Sick orchid

[Armorel]

My friend is moving away and has passed on some plants to me. I know how to care for the three hippeastrums which, although rather dried and tatty, have taken to being potted in fresh compost very well and are now growing. But the orchid is another case entirely. Unfortunately I'm not an orchid grower and have never succeeded in growing orchids in the past.



This is a large plant with a single crown, extremely dehydrated with limp leaves and mostly shrivelled roots. It's still in the pot she brought it to me in, dry as a bone and very light and I've sat it in a bowl of plain tap water to soak for an hour or so. I've now removed it and put it on a cool north west facing windowsill. The medium it's growing in is, I believe, bark and it's not feeling as solid and heavy as I would expect a pot of ordinary compost to feel. Although the leaves still seem limp, some of the pale grey aerial roots have plumped up so clearly it's taking up water. There are a lot of brown roots looking rather shrivelled as opposed to the grey ones which seem to be recovering.

Does anyone have any advice about how to proceed? Should I carefully trim off the brown roots? It's in a fairly large 5" pot so I don't think it needs repotting but I'm wondering whether the plumper grey roots need to be inside the pot with the bark/compost rather than dangling outside the pot in the air. It's big enough to have three dried flower stalks on the plant so has obviously been a lovely specimen in the past. I would like to rescue it if I can

[ameno]

It just needs water.
Watering dehydrated moth orchids is a bit tricky, though.
For starters, don't water it from the bottom. The bark chips are not really absorbent, so it won't take on much. Flush is through with plenty of water from the top, then put it in a dry tray (don't let it sit in water).
Do this every day until it starts looking better. After that, maybe twice a week is plenty.

It should ideally go somewhere humid and warm but not too hot (this time of year, mid to high teens is best, warmer in the summer), with indirect sunlight. A north-facing windowsill in a kitchen or bathroom is ideal, because of the humidity. Failing that, any north-facing windowsill, as long as there isn't a radiator underneath.

They're grown in bark because in the wild they are epiphytes, growing by clinging to the branches of trees with those thick grey roots. They'll rot if grown in soil or compost.
Those roots poking out are aerial roots, and are not meant to be in the bark. They are meant to be sticking out like that; they need light and air. If you don't have it placed somewhere humid, it's best to mist them with water a couple times a week, but it's not absolutely vital.

Ideally, you should feed them every two weeks or so during the spring and summer (although I admit I rarely do).

Repot only when they have grown so leggy that they are practically falling out the their pot. And even then, don't put them in a larger pot. Just tip them out of the old pot, trim off the dead bits at the base, and replant at a deeper level in the same pot, using fresh "orchid compost" (small bark chips).

That might sound complex, but to be honest if you get the location right they are really easy to look after. I water mine once or twice a week and that's literally it. I haven't fed them in years, and only ever repotted two of them (I have five). They still flower at least once a year. Although admittedly, they probably would be more impressive if I actually fed them.
They seem to thrive on neglect, and the most likely way to kill them is by over-watering (my grandmother killed three that way) or by gradual decline due to being somewhere where the air is too hot and dry. And the main reason people struggle to get theirs to re-flower is being kept too warm in the winter (they need slightly cooler temperatures, as said above. Although they can't stand actual cold).

[Jimny14]

W


Here's mine, that's the third flower Spike it's grown after the original one it came with.
I agree with the advice above pretty much. As Phil and kirsty say location location location. Mine is west facing in the kitchen. In mid summer I move it to a shadier spot in the kitchen so it doesn't get too much light. I'd water water water until it looked healthy again, then if it's looking OK give it a feed (specialist orchid feed). Find a good spot for it and it should come back.

PS is cut the old flower spikes off, for neatness and there's something niggling in my head that it might help with reflowering but it's probably nonsense.

[burnie]

We have a friend who by her own admission is not a great gardener, but she is a wizard with orchids, they fall into different types, but she treats them all the same, waters once a week and feeds when flowers are in evidence, working with mine, oh and don't remove the old flower spikes, they re flower from them. I tried the mister feed and didn't get on with it, I use a drip feed that I got from Dobbies GC

[Mark_Riga]

That one doesn't look too bad Amorel and should perk up quite quickly. An alternative to pouring water through is to immerse it up to the top of the pot for a few seconds and then let it drain.

[Armorel]

Thanks for all the helpful advice

Some of the thick grey roots have thickened and firmed up nicely so they're obviously doing OK. The leaves are still soft and leathery, not firm, so maybe they will hang on until new leaves start growing (hopefully!). The flower spikes are like dry, brown sticks so I can't see them reflowering unfortunately.

I'm pretty certain that it's a Phalaenopsis because the label says www.phalaenova.com, apparently a Dutch grower of a huge variety of these orchids. I think it must have been quite an expensive plant given the size. No idea of the colour and my friend didn't tell me and there's no actual name on the label to help.

At the moment, it's in a special orchid pot, translucent plastic, with a raised central section which holds the base of the orchid about an inch or so above the drip saucer at the bottom. She also brought me a three quarters full spray of Orchid Mist feed so I've sprayed some of that onto the leaves as well. Maybe it will help.

I've put it on a windowsill in our home office, facing north north west with plenty of light. The central heating isn't on yet but it is above a radiator so I'll have to find it a new home when the weather gets colder. I think one of my main problems with growing orchids (and african violets too) is that our light is very strong, most of our usable windowsills are south facing or too narrow, and we have hardly any options for a warm humid spot. Hubby is a trained chef and won't allow any plants on windowsills in the kitchen, which are far to narrow anyway for a plant this size. Likewise the bathroom - no suitable spots. So it may have to be an itinerant orchid according to the time of year (hopefully moving it around won't cause it to abort buds or anything). I can move them into an unheated north west facing room for the winter to stop them getting too warm.

Fingers crossed!

[ameno]

The wilted leaves will probably recover eventually, but it may takes some time.
I had a small orchid which was down to one leaf and three roots at one point. The one leaf it had was soft and limp for about a month or more before it finally perked up again, and then it started grow fresh roots and leaves, too.

[DannyK]

All my orchids do well in south facing windows. Modern double glazing with the special tints cuts out more light than you think. Just see how badly etiolated pelargoniums get.

Must research more but I am sure that a lot go in transparent or translucent pots as the roots photosynthesise.

Keep an eye open for red spider.