New phal and dendrobium questions

[Jaydiggity21]

Hello all!

So today my girlfriend rescued two orchids from her step-mom, a phal and a dendrobium. The phal looks bad, and when I depotted it, the roots were all shriveled and gross. Nonetheless, I cut a lot off, soaked the rest in a very dilute solution of a root hormone to try and stimulate root growth, and repotted in new bark. The crown is rotted, so I am convinced that she was watering too often and that it was in too much light. The dendrobium , on the other hand, looks ok. It has new growth, and it looks healthy. My question is should I depot the dendrobium due to the fact that the phal was so bad even though the dendrobium has new growth? I will post pics of both, thanks for your help!

Jason

[mayres]

You are correct in that the phal has no crown. You are most likely in for a long long process if you are hoping to rescue that plant - I don't want to discourage you from trying, but we're talking years, not months. At this poing you will be hoping for a basal keiki, which if/when it does come, will take a couple years after that to become a nice looking healthy plant ready to bloom. Not a process for the light at heart.......
The dendrobium as you mentioned looks like it is starting a new growth cycle. I would leave it for the time being and see how much new growth you get this summer growing season. mike

[brookn]

You are very brave to take on that phal. Sorry to say it but I just cringed when I looked at it. I would like to add that it probably was not getting too much light. Leaves would be red or burnt looking. Just too too much water, and too much water late in the day left sitting in the crown. Good luck with it. I agree with mike pray for a keiki.

The dend. looks fine, although I do not know much about them. The bark looks good and new growth is a good sign.

[kmarch]

What's this little green thing growing at the bottom of your Phal (see attached pic)? It looks hopeful.

[justloveorchids]

The phal does not look any worse than 2 I rescued ......keep misting it with Worm Tea and you could be amazed how rapidly it recovers

The mass of new green roots on mine is stunning

[robb]

justloveorchids <-- what they said!

i have 'rescued' 6 phals from home depot which were 2 weeks from the trash, no flower spikes, rotted roots, packed in sphag and styrofoam peanuts, watered several times a day etc etc. i trimmed the roots, repotted into orchid mix, misted alternatingly with water/worm-tea, and am happy to say that all are surviving, with 4 of them putting on vigorous new growth (roots & leaves!). if you have the patience, try to rescue the phal!

[mayres]

Note on Kevin's question - I cannot tell from your photo if what Kevin is pointing out is anything of note or not. "IF" at some point your plant starts sending up flower spikes in a last pitch desperate move to survive - I would keep cutting those off (nip them in the bud). A similar crownless plant I had made this move and only after twice nipping it (after watching it flower once previously) did it give up and send up a basal keiki. Rescueing a plant without a crown is a lot different than resuceing a plant that has rotted roots - both can have its rewards, but the crownless plant is generally going to take a LOT longer........mike

[Jaydiggity21]

Follow up on this post...I put the dendrobium in good sun, and the new growth looks a beautiful green (much like in the firts picture), but the leaf on the tallest cane is turning yellow rather quickly. Is this because there's too much light, even though the new growth looks great? And, there are 2 keikis growing on the dend, so I am not sure what this means? Help a newb out!