Alright Geeks, give it to me straight.

[ALJ]

My sister likes to tease me about my orchid "obsession" but now she is desperate for my help. Here are pics of my sister's cymbidium NOID. She had three but two died from dehydration and scale. I recently removed a heavy scale presence from its leaves and bulbs. There appears to be a fungal infection as well. I have not looked at the roots. (I'm kind of afraid of what's inside the container.) I want to know if there is anything, ANYTHING I can do to save it.

[Myxamatosis]

I would repot it right away, anything that hurt is probably going to attract little critters. to me it looks like some psuedobulbs are not 'infected' (blackened) and i would take those bulbs and repot them separately. out of paranoia i would also drench in a 'coverall' fungicide/bacteria/insecticide. I use Garden Safe Fungicide3, just started using it, i don't know how well it works.

[PhalPal]

I'm betting that you have rotten roots as well. Judging from the picture, it looks like it is not getting enough air circulation and probably stays wet too long. I'm also guessing that it is being grown indoors all year????

[ALJ]

She puts it outside for the spring and summer. She admitted that after it was brought indoors she didn't water it frequently. I could repot it since the roots seem to be lifting out of the pot. Should the pot be smaller or larger than what it is? What kind of medium is good? I don't know much about cyms except that they do well outdoors. What should she be doing for it now that it is spending the winter indoors? By the way, she has forced air in her home. Is that good enough air circulation?

[jerrymeola]

Cyms like a lot of water and this one has been deprived greatly. The old bulbs are dry and gone but you still have a chance for new growth as it is not totally dead.

Scale also desiccated the plant removing more water and nutrient.

Re-pot it, remove the dead roots and bulbs and soak it well then let it dry before watering again. While the plant needs a lot of water when healthy it does not have a root system capable of absorbing the water. You need to wean it onto a good schedule gradually.

[fred]

yep I agree
a repot is in order and clean up the old psbulbs if any are shriveled right back or brown
you can remove them, remove the dead leaves first to see if you have any green psbulbs
as you have forward growths I would just do the above and also remove any dead roots I would also consider the next size pot up as well.
In my opinion it looks worse than what it really is

[Hummer344]

In my opinion it looks worse than what it really is[/QUOTE]

Boy do I agree with that quote. I think, once you get it out of the pot, that the roots will be rotten. A plant that gets to much water and a plant with two little water look much the same. Repot it, as suggested above and see what happens. I would consider shovel pruning such a plant.

[PhalPal]

Cyms like to be very crowded in their pot, but not to the point that you have no more medium remaining.

Take it out and inspect the roots; this is your best indicator if your cym has been under or overwatered. Cut back dead or dying parts and repot in a slightly larger pot. On a cym this small I wouldnt go up more than a size, leaving less than one inch open around the remaining root ball. If you choose a pot too large the roots will stay too wet and the cyms will use it's energy filling the pot with roots. Cyms grow in anything that drains well and isn't soggy. Santa Barbara Orchid Estate (and me!) grow in medium coco husks and charcoal. When you water, give it large amounts and let it drain thouroughly. Water again when it is dry; the skewer method will help you with determining when to water next.

I don't know what to tell you on growing inside except to move it away from any heat vents that blow directly on it. Cyms like the outdoors and big temperature swings which is easy to provide in my area, so someone who winters their cyms indoors can help you here.

[ALJ]

Thanks guys! I'll repot and clean her up this weekend. Maybe then my sister will learn to appreciate my "obsession".

[ALJ]

So I have pulled the unfortunate cym apart and I am left with only 2 1/2 or 3 pbs. They are very small, each with two to three leaves. They look like scallions. It was a struggle to separate them. Jerry and Fred recommended that I remove the dead roots and they'll grow back on their own. However all of the roots are dead. I'm not sure what to do now. My biggest concern is regrowing the root system. Should I give them some root stimulator? Will I be doing more harm than good?

[PhalPal]

So sorry to hear about your roots not being so great.
Truthfully, I would give up and buy a new cym. It takes virtually years to get an orchid to make a comeback along with a lot of TLC. By the time you buy root stim and other goodies you could have a new plant.

[y05hih31]

Wow i Just went through this like 5 sec ago... I put my orchids out to get fresh rain water since I'm in between moving and they have been neglected..
So finally I got my shelf put up and I brought them in to clean them and set them up. As I did this I noticed once was infested with a freshly built colony of ant's.

Then my Cymbidium Looked a bit limp the roots weren't holding it up.. It had slugs and as suspected The roots all rotted.

I cut all the roots off and noticed new growth so I inspected It's growing medium for any more bugs cleaned the leaves and repotted it with less water. Try to clean the medium or used new one.. I could be lacking drainage or simply just too moist and needs to be aired. Try doing that sometimes even tho most orchids just want space to grow they need a little attention or things could go wrong really fast.

[fred]

PhalPal has given you one option
here is another I have in the passed been given divisions like that I have placed the division on top of sphagnum moss It does take some time for new roots to grow but with placing the cym on top of sphag works really well for me
if you decide to do this keep the sphag moist and just give the leaves a light mist of water from a pressure sprayer

please keep us posted