New plants - nearly frozen leaves

[Sharyn]

I just received an orchid order including a Den. Blue Violetta 'Hawaii' in a 4 inch pot. Although the packing was excellent and everything else is fine, some of the leaves on the Den. are wrinkled and a little limp. A few leaves actually appeared to be nearly frozen. I'm sure I'll loose these leaves, however, I don't want to loose the whole plant from the cold. It's being acclimated to my home temperature and humidity right now and I wonder if I should do anything else. By the way, I live in Illinois and it's only 18 degrees today. My plants arrived by 2-day air from Hawaii. Maybe it didn't like the extreme change in termperature!

Some of you have mentioned Superthrive. Might this be a time to use it? Would appreciate your input.

[jerrymeola]

When plants are stresses I believe it is best to do nothing until they establish.

Cold damage is actually the easiest damage from which an orchid can recover. If the plant does not die right away, it will usually do fine.

You should avoid all fertilizers on a stressed plant. SuperThrive I like a lot but still would avoid until the plant starts to grow again.

[Sharyn]

Thanks Jerry. We'll all sit and be patient and see what happens.

[Daniel S. Barrett]

Hi,
I used to import bare root Orchid plants 30 years ago, I learned this formula from my grandfather who imported before me. The Bare rooted orchids usually arrived very dehydrated, and this always worked to revive our plants!And I put my plants to soak in this formula as soon as I unwrap a shipment of orchid plants of any kind.

Mix well 3/4 cups of granulated sugar, 1 finely crushed Centrum vitamin with minerals tablet, 1/2 teaspoon of epson salt, and 1 teaspoon of liquid dish detergent per gallon of water. Submerge your plant in this solution, pot & all in for 4 hours, then drain, Take a towel thats been wetted with this solution & wrung out until just moist, & wrap your plants in this moist towel over night in a warm (70-75 degrees)place. you'll find your plant revived by the next day! unwrap your plant, & run tempid water over the plant & planting mix well, to remove the residue sugar.

[Sharyn]

Thanks Daniel. Right now I'm bumbed about these plants. They look absolutely awful - real ugly ducklings. They were delivered 2-day air by Fed Ex and I think somebody left the package on the shipping dock too long. The 2 catts. are completely spotted, some leaves turned completely brown and now falling off - too bad because they both had buds, however, I also suspect that they had been pretty sunburned before they were shipped. They may look this awful for a combination of things.

The dendrobium looks like it's close to going to orchid heaven soon. All the leaves have wilted and turned yellowish-brown except one lone leaf at the top. I've contacted the company and hopefully they will replace the plants.

I'll post some pictures of this disaster next week. I also intend on sending the grower the pictures. I won't mention the name, as he is a reliable grower that many of this forum members purchase from. I'll wait to see if he makes good on my purchase (which wasn't cheap).

So, for the time being, I'm going to sit and sulk. Thank you for your advice, but I don't want to make matters any worse by subjecting these plants to any more stress. I will keep your recipe for the future.

Thanks for your reply

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

Dens can handle leaf loss pretty well, especially at this season. Bet it will bounce back big time this spring, unless rot starts in the bulbs.

[Sharyn]

Originally Posted by Cynthia, Prescott, AZ

Dens can handle leaf loss pretty well, especially at this season. Bet it will bounce back big time this spring, unless rot starts in the bulbs.

Thanks Cynthia. I feel like a "mother." I am a mother - what am I talking about? Guess you can see that I'm also emotional! I hope you're right because I have already raised a few ugly ducklings (ages, 40, 37, & 35) - so why not a couple more with the orchids? Just kidding - I love my kids.

Thanks for the support. I feel like an addict - an orchid addict!

[Sharyn]

Thought you'd like to see what I've been talking about. Thanks to all of you with your advice and support. These are pictures taken today after their arrival last Wednesday. Personally, I don't think they're very nice specimens, however, I've decided to take Cynthia's advice, lay loose and wait for Spring!

Again, thanks for all of your support. I'll try a little patience. Sharyn

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

Watch these very carefully, most carefully for the bulbs. A few leaves lost is not going to kill the plants, but you might start to see some rot in the bulbs. If there are any soft spots, wet spots, and particularly any spreading spots in the bulbs, take action within hours of discovery and cut off the rotted area, with about a 1/2" to spare and dust the cut with cinnamon or sulfur, or a garden fungicide like bordoux(sp?) which I believe is a copper based product. After a few weeks, if nothing bad developes, you can relax.

[Ellen]

Sure, the plants will probably survive, but they'll be set back in their development by a year or more and will be an eyesore for a long time to come. One suggestion for future winter shipments is that you e-mail the vendor at the time you place the order and ask them to ship by US Postal Service and request delivery confirmation. That way the plants will either be delivered to you personally or held in your local post office (hopefully heated) until you can pick them up. FedEx, which is used by many of the Hawaiian vendors, will leave packages outside in the freezing cold if no one is home.

[Sharyn]

The grower asked me to update him on the condition of my orchids. I sent him a couple of pics. To my pleasant suprise, he called me a few hours later and said he didn't like what he saw either so he was sending me a replacement shipment ASAP. Wow, no hassles!

Received the new shipment this week - all in perfect condition. I'm going to follow Jerry's advice and do nothing but let them get acclimated to my house.

I'll keep the original plants and follow your advice, Cynthia, to keep an eye out for any rot. Who knows, maybe they'll make it.

Thanks to everyone with your replies. I'm learning new things from all of you with more experience each time I visit this site.