Droopy leaves!

[Musika]

So my 90 year old great grandma's orchid I took from her 2 months ago to try to bring it back as it was covered in mold. She over watered it for a year and never drained out the extra water. I was shocked it did so well as it was covered in flowers when I took it from her. When I took it I repotted it and found it only had 5 small roots that were hardly an inch long. So I cut all the blooms off so the energy would go towards roots growing. It seems to be doing well, even has 3 blooms, one is open, and I was thinking of cutting those off two. But the leaves are droopy and they don't look like my other phal leaves. As soon as the two new leaves came up they look all wrinkly and droopy. When I took it home it did have one droopy and one that was holding it own. But last week the only one that was stick out right fell over!! Any ideas on why the leaves are so different from other phals and why they are all wrinkly and droopy?



The root on the right was the one that just fell over, looks like it bent towards the base.

[bearded orchid]

I would assume malnutrition based on the description of your G-ma's culture habits. If the plant wasn't getting what it needed to grow and develop when putting out new growth, the resulting growth will be disfigured. Since it didn't have many roots that might be the problem. Also, its constant shooting of flower spikes may be a last ditch attempt at reproduction for a dying plant. I would leave the flower spike alone. If it is going to kick the bucket, it might send out a keiki from the spike. I hope she makes it for you, though.

[Musika]

Originally Posted by bearded orchid

I would leave the flower spike alone. If it is going to kick the bucket, it might send out a keiki from the spike.

Is there a way to force a keiki??

[katrina]

It's totally dehydrated. With no roots the phal is unable to take up water or anything else and it's draining the rest of the plant of it's reserves.

With only 5, 1" roots the phal is overpotted and will likely continue to experience root loss. Personally, I would pitch it and start w/a new healthy plant because this one is going to take quite awhile to bounce back.

However, if you want to see if you can bring it back...first and foremost get it out of that pot and put it into a pot just big enough for the root mass. It will look really small for the leaves but this will ensure more even drying and no stagnant wet spots. Once repotted, I would restrict watering it a bit to see if it'll push out some roots. I know some people are really fond if rooting powder...you might try that.

The plant is really in bad shape though and I'm not sure if it has enough reserves to come back from this.

[E-Jag]

I would pull it out of the pot and completely submerge the plant in a container of water containing some sugar, epsom salt (available anywhere) and some Dawn or similar dishwashing liquid. Leave it for 24 hours or so. Do this a couple of times per week. In between leave it bare root. This usually works if the plant isn't too far gone and will hydrate the leaves to the point where you can repot it after a while. Good luck!

[Musika]

Well I'm going to try to keep it alive, I think my great grandmother would be heart broken if it died off. LOL If I could find the same looking one I would probably just buy it for her and work on this one. I don't think she could tell the difference if I bought her a new one. Being 91 her memory is, you know how old people get. She asks me all the time how her flower is doing and I say oh I'm still nursing it back to health, and she just says awww good. LOL I finnaly bought some moss, so I will repot it in that and take it out of the Miracle gro orchid mix.

[-k-]

Originally Posted by Musika

Well I'm going to try to keep it alive, I think my great grandmother would be heart broken if it died off. LOL If I could find the same looking one I would probably just buy it for her and work on this one. I don't think she could tell the difference if I bought her a new one. Being 91 her memory is, you know how old people get. She asks me all the time how her flower is doing and I say oh I'm still nursing it back to health, and she just says awww good. LOL I finnaly bought some moss, so I will repot it in that and take it out of the Miracle gro orchid mix.

I'm going to say it's worth saving, some are just worth it and I think this is one of those! I agree 100% to repot in a smaller pot with sphagnum, provide optimal culture and it will turn around for the better. The floppy leaves may or may not be restored to their former glory but if they help sustain the plant until new leaves begin they will have served their purpose.

[Fishmom]

Musika, be careful with the spaghnum moss. Phals like to get plenty of air to their roots, as well as a moist environment. If you are used to using moss, fine, but be cautious about forcing too much moss in your pot. If you put enough in to try to firmly balance that big plant, it will never dry out. I'd suggest using a bamboo skewer to monitor the water content of your moss, or whatever medium you decide on. You might want to consider a more chunky mix with bark and perlite--lots of air spaces there!

Also, don't expect those leaves to re-hydrate. Any new growth will probably be fine, but it is hard to get those withered leaves to look normal again. They can still help the plant, but they won't look like much.

[Musika]

Well I took it out of the MiracleGro orchid mix and put it in some moss. It does have some root improvement but not by much. I just put a little for it to sit on and some around it loosely. I know it will be a long and rough road to bring it back, but I think it would be worth it, and will give me a project.

Here it is after I pulled it out and trimmed more of the mushy roots off.



Here it is repotted, and I did cut the spike again. Hope this time it will work on the roots and not the flowers!

[NewGrower]

Hello there! I am NO EXPERT but I have had this happen (although I caused the problems because I didnt know any better) with 2 phals. I over watered with moss and rotted the roots off.... I am happy to report that after a little over 2 months of care they are both coming back to life (and one was down to barely any roots and one leaf because of sunburn, another accident! Whooops)... I put them in a big baggie (with a little vent hole) with a damp paper towel on my patio NOT IN THE DIRECT SUN and I would take them out of the bag and soak them every week in water with brown sugar (and changed out the paper towel).... I recently repotted them in lava rock because they both have 2 new leaves each and new roots and root nubs (one even has a spike!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
Thats how I saved mine... hopefully it can help! Good luck!!

[koshki]

Musika, you may want to take a look at this thread: http://www.orchidgeeks.com/forum/gee...and-media.html

I have used this media for a couple years now, and it has worked extremely well for me.

Mods: this sticky used to be in the potting mediums section, but has been moved and is now hard to find. Could it be moved back?

[orchids4me]

Good luck with it !! You may loose the older wrinkled leaves right now the plant is taking energy from them to help its struggling root system. The new leaves should be normal if you can get it to come back root wise first.

[11Orchid126]

Both of the pots you had this plant in appear not to have drainage. Orchid roots need air. The air must circulate around the roots, and they can't with the way you have them planted.

[Musika]

All my orchids are in pots that have drain holes on all sides and the bottoms and then placed in a decorative pot. Some do need to be put in bigger decorative pots though.

[Musika]

Well an update on this little guy. So I have been just letting it come back on its own and its going slow. I am thinking of getting some seaweed extract, everyone says its awesome for a root boost, I am actually getting ready to head to out and shop around for some root booster. Its been my project to just watch it day by day and see how this process works. I lost one droopy leaf, but 3 new healthy leaves have grown in.

The leaves look good!


But the roots really haven't taken off but at least the plant is still alive!! LOL

[Emma Grey]

I had one just like that. If it's like mine, someday it will randomly start growing a bunch of roots, seemingly spontaneously.

[Orchidchick]

Great job of slowly bringing this one back from the brink of death Musika. She still has a long way to go but is looking much better and Is that a new root nubbin I spy? You'll be glad you didn't toss this one a few years from now when you get to see those beautiful blossoms once again.

[otis 226]

Nice job. It's a long slow process when orchids aren't doing well, nursing them back to good health, but its also a good learning experience more often then not. I think many/most of us have given it a try. It's always a good feeling to make a save like this.
Cheers,
Tony