Advice on reviving a Carpenterara

[jpyerry]

About 3 weeks ago I received a Carpenterara Sydney Smith 'Green Monkey' orchid from an online dealer who I have found very reliable in the past.

Upon receipt, it did not look so good, the pseudobulbs were shrivelled worse than I've ever seen and the largest one has some very pronounced brown/black areas on it, as well as the others. It had quite a few scale insects on it, I scrubbed them off with rubbing alcohol and a toothbrush and the next day sprayed it with Safer's End All II. And after removing the potting media, found it was way over-potted, I mean I reduced it to a 2" pot and it came in a 4" pot. I guess the roots looked alright, but since I have no experience with plants of this nothogenus I really wouldn't know.

Since repotting it, it has shown no signs of perking up. The pseudobulbs don't look any better and on the newest pseudobulb, all of the leaves are turning brown. So far, I have not noticed any new roots either. I know 3 weeks is not long, but I think I need some expert advice on this one.

I spoke with the vendor and she apologized for the poor condition of the plant and has agreed to send me a new one with my next order from her. But, seeing as I no longer have any room for new plants, I can't be sure how long it will be until my next order. Plus, I would like to revive it, I think it would be a good learning experience, and if I am successful I can give it away as a gift if I have a second one.

Like I said I am not too familiar with this nothogenus and certainly not with reviving plants of this type. So far, information on the internet has been kind of sparse for this plant, Google even tries to correct my spelling of 'Carpenterara'. I have been giving it standard Oncidium care since I repotted it.

Any suggestions would be most welcome.

Thanks,
Justin

[jpyerry]

One more thing, I would love to post pictures of the plant. But, my camera is broken. I have had no luck with digital cameras. If anybody has suggestions on how to fix a "lens error" on a Nikon Coolpix S210. That advice would be welcome as well. One of these days I will get a decent camera.

[BGGraham1]

Sorry about your plant - can't help with that, although I am currently trying to revive a Phal-type Den NoID that a friend gave me by soaking sphag with 1 tsp of K-L-N per gallon of water and laying the canes on it. I'm keeping them in a shady area with good circulation, and it looks like I have some new growths coming

Checked on the camera thing for you...apparently this is a problem with some of the Nikon point-and-shoots. Most of the comments I saw said you would have to send it in, and the cost of repair is just about the same as buying a new one. Try this, though, if you're brave Nikon Coolpix S210 – “Lens Error” « A Man must have a project……

[sunshine]

I would have contacted the seller and let them know about the condition of the plant and see if they would go good for it.

The pbulbs being shriveled means they are dehydrated.What did you use for potting medium to repot with? Were the roots firm and white or brown,mushy and hollow feeling? Here is a link of what the flower will look like.

Carpenterara Sydney Smith





Care sheet.
Oncidium & Odontoglossum Orchid Care - Carter and Holmes Orchids Culture

[BGGraham1]

Originally Posted by sunshine

Here is a link of what the flower will look like.

Carpenterara Sydney Smith





Care sheet.
Oncidium & Odontoglossum Orchid Care - Carter and Holmes Orchids Culture

yum-MEE!! Oh, I hope you get this one to bloom for you. That's just gorgeous!

[jpyerry]

Brigitte, thank you for the advice with the camera I will have to give that a try (next year I think I want to buy a DSLR with a macro lens, just so darn expensive), and, yes it has a really pretty bloom, you can see why I want this one to survive, it is one that made my list the moment I saw it.

Sunshine, as I indicated in my original post the vendor apologized and has agreed to send a new one upon my next order, but I am not sure when that will be as I have run out of growing space and am holding off on ordering new plants until I can expand. As to the medium, I used repotme's Oncidium & Seedling Imperial mix and a square 2" translucent air-cone pot. The condition of the roots was none were green, a few were white and firm, but most were yellow but still with decent substance, there were a few obviously rotted roots that I trimmed off, all told not the worst root system I've seen just one that was monstruously over-potted.

I am just starting to get worried about this plant since it is showing no signs of recovery and I would really like to see it pull through.

Thanks,
Justin

[SarinahL]

-sorry, just wanted to make a comment about the camera, nothing about the plant-

You should take look at the Coolpix P series (which I have, it used to be their next best thing to their SLR's. It is Very good and very decent for macro photography.)
Or, their new toy, the Nikon 1. It is a cross between pointandshoot and SLR, with the possibility of changing lenses!

[Brooke]

Justin your plant probably will not do anything until it produces a new growth. Since you have a few good roots it should be fine and now you just wait and give it good culture.

Brooke

[orchids4me]

Justin,
The vendor should not make you wait for the next time you order... They should eat the cost for shipping and send your replacment now.

[Ray]

I agree with Emmaye.

No matter how hard we may try, sometimes a plant will go out to a customer that we wish hadn't, or it gets abused in transit. Either way, it's not what the customer expected. In that case, I replace the plant if I can, or refund the cost of the plant (or the entire order, if the plant was the only item).

In the 17 years I've been in business, there has only been one exception, and that was a guy claiming my plant was infested with bugs. When I pointed out that the claim was 6 months after the shipment and I had seen no infestation in my greenhouse, his response was " Oh... " and he hung up.

[jpyerry]

I agree with all of you, she should send me a new plant regardless of the cost. She also indicated that the reason she hasn't already is that she is out of stock on this plant. But, like I said I am hoping to get this plant going as well, not just so I can have an extra, but so I can learn about reviving plants of this type.

[jpyerry]

After what had to be the tenth time taking the camera apart and reassembling it, I finally got it working. So, here are pictures of my Carpenterara.

[1joyceh]

great job getting the camera going again !
sorry I can't help with the Carpenterara, no experience with that type.

[jpyerry]

Here is an update on the reviving of my Carpenterara (now Oncidesa) Sydney Smith 'Green Monkey'. It has been about 3 months since my last post and I wanted to let those that are interested know that today I noticed a very good sign, the plant is starting a new growth!

Here is what I did, I packed very loose spagnum moss moistened with KLN Rooting Hormone and Physan 20 around the roots and planted in a 2" square pot and put the whole thing in a ziplock. Periodically I have been checking up on the plant. It started to grow some very small roots. Today, I was doing my monthly check on it and found a new growth has started!

I plan on letting the growth get a little bigger and then begin hardening the plant off to the ambient humidity in my grow tent.

I am really proud that I managed to make some progress on a plant that I was almost certain it was going to die. I don't think I am totally out the woods yet, but I think it is a really good sign.

Here are some pictures:

[1joyceh]

Great job Justin!
looks like she is coming back for you