The $1 plant repotting revival?

[Schlyne]

So I went to Lowe's to get some supplies and found the phals for sale to be in sad shape. I found one mostly or possibly completely dead phal on the $1 clearance rack. I'm not sure if I can revive the plant or not, but if I can't, well then I got a really nice clay pot and some clips for $1.

I was going to pull the plant out, give it an inspection, cut off everything that's clearly dead (not sure about what's dead root wise), repot in a smaller pot and then soak it.

I have fir bark, fresh spah moss, and then the spah moss it came in. I told the Lowe's guy at the checkout lane that all the Phal's needed to be watered, but he told me that they were cutting back on hours, the orchids had been there too long, and they were sick of watering them. I'm guessing this plant "died" simply because it didn't have enough water.

I"m wondering if I should just go ahead and use the spah it came in? Any other tips?

[mehitabel]

I say give it fresh medium. Throw the old stuff out. If it's rootless, that won't amount to much anyway

[E-Jag]

Schlyne, here's what you do for severely dehydrated/bare root orchids:
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 finely crushed vitamin with minerals
1/2 teaspoon epsom salt
1/2 teaspoon liquid dish detergent
Add all of the above to a gallon of water. Submerge the ENTIRE plant for 4 hours. Take it out, soak a towel in the mixture, wrap the plant and leave it overnight in 70-75 degree temp. Next morning rinse the plant in warm water and pot it up. Someone else on this forum came up with this formula and it works great - I saved 2 dens that were looking hard at the promised land. Good luck.

[Schlyne]

Why does it have the dish detergent in there? Anti fungal

[Rivka]

often a small amount of mild detergent is used for it "surfactant" quality, it helps things make contact with the surface of things, so it helps fluids soak into media or treatments cling to bugs

"Surfactants are wetting agents that lower the surface tension of a liquid, allowing easier spreading, and lower the interfacial tension between two liquids."

[lmartiny]

Soak your bark mix 24-48 hours, Your soaked and cleaned up plant can sit bare root a day or two with no harm. Be sure to dust cuts with cinnamon. That is recommended. (I don't always closely follow that rule.) Hold it down with a pot clip so it doesn't wiggle and let it go. I think I've been saying this a lot lately, but there have been similar posts on such plants, and that is what I did with mine and it is growing roots galore.

[mytwogirls]

Any news on how it is doing???

[Schlyne]

I haven't unwrapped it, but I cut it basically down to nubs. However, basically all of the roots were mushy. The inner "roots' were green, but it's only about an inch long of 4 or 5 nubs and what's left of the spike. The moss was very tightly packed around the roots as I was unpacking it. I screwed up last night and when I soaked the towel I soaked it in regular water. The crown of the orchid seemed to be totally black. I cut away as much of the blackened crown as I could. It's been sitting in a warm 70-75 degree spot all day (I've been running around trying to help my roommates get their car running again from the spot it died in). I think the plant is not going to come back. None of the velamen (spelling?) was green or not mushy.

It's looking like I got a plastic pot, 3 clips, a nice clay pot, and some experience for $1.

Edit: I did get some of the inner roots too be green, but they are so short and nubby I'm afraid it's not enough to grow back.

[CharliesAngel51]

A bargain even without the plant.

[nightqueen049]

Kudos to you for trying to save the phals! In my limited experience, I find that it IS possible to revive them in that state. I would give them a 15-30 minute soak in tepid water. This will loosen the original spagh so that you can get it off without damaging the roots. Presoak the new spagh as well (and the other potting medium, if you're using it), and pot them in that. Don't forget to clean off the roots with something like a Q-tip dipped in rubbing alcohol (to clean up the roots and get rid of any pests) and dust cinnamin or an antibacterial/antifungal over the cut roots to prevent infection. I would not use the old spagh because it may be harboring pests or disease.

The dish detergent mentioned in the previous post can actually help things soak up the water, to my understanding. It can speed a presoak process.

[rhogue]

Thanks for the posting. I learn from every post and this is a great one to recover weak orchids.