Sad Orchids

[zonepusher]

While I have been a member for a while now, I have never posted. The few Phal. orchids that I did and still have are doing surprisingly well. Well, now I have been given 2 dozen very sad looking plants of various species/hybrids. I am hoping to rehabilitate them so they will grow and bloom for me. I have never tried to grow these types before and would welcome any advice you can give me. Some of the plants had really bad looking roots, dried out, mushy, black, hollow roots. Only a few still have their tags attached, and the others will have to wait until they bloom for an ID. I have listed the ones that have their tags so you can tell me how I should grow/attempt to grow them in my zone 7A Northeast Arkansas climate. Which ones should get the chunky mix? Which ones should get the long fiber moss? Which ones should get something else?

Light conditions? Right now they are all outside under Plumeria trees and benches.

Which fertilizer do these get?

I will post pictures of the ones I am not sure of later as the camera memory is full.

The following have tags:

Phrag.Cape Sunset in 4" pot


Cattleya?
LC.(Tokyo Magic x Sc.Beaufort)#1 x Blc. Fuch's Orange Nugget "MT.View


Dendrobium?
D707 D White Lightening x Muang Thai

Phal Wedding Promenade
Phal Margarita Lime

NOID Vanda in an 8" basket. The plant is about 12" tall.

The others appear to be several of the same type.

Even though the plants were given to me for free, they do look like they will survive given the chance. They have some new growth and many good looking roots with green tips.
Andi

[robb]

new growth is a good sign! from my short (5 months) experience trying to rehabilitate dying phals, (see post "wrinkly leaves on phal") i think the best thing to do is give them the best conditions you can, and they should pull through. living things want to survive, so encourage them! best of luck and keep us updated on what works for you!

[Hummer344]

I would re-pot them all, cutting off the mushy, descicated & rotted roots & hope for the best. It may take a long time for them to recover. I don't like sphag as a potting medium as I think its hard to maintain the proper moisture balance. I am sure that others will disagreee with that. I prefer to use fine rock & fine orchid bark as a mix for my phals. For the rest of my orchids I use medium orchid bark and medium rock. I always throw in a little charcol in my mixes.
Good luck with them all

[fred]

as you have a few species/hybrids I have encluded a link for culture sheets from the AOS.

http://www.orchidgeeks.com/forum/orc...m-the-aos.html

I hope they help.

[Vivienne]

Fred beat me to it.

Since you have a good idea on some of the plants, grab the culture sheets from the AOS website (link above). The Catts, Dens and Vandas are going to need strong light, but not enough to sunburn the leaves.

Gee, wish someone would give me 2 dozen plants to nurse! Have fun with them and keep us posted!

[BillC]

Hi, I think this one is definitely for Cynthia, Kevin, or one of the senior members to attack. So many different plants with different needs. Max experience required.

Bill

[zonepusher]

Thanks everyone. I had originally gone to get a few 7 foot Plumeria trees that had to be relocated as the owners were moving. When they asked if I would take a few orchids with me, I said sure. I never dreamed there would be so many or so many kinds. Since they were growing but in such sad shape I couldn't say no. I just hope I can get them nursed back to good health. The time frame is not a concern as I grow Plumeria from seeds also. Some of these take several years to grow and some up wards of 15.

I have a nice humidified bedroom that I use as a winter greenhouse for my citrus. Full spectrum lights, fans, and humidifiers are located in this room. It also has 2 large windows for natural sunlight for about 7 hours in the winter.

Some of these are a little daunting but hopefully with your help I will succeed.
Andi

[fred]

if you have any questions at all please just ask away for we are all here to help in any way we can.

our members here are full of knowledge

we also love seeing pics

[charleyismydog]

Sounds like you've got some beautiful orchids there. Good luck. I am sure you'll be able to get them to pull through. Definitely cutting off the black mushy roots sounds like a good idea, but timing for repotting is important so I would defer to the more experienced "geeks" for that. Sounds like you've got a great setup too and that can't hurt.

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

Medium bark for most. For very fine roots, like those on Oncidium family, use fine bark.

Phals & Oncidiums - low light

Dens, Catts, Brassias, Vandas - High light (about twice what Phals get)

Catts must dry between waterings
Dens must dry very hard between waterings during winter when not growing, but should not dry completely while growing and blooming.

Phals and Oncidiums should not dry completely, but close.

Others are sort of in between.

[zonepusher]

I will place the Phals under the benches since it stays shady there. Low light but lots of air flow. The catts and the vanda are on top of the benches and get a somewhat indirect sunlight until 1pm, after that they are semi shaded. As soon as I get this camera unloaded I will post pictures of the ones I am not sure about. I really want to give them the proper care they each need.
Andi

[justloveorchids]

I have rescued several orchids in a very poor dried out state along with black and mushy roots

i trimmed off the rotted / dead stuff repotted and soaked them in worm tea and misted them every day with it too

the difference in just a few weeks along with a mass of new roots appearing along with new leaves and even flower shoots is nothing short of incredible and i am absolutely sure that i owe most of it to worm tea

[zonepusher]

Although I have never heard of worm tea, I will look into it.
Andi