Is it possible to bring them back from root rot? I notice...
7ft to light, indirect
5” pot with drainage
Last watered 3 years ago
6
Look up miss orchid girl on YouTube she has some emergency treatment she does to save orchids with no roots, not sure if it works or not but I’d trust her @PeacefulWorm
Phals can last several months without any roots so it’s definitely possible to save them. I’m in the process of saving a couple of mine. Do you have any roots left at all? If so, you want those roots to dry out. If the rot doesn’t appear to be stopping spreading, you can spray the roots with hydrogen peroxide 3%. This will stop the infection and help the roots dry. Cut off any dead roots with sterilised pruners or scissors, but make sure you are cutting into the dead tissue when you do this. Get rid of any roots that are black and mushy or where the tissue pulls away to reveal what looks like string. You then have a couple of options - the water culture method or repotting. If you still have some viable roots, I’d go with the repot. I use orchid bark for mine and place some sphagnum moss around the top of the pot, being careful that it doesn’t touch the stem of the plant. Sphagnum holds onto moisture longer than the bark so it creates humidity, and humidity encourages new root growth. It also allows the leaves to absorb some moisture, which will help keep them hydrated. With the sphagnum, I let it dry out and then moisten with a mister (being really careful not to get any water on the stem) or removing it from the pot and dampening it before replacing it. If the roots don’t reach very far into the pot, you’ll need to adjust your watering schedule - bark on the top dries out more quickly than bark at the bottom of the pot. You want your remaining roots to have a wet/dry cycle in order to keep them healthy - phals grow on trees so they naturally have wet/dry cycles and their roots are used to going without water for a while. With my nearly rootless phals, I also add a drop of seaweed fertiliser as it helps them to recover from stress. After a few weeks, you should start to notice new roots 😊. The other method is the water culture method. I’ve never tried it myself but know lots of people who have. This method is more suitable if your orchid is rootless or only has one viable root. You place the orchid over a glass with some water, with the root placed in the water. Keep it there for a few days, then remove it to dry out for a couple of days (this gives you the wet/dry cycle). The humidity from the glass helps create the conditions for root growth. Once new roots are forming, you can repot. Miss Orchid Girl does have great videos about how she saves hers, but just be mindful that her climate might be very different to yours and therefore you will have to adapt her advice to suit yours (I learnt this the hard way when I was new to growing phals). She lives in Cyprus and so her advice suits those who live in very hot, very dry climates. If you live in a humid climate, you’ll most likely find that adopting some of her advice creates too much moisture which affects the plants and prevents the wet/dry cycle the roots need. Her videos are worth a watch though because she knows so much!! Good luck and keep us posted!
Definitely possible!! Get off all the dead and rotting roots, gently! Repot with some bark and patiently wait for new growth:)