Orchid Stem and Roots Not Looking so Good

[skiye021683]

Help!

I'm new to this whole orchid thing and only have 3 of them all bought from Home Depot from my fiance. 1 of my orchids is in bloom and looks beautiful although recently a flower did wither so I had to cut it off. Another orchid is just 3 long green stems and a bunch of leaves and my third orchid is the one that isn't looking so good.

My third orchid is 1 long green stem surrounded by 3-4 green leaves. This orchid has never had flowers on it so I always assumed it was in a dormant stage. I've had it for about 2 months and just yesterday I noticed the stem was turning a brownish/yellow color and the roots are all shriveled. Some of the roots were slightly shriveled when it was bought, but now it looks like all of them are. This is one of those 3 ice cube a week orchids so I followed the directions exactly I just don't know what could be wrong with it. The stem doesn't concern me so much because I looked it up online and it can be normal, it's the roots that concern me. I tried to post the pictures of my orchid, but the website won't let me because I haven't made five posts yet. Does anyone know what I can do to possibly save my orchid?

[Emma Grey]

Hello and welcome!

Here's a link to a thread on this forum that should answer many of your questions. Peruse, and feel free to ask more questions!

Newbie here with some questions

[Fishmom]

Hello and Welcome, skiye021683. You definitely should read the thread that Emma recommended to you, and take particular notice of the three links posted in kmarch's post. He is one of our most knowledgeable members.

If you don't get the answers you want, a picture is the answer. You can post pictures after you have made 5 posts, so just make some comments on other posts of interest; they don't have to be long or profound! Then you'll be able to put up your own pictures, and we LOVE pictures.

[skiye021683]

Thanks. I'll check out those links. I just joined today, and I'll get 5 posts up asap. Already up to two with this one

[skiye021683]

Okay I'm allowed to post photos now so here's the pics of my poor orchid

[Reg22]

I'm no expert, but those roots look dehydrated or dead and the medium looks very dense. Have you taken it out of the pot and seen what the rest of the roots look like? There are some great threads here on how to make a phal with no roots come back to life. Check those out.

[orchids4me]

I would remove the outer cashe pot for sure. The roots below don't get enough air.
Un pot trim all dead roots (hollow or mushy with a sterile cutting too) appy cinnamon powder to the cuts. Re pot in the smallest pot that contains the remaining roots and new media. Then get the Phalaenopsis culture sheet, check your light, humidity, temps (day and night) try and get the culture set for it as what the culture sheets say. And have a fan in the growing space for air flow and circulation.
Good luck

[skiye021683]

Thank you all, but unfortunately when I went to repot my orchid the whole base that the leaves are attached to was just dangling by a thread for some reason, then it just snapped off so just pitched the whole thing. My first orchid death, it was very upsetting.

[dbloom2]

Sorry to hear of the death of the Phalli skiye021683 - a couple of mine seem to be heading the same way. I've followed all the recommendations as carefully as I can but the aerial roots just keep collapsing.
I can't post pictures yet but I hope to get some help. I followed the links offered on growing Phalis but nowhere is there a reference to the problem I have.Hope to hear from someone soon as I am a total newbie