I have a few orchids that unfortunately I have not been taking care of them properly but would like to revive them if possible. I normally keep them inside in the living room window but since it’s summer here I took them outside to get some sun. Do they have a chance to be revived? I currently have them soaking in water for 20 mins
The one in the pink pot looks to be gone. The roots are very shriveled. The remaining three look pretty dehydrated. The bare minimum I would do is top dress the pots with sphagnum moss. That will help retain moisture and reduce the frequency of watering. Then watch the plants to ensure you water when the roots in the media turn silver. If you have more time and resources, you might consider a repot. Especially if it’s been a while since they have been repotted. I would use a mixture of 50% bark and 50% sphagnum. Prune any dead or dying roots (papery, mushy or wiry). Be very gentle while repotting. You don’t want to stress the plants any more than needed. Top dress with sphagnum moss. If you want to go above and beyond, you can tent them or put in a cloche. That would help increase humidity. Be sure to vent regularly because you don’t want moisture to collect and cause crown rot. FYI - Do not put them in direct sun. That will burn the leaves.
2 LikesThank you for your response….I do want to repot them but hesitant because I don’t want to mess them up. The picture is the one in the pink pot….you say I should just get rid of it?
You can always try to salvage it but I think it’s a long shot. You would need to give it specialized and consistent care. And even then, it would be years before any blooms.
0 LikesI would take the one in the pink pot and I would cut back where the roots are to see if you’ve got any roots that are still living and then if you do make sure that they’re still green inside. I can’t see the whole plant but if it has any stems, you can cut those off and check to see if they might bloom from a spot along the stem. It’ll have a little piece of sort of skin over the areas that could possibly bloom, but I’d be more inclined to cut them into pieces where you have those little areas remove the skin and there are different ways of doing it but if you cut them And lay them on wet sphagnum moss make sure they’re covered and check on them and they could possibly be growing roots and leaves. Another way to do it is to put it inside a banana after you peeled it. I hope this helps.
0 LikesHow do I check if it’s green inside? Inside the root?
0 LikesWhen you cut the stem off, if you have one, you can tell if it’s green inside or not the roots tell you a lot by the colour and the feel of them. You can also lose all of the roots, but that little base that remains can be cleaned off to make sure there’s nomould on it and then you can plant it in Spagna Moss, which is a real lifesaver for plants. I’m sure you know but they really are air plants so they shouldn’t be in dirt and if you’re going to use dirt, you have to have a lot of other things in it like bark a bit of charcoal, etc. I find it easier just to plant them in bark. But when I’m not sure, I just really go on YouTube and I know it’s an odd place to go, but I’ve gotten so much help there that it’s unbelievable. Let me know if there’s any other way I can help you. And let me know if any of them come back for you.
0 LikesSorry, one thing I forgot is if all you have left are pieces you can melt a bit of candle on the top cut and the bottom if you’re going to lay them on the Spagna moss but if you go on YouTube and put in orchids, they’ll show you videos of different ways to save them.
0 LikesI was looking at the last one you have in the row and I hadn’t paid much attention to it, but it looks like the roots that are outside. A couple might be healthy. If you could take another picture of that one closer up and the one in the pink container, it might give me a better idea of how they do look.
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