the more robust ones as well (Phals, etc.)

 

Thanks, I'll have to try it. I assume you mix it like we do for seedlings (just like you would drink it)? I would be using it as a soak for transplants that arrive a little stressed, before repotting; is that about how you use it, or more as a paint-on for the the ends of cut leaves?

 

Oof, no! I drink Chamomile tea much much stronger than I'd ever use it on seedlings. 1-2 minutes of dunking the bag is more than enough for garden use, but I let my drinks steep for up to 10.

I steep transplants in tea, and use cinnamon for cut leaves.