How to save a Phalaenopsis orchid with no (or with few) roots plus cutting the stem
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 12 ก.ย. 2024
- I have received this Phalaenopsis orchid from a neighbor to save. As you can see there is only one aerial root, the orchid is dehydrated, has limp, leathery leaves and looks like it will die. But I think hope is not all lost :) Here is my method of saving sick Phalaenopsis orchids with no roots, or with very few roots.
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I tried your method, and it’s been a month. She had one goof healthy root about an inch and the rest were rotted. I sprayed the four small ish leaves daily the moss where the root is resting. It’s quite humid and dry in the house due to heaters so I spray once a day. Anyhow I just looked to really inspect and I saw she is sprouting a new baby leaf that is poking through 😭made me sooo happy! So I guess I’ll keep doing it snd it seems the root has been growing too!!! Thank you!
I'm so happy for you. Mine has only two roots right now. Pray for me
@@maryam.y9032 i hope your orchid is doing okay!💖
I’m repotting mine now 😅
@@victoriap1649 make sure to cut all the rotten roots if there's any. Clean it properly and if all the roots are rotting see if the crown is rotten too and cut it😢 mine was rotten. What is left of her is just one leaf and I don't know if she'll make it. I think she will die. I'm so sad. I hope that yours is fine❤❤❤
@@maryam.y9032 Thank you so much for the tip, I just cut off all the dead matter and then carefully sanitized. I’m so sorry yours isn’t doing so well 😓 Plants can surprise us and be more resilient than we thought though, I believe in your orchid! Sending love you got this!✨🌱
Oh this gives me so much hope! I’m worried about my orchid 😭 it’s so pretty and I love it! I will do like you did!
I would love to see a picture of this orchid when her leaves plump up.
I hope she makes it!
I was at a loss with my orchid. I looked after her well but her roots suddenly started rotting and I didn't know what to do. So embarrassingly I decided to give up on her. Today when I saw the first sign of a limp leaf I decided I wouldn't give up on her. So I took her out her medium and cut off all the dead roots. Surprisingly there was one extra healthy root hiding away so fingers crossed she pulls through this! Thank you for helping me x
There was a gorgeous phalenopsis orchid in the office where I work. For years it sat on the windowsill and bloomed beautifully but nobody actually changed the media or did any kind of maintenance other than watering for years. One day I saw it and it was soaking wet and all the old flower spikes, which were never removed, were covered with scale insects and the orchid leaves (only two remained by now) were covered in sticky excrement for the scale. I commented on how sick it was and how it desperately needed care. I also mentioned that I’d saved some previously and they were thriving. Well lo and behold that afternoon they tasked me with saving it! Hopefully I can, it looks pretty sad right now, but there are a couple of roots left and I cut off all the spent stems where all the scale was, removed the dead roots, and washed all the sticky goo off the leaves. I hope it lives! 🤞🏻🌱
*update* it looks like it’s going to live! It lost all but one leaf and now it has made two tiny new leaves, about and inch long each, but it is slowly recovering and as soon as it grows some new roots I’m sure it will thrive!
This was so helpful! My poor plant had the droopy leathery leaves, so I took her out for repotting and found so many dead roots that had to be removed. She had only a few healthy roots. Followed these recommendations and have paid particular attention to the moisture of the top moss and deeper in the pot. Now leaves are looking healthier, and I think she's been brought back from the brink!
I want to thank you very much for this video! I accidentally overwatered one of my phalaenopsis orchids, and it lost all its roots but one. After repotting it and using moss on top, like you show here, it has now started to grow six (!) new roots, and I have high hopes that it will give me flowers once again in the future! :)
Thank you. I have one that has no roots but grew many "air" roots.
Thank you so much for this video, i will be following your advice to revive my 2 dying orchids, they are so pretty and i really hope they make a comeback 😭
Miss Orchid Girl > I followed your directions and in a few days my orchid is already doing better , thanks Danni !
hi Danni, I have 8 phaleonopsis which all had rotted roots so I cleaned them yesterday and cut all dead roots as per your video. Then I attached them using string (which I cannot now see) to a piece of paper bark on an old tree trunk directly outside and I used spagnum moss under and on top of roots. In just one night the surface roots look happier, if that's possible.
I hope they survive, if they do, it will be because of your videos, so THANK YOU for taking the time to do this.
Hi! Thank you for your tips. I followed them exactly and my almost dead orchid is showing a new leaf and a small aerial root! WOW...Thank you!
Hi Danny, thanks a lot for this specific video, I got an orchid in the same condition as yours and thanks to your tips it's still alive and much better now. BTW it's really exciting to watch it getting stronger.
Thank you for this video. I just repotted an orchid today that all the roots were rotten. Hopefully it will make it. Fingers crossed.
Today I repotted my first orchid following your instructions. It was severely pot bound. The roots were all impacted into the media which was moss. The roots were green but all segmented like bodies on a bug. I cut the rotted parts, rinsed what was left and sprayed them with 3% hydrogen peroxide. I used orchid media (coarse) of bark and added a little sphagnum moss. The leaves are green and we’ll hydrated so my fingers are crossed she survives! Thank you for the plethora of information 🥰
You brought orchids into my life and I'm so grateful and happy. Thank you Danny 💚💚💚
Thank you for making all these videos! I’m a beginner and every single FB orchid group I’m in recommends your videos. I have an orchid, while not old, looks exactly like that plant. I was getting worried when I didn’t see any growth over the past month. Now that I know I have to wait years, I won’t give up prematurely!
Hi Danni, do you mind doing an update on this orchid? The reason I ask is because am rehabbing 2 orchids with very little roots and the leaves are very dehydrated. I think the little roots I have look like they are turning black.
Thank you for helping me with saving my Phalaenopsis orchids that I received for Mother's Day. When I was taking it out of the previous pot, I also came across a small basket looking container. This was holding the small roots. It took a while and patience to cut it off around the small roots.
Hi there! So glad I came across this video. I just received my phal as a gift about a month ago, and am having some major trouble! My phal was given to me in a ceramic pot, and without knowing any better, I did not know it was severely sick! 90% of the media was moss and there was a little bit of bark on the bottom. After a few weeks of receiving my orchid, all of the buds fell off and only three beautiful flowers remain on the largest stem now. All of the leaves dropped off too- so now there is only one leaf. This leaf looks sturdy and green, not dehydrated. Upon taking apart the potting mix though, it was a mess. All roots were rotted. There was one root that seemed salvageable, it looks a little yellowish-brown, but when I cut off it's dead end, the inside appeared green. There are about seven arial roots. There are many stems on my phal, maybe 4 in total. I was wondering whether or not I should cut the stems so it can focus on root growth, but I do not want to stress my phal any further if that's the case..When I repotted my phal, I repotted in a pot that has holes with a mix of fir bark, perlite, charcoal, and sphagnum moss. I put sphagnum moss around the top and watered the phal really well. I heard that if a phal doesn't have a good root system that you shouldn't water it for a while too promote root growth (so the roots start growing in search of water). Sooo, I'm not sure what exactly I should do. Should I cut the stems and should I keep watering the top of the phal to keep the arial roots moist?? I just want my phal to get better!
I appreciate any advice! Thank you!!
Wow! That was 7 years ago. How did your orchid do? My first thought was to mist your orchid once a day or every 2 days rather than water it, or you may end up with the same mess- rotten roots that you started with.)
God I love the look of the aerial roots so much!
so, how is she doing? i feel like i am in a book and need to know the end. any signs of new roots?
Mellie of
I just saw this, I'm wondering too
Me too. What happened?
Me too 🤔
Me too! Sadly she doesn’t really respond comments 😢
I have a lovely red orchid that is showing signs of stress and I intend to follow your advice this very day, thank-you!
Danni, thank you for this very explicit instruction. I will follow your suggestions for my new orchid which arrived very compacted in spagnum moss without any air holes in the pot. My attempt to repot her were too late and she now has only one dehydrated root. Her core is solid and she has several leaves however, so I am hopful that she will eventually recover. thank you so much
Hello Dani! Oh my gosh, I was so excited to see this video up today! I just repotted a phal last week that was almost in as bad of condition. I've watched so many of your videos, and learned so much, I applied my logic and attempted a repot and somehow I did it very similar to you! Yeah! My girl did have ONE good root left, and two aerial roots, and the leaves although wilted have a chance to come back, so I'm hopeful. Although I didn't know you could safely cut away the dead part of the stem, or the sphagnum method, but I will know now for next time. I have her staked so the stem is not below the surface of the media to avoid rot, and I can keep a better eye on moisture around that area, so I hope that will be ok. It will be very interesting to see the updates on your girl, and see how mine recovers as well! I'm hopeful, but definitely less experienced, so fingers crossed! Thank you for the beautiful videos, you have helped me save a few of my special girls now.
Hi Kylynn, great to hear about your orchid, applying logic is better than applying articles trust me ;) you can save them without the added moss really, but you just need to spray the top more often, so moss, if used correctly, will save you from some hassle but that's all ;)
Very informative channel. No wonder why any orchids that were in my care died.... thank you for all your helpful tips and I look forward to watching more of your videos!
Thanks for the reply! I did just purchase another phal yesterday. It was a better gro purchased at Lowes. The plant nurseries here have very few to choose from and they are way too expensive in my opinion. I live in South Alabama, just above the Florida border and I think I was giving my previous phals too much water as well as light. I will keep in touch. If I can survive this one, I definitely want to expand. This is my third shot at it! The last time I purchased about 4 at once!
Tamara Sumner you know what they say, third time's a charm :p good luck, I'm sure you'll do much better!
I love your video. Since watching your videos my orchid is much happier and I got it in the spring. She has a new pot because the medium she was in was compacted and her roots have started to rot. I wanted to save her. Her leaves we limp but still thick. I started to watch your videos and I took the advice and now she is happy. New roots and new leaves are growing. We also changed to distilled water since our two water was to heavy. We are hoping for new flowers this winter if not that is fine. I want what is best for her😊
I was checking on mine last night (got it two months ago) and saw that it had so much root damage due to mold 😭 (my fault because forgot and left it in the bathroom after watering it). I cleaned it up and was left with very little root; luckily, the leaves and the flowers look great, except for one sad smaller leaf that I removed as it was yellow. It just occurred to me I should look up on how to treat orchids with rotted roots (I feel like this should be the name of a band); anyhow, I’m glad it looks like I intuitively followed your advice. 🙂 I really like your channel and your videos have been very informative (subscribed a few weeks ago. Edit: I just double checked and I’m not subscribed 😅 luckily the TH-cam app has been sending me suggested videos... subscribing now!).
Hello Danny!
Help!!! Baby orchid is dying.
First of all, thanks so much for your great enthusiasm for the these amazing orchid flowers and all of your excellent videos. I’m very new to horticulture and, especially, growing orchids, and I’ve been amazed at how they actually grow and how strong they actually are. Awesome flowers!!
My question is about how to save one desperate case. I have been helping my mom, who has fallen ill, to take care of all of her plants, and save many of them. Especially difficult has been her dying orchid, which I know nothing about. I was getting some products to help with this at a local home store and found four other seemingly dead orchids there. So I talked the manager into selling them to me for only $2 apiece. ;-) I thought I might as well save these little ones along with the one my mom had.
Great news is I’ve saved all of them but one poor baby. She had root rot and as I was taking off all the dead roots and leaves I discovered she had crown rot too, as the leaves pulled right off. I wish now I had not done that because, as you’ll see in the pictures below (if I am able to attach pics), it looks like she may not survive.
So far I’ve soaked the stem (?) in water for several days/a week and placed her teeny roots in water. They seemed to grow a little bit but haven't grown much since then, about a couple weeks.
Do you have any ideas? Would the spag and bag method help this poor baby? Or is it the end?!!! :-(
Thanks so much in advance for your help!
John
PS - I can’t figure out how to attach the pics. So I sent them to you via your merchandise website. Basically, I have a nearly rootless and leafless orchid stem. There are several roots sticking out with the longest being a half an inch. Thanks!!
This video answered so many questions to me!! I have one that I am trying to save: not dehydrated, but only one aerial root. It's still in pretty good shape but it has no roots because of root rot. I will try your method❤thanks!
Love the new repotting video foe phals! I've never seen such an old phal in person like that, that actually had a stock but I've heard of that happening. Ever since I repotted all my plants in bark (some I put in a bark/moss mixture just to see what works better for me.)they've been doing so much better. Their currently growing lots of roots and leaves, wish I had used the bark media sooner but you know, "live and learn" lol.
Hi Rosanna, glad to hear you found the best media for you :) yes I find bark to be the easiest one to work with especially for beginners :)
I did the same thing after you mentioned moisture is the most important thing for root growth, and it saved many of my dying orchids :)
Hi, I am happy to hear that :D
Thanks Dani I Have baby Kenneth Schubert ‘Blue Sky’ Phal Bellina coerules It arrived looking OK but within short order it showed signs of dehydration.
Your vid. saved the day and probably the orchid👍🙏 Thanks just one more time!
You have so much knowledge! You have taught me a ton! I think I saved my orchid thanks to you(: only now I'm totally addicted to orchids they are such an amazing plant! Thank you (:
I think that the aerial roots are a beautiful part of the orchid as well.
I have an orchid in this condition and didn’t know what to do. Thank you. I followed your instructions. Hope it works.
Thanks for demonstrating this technique. I have a most unhappy looking Phalaenopsis - three very twisted and dehydrated leaves and a few stumpy aerial roots. However, the roots do green-up slightly when I spray them so, there's still some hope. Anyway, I have depotted, trimmed and tidied the plant as you suggest and repotted with an orchid mix substrate (medium bark, perlite and charcoal) and topped it round with sphagnum. Now we wait and hope. Had it not been for this video the plant would almost certainly have been relegated to the bin. My plant (and I) thank you!
Glad to help and good luck, hope she will bounce back fast for you! :D
Hi Danni. Thank you so much for this tutorial 🤗. You’re explanations are always very clear. I’m going to use this procedure on one of my sick orchids. I will be very patient but I am looking forward to seeing how she will do. It would be nice to see an update on how yours did. 🌸
Thanks again !!!
Thank you for this video. found it a bit late when my orchid has dropped another leaf and now only has two really wrinkly ones but the more i cleaned it it allready looked better. I hope this method works!
I am just now seeing this orchid Danny, and I wondered now it’s seven years later how did this orchid do did the orchid come back? I now have an orchid that’s in the same shape and I allowed somebody to babysit for it while I went out of town when I came back things changed a little bit and now I am trying to restore my Phalaenopsis. I am so thankful I saw your video.
Hi Dani. I've tried the sphag n bag method as well as the hydroton method on my sister's sick phal. It was badly dehydrated n had only a few aerial roots. I used each method for several months and it wasn't getting better, so one day I decided to just plant it in a bark mix and all the leaves perked right up within a week. It is now on its slow return from the dead. Great video as usual!
Hi David, happy to hear your orchid is doing great :D yes well methods may vary depending on environment and other things, but I find the direct potting the safest one, as bags can induce molds and hydroton can dry too fast for a dehydrated orchid ;)
Yes I agree. As you always say you have to find what works for you. :)
Thanks Danni,just repotted one my friend gave me who’s gone to live in New Zealand,it’s the last one of 3 still alive.
oh my god that phal is ridiculous looking!! It looks like a palm tree now more than a phal!! Oh wow that is amazing.
Great job showing how to repot it. I keep most of my orchids with that top layer of sphagnum and wet the moss every 2-3 days and they seem to love it.
Thanks Astrid :D yes the moisture idea is a life saver, I do however remove the moss after the orchid has a decent root system and fill with bark ;) Phals have a very fragile stem, very susceptible to rot.
Dang straight. Fussy little plants... oncidiums 4 lyfe!!
I enjoy watching your videos am a orchid lover trying my best to take care of them continue to do what you are doing
Thank you for your idea!! I want to save mine so I will give it a go........ Fingers Crossed!!
good luck, hope it will bounce back fast :D
Thank you, in just a matter of days, the leaves are feeling firmer, but not out of the woods yet. I will let you know how it goes............
oooh happy to hear, it's a great sign, must mean it gets hydrated and that's great news :)
Well, I am thinking you may of saved my beautiful pink orchid.......... poor thing had 2 roots at the top, everything else was drier than a old bone :O( I may of lost a older leaf, the tip is going yellow, but that's ok the others are are plumping up!!
I have 2 new leaves but I am not counting on being out of the woods yet!!
Hi Danny!
Thanks to you I’ve ordered from repotme! I’ve found a new hobby with orchids. I received gifts from family and friends in various occasions and noticed my orchids dying. I decided to try to keep them alive for sentimental reasons. I found your channel and subscribed. Now I’m hooked! Unfortunately I think my orchids were in too bad of shape and now are in ICU. I wanted to know if you can make a video of phalaenopsis anatomy? Can we cut the stem to save a phal and how far above? I will send you videos of my keikis I was able to get from my sick orchids. Thanks !!! I’m a huge fan!!
I love your videos! I recently adopted a phalaenopsis with lots of dead stem tissue. Lucky for the plant it's leaves are good, has lots of air roots (none in the pot though) and had a flower spike. I now know how to approach trimming off the dead tissue. Thanks.
Thanks for the tips! I'm trying reviving my only baby!
Plastic tie is much better because I just discovered recently that aphids live inside the plastic clips thanks again Ms Orchid Girl
I have just done exactly as you suggest with a dying and dehydrated Phalaenopsis ( that I gave to my mother about 2 years ago)..........I took it out of the water saturated and medium compacted pot and it had absolutely no roots at all (all rotted away)......but it has numerous (and long) aerial roots.........so I've done everything you teach (with Sphagnum moss on top with a few aerial roots touching the moss (and fir bark, perlite and a little bit of moss in the clear plastic pot underneath.....the medium in the pot is really airy and just moist)........I have sprayed/misted the whole plant (no big drops of water) and put a plastic bag over the plant and it is now regenerating (hopefully?) under some artificial lighting (four super bright T5 florescent lighting, from the aquarium trade, all tubes are plant growing tubes)...............so what I want to ask you is if you think the lighting is too bright?, is the plastic bag for humidity wrong? (it's pretty air dry where I live, so just thought this could help the plant get moisture through the aerial roots in the short term for regeneration, because it's leaves are so dehydrated and bottom roots are dead)..........any advice would be greatly appreciated! :-).........and thanks a million for all your cool videos, tutorials and tips........if I save this plant i'll let your know, cheers Dani, great work! :-)
+volvos70t51 hello,sorry to hear about your orchid but I hope she will bounce back soon :D I would just like to add that you should be careful with the bag on top of orchids. Since this blocks any type of ventilation it can create mold, so at the first sign of mold just remove the bag. I had more problems with the bag than good results so just spend a little time to check on the orchid every day for molding. Also I would not mist the plant, at this stage she is very fragile and can start to rot fast, especially with the combination mist plus bag, I would just not do that. For now I would just spray the aerial roots to make sure the plant gets hydrated, not the leaves or crowns. Good luck!
+MissOrchidGirl Many thanks for your advice, I have removed the bag and will only mist the aerial roots, will let you know if this orchid survives, cheers :-)
+MsOrchidGirl. Thank you so much for this video Dani. I was gifted my Phalaenopsis Orchid this Valentine's Day and since, it's suffered bud blast, bloom drop, root rot and now has one aerial root, a split leaf, 3 limp leaves with alittle yellowing on one, beige dent marks on the underside of the leaves and the beginning of crown rot, PHEW did I forget anything poor girl lol.Thank GOD I found your videos, I cut back the spikes and rotted roots, did your *peroxide & cinnamon* method yesterday, and just repotted it in this same way with fresh bark. My question is... I only have MiracleGro Spanish moss on hand, can that be an alternative to sphagnum moss in this case, thank you in advance.💖
have a sick orchid....repotted june one leaf is now hard not floppy....5 ariel roots looking good....2 roots in compost going mushy....so a work in progress
You are the best Dani ! Thank you for your valuable tips !
I have a miniature-phaly and it looks just like the plant in your video. I’ve followed your advice and so I’m going to be patient and see what happens. Thank you! 🌞
Would love to see a before and after video on this orchid to see how it’s doing now. Thanks
Hi Cynthia, if you look at some of the other older comments to Danny, you’ll see that she reported that the orchid didn’t make it. She says something about perhaps crown rot. She also used it this video starting at about 8 minutes and 20 seconds. th-cam.com/video/5fyjpS1Mawo/w-d-xo.html
I would love to see how is this orchid doing?
Loves
You're Awesome.
+Lorena Williams Hi Lorena, sadly she did not make it due to complications, I feature her here th-cam.com/video/5fyjpS1Mawo/w-d-xo.html
Thanks for the video Danni, just saved my mother's orchid from root aphids. All of the roots were rotten and sucked dry. It had alot of areal roots, so I just cut the long ass stem, and put it in water culture for now. Thanks :D
water culture is not the best for aerial.
Stanley Gagner It was a temporary solution, and I made a mistake in my original comment. I meant semi-water culture.
oh good
How is this guy doing? All your videos are so amazingly helpful!
Candice Parnell Hi Candince, currently lost all the leaves but the root is growing, so I'm not sure how it will do but I will make an update when it does something.. or dies lol
Haha! Thanks for the reply! Hope it does well enough for an eventual update!
I want to give you my orchid to save it! A friend gave me hers, she got frustrated with it and she talked to me about it a couple weeks prior and I knew a little bit about orchids, so she let me have it.
I have it now for just barely a week, I hardly touched it, not even water it. I just now snipped off the spikes to an inch, trimmed off any portion of roots that looked dead or dying. wiped the leaves, took out the steaks that were in the pot to hold up the old flowers and pretty much left it from there.
The leaves are droopy, dark, they still have a little fleshiness and stiffness to them. There is a new leaf coming, it still looks good. One thing that concerns me is the base of the plant, there some spotty black areas on the roots, but they're still pretty green and firm. There's some black areas around the base, I'm not sure if it feels squishy, it still seems firm-ish, there's no smell of rot. It still smells very earthy. There is a root that is stuck in the planter pot in a vent, so I'm a little weary on pulling it out and not sure if I should re-pot since I snipped the spikes down so the plant can save some energy. I'm also putting off on watering, the roots look pretty green, but the media is pretty dry.
sir MAXX Hi, thank you for the offer but I cannot accept right now, I need to move out of the country with my orchids and that takes a lot of boxes :) I also intend to bring only the healthy orchids so I don't have trouble at the borderline, as the condition is that I can pass across healthy orchids to get through inspection. But you can try to save the orchid yourself, it will teach you a lot :) if you watch my videos I think you kinda know what I do with sick orchids for promoting root growth. Just a thought, green roots might be green when dry if they have algae on them, in which case they might need water even if they are green. So I suggest you start watering to hydrate the orchid when the roots are dry, but not necessarily silvery :)
Hello friend , I have learned from your wonderful channel and I appreciate you so much for your orchid wisdom. Thank you! I have a couple orchids and other plants I lovingly grown for years. So my grand daughter came to me with this baby orchid looking quite dead. After removing the sphagnum moss it was totally packed in what’s left is all hallow white roots with a couple green ends to hollow white roots all attached at a small crown . Is there any hope?
Loved this video.... just in time.
Great video. I would love to see a follow up to see what happened to the rescued orchid.
I just followed this method on an orchid my father had (he passed away last February). It has absolutely no roots other than 2 aerial roots. I am really hopeful I can save him but when I cut the rot off the bottom, I did cut into a little live tissue and that worries me. I guess we will see. I, too, would love to know if this guy made it. I have been trying everything with this little guy for the past year and he hasn't died yet - I remain hopeful.
I just used this technique on one of my dying orchids. One leaf turned completely yellow within a couple days, basically all of the roots were rotten except for these tiny tiny baby roots it has started to grow. So I'm hoping because of those baby root nubs, that it'll have a chance
Oh, I do have a question. To me, that pot seems too big for that orchid's root system. I would have put the orchid in something with maybe half of that diameter because the new roots might rot for me if they grew toward the center. Do you feel like the orchid will put more roots on the outside, or is your potting mix airy enough that you can avoid this problem? I am just asking out of curiosity. I repotted my healing orchid in a bigger pot and it got very mad at me and some roots died- oops!
Phals are so picky! I have a much easier time with oncidiums :D
Wonderful video, and good job explaining all the common questions people would ask!!
haha I agree Phals are picky and I'm not fond of them as much as others lol. but about the big pot: *** SMUG ALERT*** you are talking to me here, if I say the roots won't rot in this big pot, then they won't :)) ok kidding, here's the reasoning: the orchid is not a mini obviously, it is not a seedling either, it's quite old, thus her root system will be anything but puny. When it will start taking over the pot it will be an obvious choice for her size. Until the roots will get to that extent, the bark will provide airiness as well as the side holes, there is no danger of sogginess if you make sure not to keep the media too wet at the bottom and break it down before its time, thus the roots have no reason to rot. If I were to pot it in a smaller pot I would repot too soon, the orchid will be top heavy and fall easy and the radius of the pot, being smaller, will accommodate less moss and less moisture to the orchid itself. The entirety of the pot will provide less moisture to the body of the orchid in fact. That's just my way of doing things, learned my lesson after repotting a huge, rootles oncidium in a tiny pot and having to water it every day after 6 months, due to the inappropriate pot size I choose based only on its root system size. I have a video on that as well :P so yeah, not a rule I'm fond of with the root system size, it's a multitude of factors I think we need to keep in mind.
Oh, thank you for such a detailed explanation!! I'm still finding my own way to do things, but I like your ideas here! I am just scared all the time still about my plants.
I am trying to be less afraid of watering them and getting the leaves wet... baby steps for Astrid!
***** yep in the end it's what works for you, if people have no trouble repotting in 6 months and can afford to keep a constant eye, yeah sure small pots to go. I'm not that kind of person, underneath it all I'm just a lazy brat :)))
Hahahaha!! I'm pretty lazy, too! My collection is still small, though, so I can afford to be detailed in my laziness
MissOrchidGirl b
Hi Dani! I'm having an orchid emergency :( My mom gave me an orchid to save that was heavily compacted in moss and the bottom leaves were turning yellow and falling off. It still had about 4 leaves left, and so I repotted it in a moss bark and pumice mixture that I use for my other orchids (that all do well). The bottom most leaf was beginning to turn yellow near the inside but I left it and sprayed the whole stem of the plant where I saw the rot with hydrogen peroxide. I watered it and left it alone getting plenty of light. Well that leaf ended up falling off, so did the next one. All of the leafs had fallen off from the bottom up, leaving only the upper two leaves. Today when I checked up on it, the two leaves fell off as I lifted the pot ! It had plenty of fine roots (way more than I expected) and the upper most leaves look totally fine other than they are no longer attached to the plant. My question is should I even bother trying to save them? Can orchids regrow from roots?
I also should mention it is a phalaenopsis orchid
Hi, sorry to hear about your orchid, it sounds like the stem was rotting so the infection traveled from the bottom up. It is different than crown rot and a bit more hard to treat since you don't know the infection point. To be honest I am not sure if it will continue to live, since stem rot attacks the core of the orchid and the places where keikis can be formed. As long as there are roots just keep it, maybe it can produce a keiki from somewhere but don't be sad if she doesn't make it, this is a lethal disease usually. Here is a video about preventing this disease for the future, hope this helps th-cam.com/video/ErKc0aYlQCY/w-d-xo.html
+MissOrchidGirl thanks for the quick response! I'm going to try to keep it healthy as best I can, I do think the roots might turn into something. Thank you so much for your advice Dani, I love your videos too !
I just got a lovely baby purple-flowering phal. It was dropping flowers and leaves and I freaked out and took it out the pot - plug of some kind of coir, sphagnum moss and almost every root dead and rotten. I'm going to do some research on your channel and try to save it. I am absolutely gutted.
Hi how is this orchid doing now? can you do a update on this phal
Dave F. I’m here 5 years later and would love to know how she’s doing. I see many here are asking you the same question. Please?
@@oopurpledove I would like to know also. I wish she answered us. I just told her that I might lose my orchids because of bad media that I used( miracle gro and Black gold). Yes, I did it twice. My husband bought it but.... I guess if she answered everyone she would never sleep.
Tonya Owen I do have to say that I did find a post she did that updated all of her sick plants. I wish I could tell you what episode it was, I should’ve looked. Yes we do have to give grace to everyone.
Try her website. It's on the intro screen.
I tried to do this to a phalaenopsis once. It had been severely overwatered at the flowershop, and it had lots of sphagnum moss right in the middle, so when the roots that could be seen through the transparent pot seemed to be gray and very dry, the inner roots were suffocating and always wet. The lower part of the stem rotted, and so did the roots. The only good roots were some air roots. I tried to save that phalaenopsis, and I cut part of the stem away, and treated it with cinnamon, but at the end the whole plant rotted. I failed. Yep, it was a "failurenopsis". The safest thing to do is to always take some of the media away and check the inner roots. If possible, it would be good to do that at the shop, before buying it, if it's possible to remove some of the bark to take a look, and then put it back without disturbing the plant.
Andrea Soilander I'm sorry to hear, but failurenopsis oh I love that term :)) can I steal it? :)) well not all orchids are savable, it very much depends on the individual, if it's too weak, or the damage is too great there is nothing we can do. Most cases though they will pull through, they just need patience.
MissOrchidGirl Of course you can! :))
Very very useful. Thank you so much for this video.
+Minda Castro My pleasure :)
Interesting. Why don’t you like sphagnum for phaIs ? Is 100% bark best?
Great helpful video. Thanks!
Hi Danny. You know when you hold the plant in your hand and you see the dried dead leaves on the base? Pull those off and you'll see starts of roots - they just can't form because the dead leaves act like a girdle. I also put mine like this under a plant light and support the leaves with an upside down plastic pots.
Hi Burr, ok I see what you say, however I suspect the new roots won't form from there, it's dead tissue. I suspect the next roots will come from the area where the air root is. I will be monitoring it anw ;)
I have same problem with phalaenopsis orchird ,I will follow your way
I have followed your instructions to save a rootless orchid that had one air root and now that air root is looking rotted too. I guess I should give up on orchids as I have had 3-4 now and none of them did well despite watching your videos and following the methods. It still has droopy leaves and there is one small nub root, but I am depressed it is not going well.
Hello there
How is this orchid doing? I'm actually trying to save my orchid that has 1 aerial root as well. I hope they both will live
1cutesmile79 I think it had some crown rot.. not sure if it's alive anymore, I'll make a video update soon
Could we please have an update on this sad little orchid - It would be good to know how it has done in order to give us some idea of what we novices could achieve!!
So glad I found for your channel Danni !!! Orchids have been my passion for several years now. However , I never deepened my knowledge of them very much until now. I would love to see the result of this experience as I do have the same problem. Also, I would like to know at what frequency I should fertilize my orchids ? . I have a tendency to use the recommendation on the bottle and fertilize all year around. Is that appropriate ? I’d be very grateful for your advice. Keep up the good work !!!! Have a great day ☀️🌸
You're my go-to for all things orchids. Thank you for your very educational videos! I have an orchid that I repotted, and I guess some of the roots were not healthy so most of them rotted. I have two new roots growing and I cut off the rotted portion and repotted it. I still have a spike that is trying to flower again in two new spikes. It has 3 leaves, but only one is as it should be, the others are somewhat dehydrated. I have a 4th leaf beginning to crown. Would you advise fertilizing? leaving it alone? I'm worried that alot of energy is being spent on things other than growing new roots. Thanks for your help!
Hi, I have an orchid with 1 viable root. When I bought it last week I didn't notice that all of the roots were rotten. It also has flowers, should I cut them off so the orchid is less stressed?
Thank you for your videos and for your help🌷
Hello !! Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge. how do you know when there is no hope ? My orchids were so happy and then I moved to the dessert and I can't seem to make them happy or comfortable....
Could you skip potting medium and place the plant in water until some root growth appears?
Hey Danny
your channel is awesome you are now the only orchid expert i use, my question is i recently took an orchid from my mother in law which had 1x ariel root and 2 x small roots very healthy however its now dropped all it leaves and i suspect the centre of the orchid had water trapped in it, will i get new leaves or growth from the roots
many thanks mick
Informative video but I would have liked to see how you watered the plant.
Hello Dani, I watched a lot of your videos, they are really useful. I bought my first orchid Phalaenopsis a few months ago and the blooms are really beautiful, but I am afraid I bought an ill plant. :( I had to cut a lot of the roots now it has 1 small root and 2 small air roots, but they are some black spots on them. They are hard and thick, but not green like the roots on healthy plant. I also cut the spike because I read somewhere that the orchid can't make new roots when there is a spike. The leaves are alright. I followed the tips in this video. I hope it will be ok. May you tell me should I fertilize and how often?
+temptation9006 Hi, well the roots don;t need to be green, if they didn't receive light they can be whiteish or yellow, if they are firm they are alive :) I think you did well in cutting the spikes, not because the orchid cannot produce roots, but because they drain a lot of energy and right now she is not very healthy. If you take care of her properly I think she will bounce back :) I fertilize every 2 weeks or so with an orchid fertilizer, but just follow the directions on the label if you are not sure what to do :)
+MissOrchidGirl Thank you very much for the quick answer. :)
Hi Dani, first of all thank you so much for all of your videos! I've recently received as a gift and your videos have been so informative. I'm trying to save my Mothers orchid which seems to have root rot from over watering in spagnom moss media. Also the orchid was put outside to "dry" out and has suffered sun damage to the leaves. There is a new root so I am very hopeful for this wee one. I've repotted following your recommendations. All of the roots suffered extreme root rot. But I'm worried I pruned too much. The tip of 2-3 roots were rotted. So I cut closer to the base, but it was green! What damage do you think this will have to the orchid?
Thanks for the tip:) there is one thing I forgot to mention. it is very black where the roots meet the crown of the orchids as well.
+Alexandra Herrera it might be a bit of burn but it might not be enough to kill the roots. At this point it is better to wait and just be careful to not water way too often to keep the media soggy all the time :) but as long as the root is still greening up, I think it should be ok.
Hi Danni, Thanks so much for this video! My orchid looks almost exactly like this one, so I am so happy to have your tutorial on how to save it. One question for you: I have two aerial roots, one looks very healthy like yours. The other has a few inches of healthy root, but the tip of the root is dried and shriveled up. Should I trim the dried portion off or leave it as it is? Thank you so much!
Thank you for this information Danny! I am trying to save my new phalaenospsis orchid which have dark spots on its roots. Many roots have dried or rotten (I am not sure what is happening) so I had to cut them but now there is just a few roots remaining. I will repot it like you did in this video. Do I need to do something different for the dark spots on the roots? I sprayed with hydrogen peroxide 3%. The curious thing about my orchid is that even though the roots appear to die, the leaves are still pretty, strong and really green. I want to do the best I as can now before it is too late. And one other question, in this video you repot in a big pot even though the orchid has just a few roots. Would it be better to repot in a tinier pot, like a plastic glass?
Thank you!
username9485 Hi, sorry for the late reply, I just saw this message. How is your orchid now? about the pots, I like to take into consideration the size of the orchid too, if the pot is too small it will be insufficient in a few months and that's not ok either. When growing orchids we need to apply common sense as well, not follow some rules someone writes on the internet ;)
MissOrchidGirl Hi Danny! Thank you for your reply. My orchid is worse than it was. The few left roots remaining all died, they seem completely dried, even though I had put moss on the top to keep them humid. The leaves are still fine though, and I just spray water on the top of the moss every morning. I don't know what is happening. Do you have any suggestion? Thank you!
username9485 maybe the roots were more affected than you thought and eventually died. I think you are doing well in keeping the top moss humid, just make sure the orchid is not potted too deep in the moss. The humidity will promote some root growth, so for now just be patient. It can take a few months but I think the orchid will produce new roots eventually at the base.
MissOrchidGirl
Thank you for your help Danny!
Hello, this is a very useful video, thank you. I have phalaenopsis which has no leaves and only a couple of healthy looking arial roots. I have repotted it with a new fresh bark medium today. Is that okay to keep it like this? Or do I have to include moss on the top? Thank you very much for your answer.
Hello. I just subscribed. I am trying to save my mother's orchid. I had to cut the stem down to about 2 inches. The roots were all rotten, black except for about 5 air roots. The plant has 4 beautiful green leafs. Should the air roots hang free, meaning out of the pot or be in the pot? Try not to laugh. I made the mistake yesterday evening and used soil I use for my jade plant. I know nothing about orchids but looking online yesterday night and at your videos. Thank you.
Hello, thank you for sharing the information! My orchid has no roots left whatsoever but I but it in a new media with bark and moss and 3 small new leaves grew. So far I have not seen any root growth. It's been approximately 3 months. Can you give any further tips please? I have moss right up against the stem. Should I refrain from doing that? Thank you!
Thanks Danni. This video was extremely helpful for reviving a Phalaenopsis orchid plant my wife purchased. It had 2 blooming flower spikes but the leaves were dehydrated. I removed the flower spikes and the dead roots.There were a few functioning roots which I left on the plant. I re-potted the plant in Ochiata NZ premium medium size pine bark. I will move the plant into a more humid area. I will water it a little more following your advice. I have a few questions. Is misting the leaves of any benefit? Is fertilizing of any benefit at this time? If so, which is better: watering with a fertilizer solution to feed the roots or misting the leaves with a fertilizer solution(foliar feeding)? I have both "Orchid Focus Grow" and "Orchid Focus Bloom". I presume "Grow" is preferred at this time. I would appreciate your thoughts and advice.
Hi, well the foliar feeding is a debatable subject, I personally don't do it. Because the orchid is in a bad state regarding leaves, it might be a good idea not to mist them so you avoid infections. I would start fertilizing inside the pot with a dilute quantity at first, maybe a quarter strength of the focus grow for now, until the orchid will start producing more roots. One every 2 weeks should be ok for now.
Thanks for your help Danni
You always simplify things instead of complicating!
This is an awesome video, looking forward to seeing an update.
Thank you Lisa :D
Good going Miss Orchid Girl..... but i disagree with you on one thing and that is where to cut the orchid. I would have cut the stem where it reveals healthy tissue.
The dying stem could be a result of stem rot that will proceed up the stem towards the crown. So in an effort to prevent the progression of the rot i recommended that you cut into healthy tissue then treat the cut end with a suitable pesticide. you should have also removed all the dry bracts or leaf stubs that remains on the stem. i usually remove everything dead and decaying inclusive of the remaining spike.
i would then treat the entire plant for disease thus killing fungal spores and or bacteria that may still be on the plant. allow to dry then my next step is to soak the plant in a solution of superstrive for 30 mins, then allow to air dry.
i would then pot in a medium that retains good amount of moisture, so i would go for the sphagnum moss over the bark since i don't water on the regular.. and high humidity is paramount in reviving a plant that is dehydrated.
anyway good job.
do a follow up video showing the plants progression.
Will be great if you can make videos like this one but where we can see the before and after of the orchid... I know this could take years but for example this video was recorded in 2015. Very curious how is this plant doing...
Can I give you a little tip? Under the base of stem you can put a little piece of foam plastic. And the water will not stay there :) And if i were you i would take off all dried pieces of old leaves. :)
Altynay B Hi thanks for the tip that is a good idea :D the dried pieces were too attached, in time they will be removed ;)
you are welcome :) usually i remove them with sterilized tweezers :) it is easier to make a little cut on the middle of leaf and take it off :)
Danni. I'm sorry to post again so soon. I just sent you a comment asking how to care for some orchids I rescued from a friend, but I went in and looked at the plants again and I have more questions and information. They are both Phalaenopsis. One looks like it might be some variety that I saw on another site that grows horizontally, but it might also be that it is growing sideways because of the really bad root system that can't hold it upright. I can't tell. It has small white blooms and the person who owned it apparently never cut the bloom spikes. It has 4 bloom spikes growing but they are very very long. One is probably 2 to 3 feet long and has split into 2 branches. Each bloom stalk still has blooms and buds at their tips. One stalk has a keiki at the very end. I am trying to learn how to care for this keiki and when I can separate it from the parent. I saw your video about your keikis, but they were at the base of the leaves of the orchid plant. Do you have a video about what to do with keikis at the end of bloom spikes. Also, how can I tell if this orchid naturally grows horizontally or if its current growth pattern is because of the poor health of the plant? Both of these poor plants are suffering from some root rot because they appear to be planted in potting soil rather than bark. I am absolutely going to re-pot the small one tomorrow as it does not have any blooms at this time. It does have some really small new leaves (new growth), but all of the originally leaves are dead or dying. Should I re-pot the other one that still has blooms or should I wait for the blooms to die?
Mayrie Grimm Hi Mayrie, Phalaenopsis naturally have the tendency to lean, in nature they grow slanted to one side, so it's not a variety issue, it's a species issue and eventually all Phals will lean towards the light source :) it's ok though no worries. About repotting, if you feel that the roots are not going to be ok in that media I would repot no matter if they have blooms. If after the repot the orchid starts to have limpy and leathery leaves I would cut the spikes from the base. Flowers drain a lot of energy from the orchid, energy that would be better put to use in leaves and roots at this point, if the orchid is sick. About the keiki, it can be removed when it has about 4-5 roots, long of about 10 cm. You need to cut a short segment of the flower spike, don't pinch of the keiki because you will damage it. I don't have a video on spike keikis because I didn't have one, but you can pot it after separation in a smaller pot and care for it as a normal Phal.
MissOrchidGirl Thanks Danni. So, this morning in the daylight, I more thoroughly examined the 2 Phals I rescued from a friend. I re-potted the smaller one. All of the roots that were in the potting medium were rotten and some had mold. I removed all of them. Thankfully there are a number of new root buds forming below where the leaves begin. My problem is the larger Phal. I started removing the rotten roots. Again, they too are all rotten, so even though I was trying to avoid completely re-potting until the blooms were gone, it appears I have no choice. I am concerned about the main stem and were to and if to cut it. Some of the roots I cut showed some live growth in the center above where I cut them off (they were completely black on the outside). There is a long main stem as it appears that the owner cut off the lower leaves as they died off. There are aerial roots above where I cut off the rotten roots. The part of the stem that was in the potting medium seems to get really narrow in one spot. Is there some clue as to where I should cut this main stem? Thank God for the aerial roots. They are the only reason this plant is still alive. I can't believe it has so many bloom spikes that are still blooming. Please help!! I have her laying out on the bench. I've sprayed her with hydrogen peroxide and letting it dry. She needs help badly.
Mayrie Grimm Sorry to hear the orchids are so sick, but they will bounce back I'm sure :) ok for the larger Phal, this is a personal taste, many people cut the spike above a node, I will show you a video on it. This way they try to induce another branch. I personally don't do this with very sick orchids, I prefer to let them regain strength as the spikes might not develop properly if the orchid is sick. Since this will depend on the orchid, sometimes you can get some good spikes and good root and leaf growth, sometimes you won't. If I say cut the spike from the base, you might think that you'll miss out on some blooms, if I say cut it above a node or let it be, the orchid might start to become very weak, so I don't know what to tell you, you will have to decide this based on how the orchid looks, health wise. I personally am heartless with spikes and would cut them at the base, rather not risk the orchid, but that's just me :) here's a video on how and where to cut spikes maybe it will help you more th-cam.com/video/Umv-SWrFijU/w-d-xo.html
MissOrchidGirl Thanks again Danni. I ended up cutting half of the bloom stalks, but I think I am going to cut the rest since the root system is so poor. One of the stalks had branched off twice and they are so long they are growing around the plant and are making it top heavy. I was just uncertain as to how much to cut off of the plant's main stem since in your video you warned against cutting too short because one could cut into the crown. But I've already done what I thought I should and re-potted it since you weren't able to respond earlier. I also decided to cut off the two lowest leaves as they were yellowing, kind of shriveled and curling backwards. They felt very thin and limp. I will just watch it closely for signs of new growth. I have one more question about this plant. The leaves are the size of a standard Phal, but the blooms are small. It has white blooms that I would estimate the blooms to be approximately 1 1/2 inches in diameter. I am new to orchids, and am unfamiliar with all the kinds of Phals there are. Is there a Phal that has standard size foliage with small blooms or is it possible the condition of this plant caused the blooms to be stunted? I want you to know that you have been the most helpful with your guidance and I appreciate you more than you know. I love my orchids and I want more of them. You are an inspiration.
Mayrie Grimm Hi, well I think you should be fine, the flower spikes were draining too much energy. There are Phals who have smaller blooms yes, it depends on the variety so I don't think it was a health issue. usually sick orchids produce malformed flowers. For now you will have to have some patience, it will take a few weeks for the orchid to start growing roots and leaves but eventually it will. Just care for it as best as you can now :)
Is tea tree oil too strong of a fungicide to help with root rot. I only have the smallest bits of roots left. The orchud I bought had a coco core sponge in the center of the plant. I just bought it and hope to save it but theres no roots left? Not even a air root. Its dehydrated but hasnt died yet so I'm not giving up til it does. Because its winter in Alaska I'm hunting down floral shops for willow branches so I can make a wrap for the stem in hopes of encouraging roots