The leaves are brown and it looks like it’s about to die.
4” pot with drainage
Last watered 1 day ago
12
Uh oh. I agree with @stephongreg: succulent (or, for that matter: any kind of) soil is a no-no for phalaenopsis orchids. They are epiphytes, i.e., live on branches, at most covered by debris and moss. So the roots are used to (and need) a lot of air around the roots. Usually we keep them in prefabricated orchid substrate or - even better - a mix of sphagnum moss and/ or orchid bark that fits our care and environment.
That being said, in your case, I think something else is the problem. Succulent soil or not, there seem to be (maybe heavily damaged but still viable) roots left that connect to the plant.
But from the looks of the plant it looks severely hydrated. Like "way too little/ infrequent water over a long period of time"- dehydrated. If it is indeed in soil the roots that have survived this far should have still taken up water. Unless all the remaining roots are 100% dead once they reach the pot, the issue might be underwatering in your case.
Can you supply us with more pictures? A look at the roots in the pot would help - if it is in a transparent pot that should be easy enough to do. And if it isn't and if is in the wrong type of substrate anyway, I would recommend a very timely repot anyway during which we could look at the roots and you could switch to a transparent pot. I highly recommend them for orchids, not only for beginners but in general because they make caring for them and troubleshooting easier in the long run.
It would also be great if you could take a picture or describe the substrate it's in, give information on how long you've had the plant and what your watering schedule is like.
In general, most dehydrated orchids, even severly dehydrated ones, are salvageable once we identified the problem and fix what was amiss before (as long as there are no other issues).
Once you've taken some photos, you could try soaking it for now: take out the pot or of the decorative one and put it into water. You could also just fill the decorative pot to the brim and soak the plant in there. Don't get the leaves and stem wet, though. A weakened orchid like this is very susceptible to rot.
Leave it in there to speak for 10-20 minutes, then discard the water.
That being said, in your case, I think something else is the problem. Succulent soil or not, there seem to be (maybe heavily damaged but still viable) roots left that connect to the plant.
But from the looks of the plant it looks severely hydrated. Like "way too little/ infrequent water over a long period of time"- dehydrated. If it is indeed in soil the roots that have survived this far should have still taken up water. Unless all the remaining roots are 100% dead once they reach the pot, the issue might be underwatering in your case.
Can you supply us with more pictures? A look at the roots in the pot would help - if it is in a transparent pot that should be easy enough to do. And if it isn't and if is in the wrong type of substrate anyway, I would recommend a very timely repot anyway during which we could look at the roots and you could switch to a transparent pot. I highly recommend them for orchids, not only for beginners but in general because they make caring for them and troubleshooting easier in the long run.
It would also be great if you could take a picture or describe the substrate it's in, give information on how long you've had the plant and what your watering schedule is like.
In general, most dehydrated orchids, even severly dehydrated ones, are salvageable once we identified the problem and fix what was amiss before (as long as there are no other issues).
Once you've taken some photos, you could try soaking it for now: take out the pot or of the decorative one and put it into water. You could also just fill the decorative pot to the brim and soak the plant in there. Don't get the leaves and stem wet, though. A weakened orchid like this is very susceptible to rot.
Leave it in there to speak for 10-20 minutes, then discard the water.
Additional photos of Willow. I was wrong about the succulent soil. This is some sort of substrate. Yes, she has been neglected. I know nothing about plants and rescued these guys from my parents’ house after they passed away. I am trying to learn what to do so that they thrive but I now have like 20 plants and this one is struggling more than the others.
Hi there. First off: when navigating Greg it always helps to directly tag the c people you want to see your post, because only the OP (in this case you) will get notified whenever somebody writes a new comment, the other commenters might not notice that you answered, unless you tag them (e.g. in my case @MusicalRedmint.)
I would love to help, but at least today I'm pressed for time, so I'll just leave some other orchid people's tags here, so they will see the pictures. Thanks for the better look. I can see you've already soaked it. And the substrate not being succulent soil is great. It's far from a hopeless case, I'm sure some of the others will elaborate or give helpful resources. For future orchid specific posts it also helps to add the #orchidlovers hashtag to your post. That way, many other helpful and c knowledgeable orchid people will see it. @DreamMachine @stephongreg @MariansOasis @smushface
I would love to help, but at least today I'm pressed for time, so I'll just leave some other orchid people's tags here, so they will see the pictures. Thanks for the better look. I can see you've already soaked it. And the substrate not being succulent soil is great. It's far from a hopeless case, I'm sure some of the others will elaborate or give helpful resources. For future orchid specific posts it also helps to add the #orchidlovers hashtag to your post. That way, many other helpful and c knowledgeable orchid people will see it. @DreamMachine @stephongreg @MariansOasis @smushface
@WinChards70 Hi Heather! Thanks for the tag Susann @MusicalRedmint 🫶
First I’d like to share a couple videos from Miss Orchid Girl on YT that might be useful to you right now!
First is How to Repot and Care for your first phalaeonopsis:
https://youtu.be/lK2wz8aab1Q?is=9axKAnFTM18tUKw-
Second, is Orchid Care for Beginners; How to save Sick and Rootless Phalaenopsis Orchids:
https://youtu.be/6Dx3lVq8dow?is=-MawnhmxRzSBeDOk
First I’d like to share a couple videos from Miss Orchid Girl on YT that might be useful to you right now!
First is How to Repot and Care for your first phalaeonopsis:
https://youtu.be/lK2wz8aab1Q?is=9axKAnFTM18tUKw-
Second, is Orchid Care for Beginners; How to save Sick and Rootless Phalaenopsis Orchids:
https://youtu.be/6Dx3lVq8dow?is=-MawnhmxRzSBeDOk
@WinChards70 whoops, sent too soon. 😅
I agree with Susann @MusicalRedmint that it’s far from a hopeless case. I can see quite a few of the roots at least *appear* to be plump and green.
Good job giving it a good soak. I think your next steps would be to get them out of the pot, trim off any mushy roots, or roots where the outer layer is gone or sloughs off easily. Miss Orchid Girl does go over those steps in those videos I sent.
For rehabbing, and after care after all rotten roots are gone, I’ve been really liking keeping them in a ziplock style bag with some very slightly damp sphagnum moss in the root area. This is if I don’t have a lot of viable healthy roots.
I’ll show you pics of one of mine right now. You will see I only have two teeny little healthy roots, and my orchid is getting rid of her two lower leaves. I personally, leave these on until the orchid decides to drop them because I don’t want risk having an open wound from either cutting or pulling an almost dead leaf off. Bacteria can easily attack there.
You can also see I have some healthy newer leaves. These are very dark green and very stiff. (The top most leaves on a phal, so farthest from the roots are the newest, for reference.) a healthy leaf should not be able to be bent. Or at least, not easily.
After you treat and trim away any roots and need advice about what to do next, feel free to tag me @DreamMachine or any of us orchid aficionados 😁
I agree with Susann @MusicalRedmint that it’s far from a hopeless case. I can see quite a few of the roots at least *appear* to be plump and green.
Good job giving it a good soak. I think your next steps would be to get them out of the pot, trim off any mushy roots, or roots where the outer layer is gone or sloughs off easily. Miss Orchid Girl does go over those steps in those videos I sent.
For rehabbing, and after care after all rotten roots are gone, I’ve been really liking keeping them in a ziplock style bag with some very slightly damp sphagnum moss in the root area. This is if I don’t have a lot of viable healthy roots.
I’ll show you pics of one of mine right now. You will see I only have two teeny little healthy roots, and my orchid is getting rid of her two lower leaves. I personally, leave these on until the orchid decides to drop them because I don’t want risk having an open wound from either cutting or pulling an almost dead leaf off. Bacteria can easily attack there.
You can also see I have some healthy newer leaves. These are very dark green and very stiff. (The top most leaves on a phal, so farthest from the roots are the newest, for reference.) a healthy leaf should not be able to be bent. Or at least, not easily.
After you treat and trim away any roots and need advice about what to do next, feel free to tag me @DreamMachine or any of us orchid aficionados 😁
Just quickly chiming in here: the bag that Nadia proposed can be a great solution to raise humidity, but in this case, I wouldn't use it if it were my orchid.
Heightened humidity always carries a greater risk of rot in phalaenopses, so the benefits should always be weighed against the possible risks.
The bag is a closed system without ventilation, which even under the best circumstances raises the risk of rot even higher. And those aren't the best circumstances here: severely dehydrated/weakened orchids are even more susceptible to infections.
Another big difference to the successful example in @DreamMachine's bag is the plant itself: the new leaves are plump and can stand up, and there are fewer leaves. As a consequence there are a lot fewer little nooks where the humidity can get trapped and maybe even condense, especially close to the stem. Also, the roots are well cleaned up, I suspect also treated to lower the amount of remaining pathogens, before it was placed in the bag.
That being said, I don't even think a solution for higher humidity is absolutely necessary, the way your orchid looks. If you want to (e.g. because you know that your humidity is very low generally or want to speed up the recovery), just tag me again for further info. I'm always a fan of the kind of open box "icu" solution miss orchid girl also uses. (A great resource for any orchid novice btw., I agree. )
But for now, basically, you can see a very healthy rootsystem that is more than enough to hydrate your orchid, on an orchid that probably just hasn't been watered enough for some time. It happens. Lots of people still give "advice" like "orchids need almost no water" or, just "water every x days with 2 tablespoons or ice cubes". The myth is persistent. With some orchids that might work, but you've inherited a beast of a plant. I can't wait to see how it looks when it is healthy again, though it might lose one or two leaves till then and some wrinkles will remain on the leaves. Point is, it is huge, is in a very small container in what looks like pure bark. Any water you give it, will run right through the pot (maybe a bit will stay on the bark if it is already a bit older bark), touch the roots and do next to nothing. At some point there were obviously roots that reached into the pot, but those have rotted away.
Water in the pot will just stay there and do nothing to hydrate the plant apart from a bit of evaporation. If - as I suspect - your humidity also is considerably lower than it was in your parents' house, that would also contribute to a the state of the plant.
For comparison: I have a relative humidity of around 60 in my home. I've had smaller phalaenopsis orchids like yours in a 100% bark set-up (granted, the bark was maybe fresher than yours, though. But not by much I'd guess). I dint like to soak my plants, so I only water them normally (like I suspect, you did until now). And during summer I've had to water that thing almost Every. Single. Day.
So: the problem had several fixes: First off, decide, what watering frequency and technique works for you. Are you willing and able to water daily from a can if need be? Did soaking it last time feel doable over time whenever you water? If your answer to both those questions is no, than maybe bark is not for your. An easy and flexible fix would be to get some good quality sphagnum moss and adding it to the bark. Or, if you repot anyway (which might be a good idea anyway), just layer some bark and moss from the start. (I like to use strands of moss like a small pipeline throughout the pot, leading from the bottom to the top, touching the roots here and there. That way the moss can wick any water upwards and distribute it, something the bark can't do).
If you want to stretch out your watering frequency some more you could go for a slightly bigger pot as well. Bigger pot=More medium= more water retained each time.
If you choose to use moss, keep in mind to use it sparingly, though. Sphagnum moss can retain insane amounts of water. You don't need a lot. And you don't want to keep the pot too wet for too long. (That's where the myth of not watering orchids comes from. Because, yes, a medium that is constantly wet can indeed also be very harmful.)
After your repot (like Nadia said: the repot tutorials by miss orchid girl are a great start for c that), all you need to do is let the orchid tell you what it needs from now on. Nadia and I immediately could tell that a) you have soaked the plant before the last pictures and that b) you have many healthy roots, just by the root color.
Well-hydrated roots look green and plump. Once they start turning a bit grey/ silvery and get that matte look (like in the original photo you provided), it means it is time to water. If (new) wrinkles/ ridges appear, it means it has been too long.
That's it.
That's the trick to correct watering. Look at the roots, water when they get silver. Done.
If you use a can, you might notice them getting very even after some few hours. If you soak them instead, the roots can fill up on water, and go a bit longer.
If you have higher humidity and a moss setup, you might even only have to water once every few weeks (orchids are absolute queens at being hydrated through their leaves). There is no one-size-fits-all formula. The roots will tell you what you need to know. Maybe after a while, you get a feel for it, but it still doesn't hurt to check once in a while anyway. Which is why I still have every single orchid I own in transparent pots. It's just more convenient in the long run.
Oof
I've been going on. Hope it wasn't tldr. I'm sure you will get the hang of it soon. 20 new plants are probably a bit stressful at first, but create a lot of opportunities to learn a lot in a short time.
Good luck.
Heightened humidity always carries a greater risk of rot in phalaenopses, so the benefits should always be weighed against the possible risks.
The bag is a closed system without ventilation, which even under the best circumstances raises the risk of rot even higher. And those aren't the best circumstances here: severely dehydrated/weakened orchids are even more susceptible to infections.
Another big difference to the successful example in @DreamMachine's bag is the plant itself: the new leaves are plump and can stand up, and there are fewer leaves. As a consequence there are a lot fewer little nooks where the humidity can get trapped and maybe even condense, especially close to the stem. Also, the roots are well cleaned up, I suspect also treated to lower the amount of remaining pathogens, before it was placed in the bag.
That being said, I don't even think a solution for higher humidity is absolutely necessary, the way your orchid looks. If you want to (e.g. because you know that your humidity is very low generally or want to speed up the recovery), just tag me again for further info. I'm always a fan of the kind of open box "icu" solution miss orchid girl also uses. (A great resource for any orchid novice btw., I agree. )
But for now, basically, you can see a very healthy rootsystem that is more than enough to hydrate your orchid, on an orchid that probably just hasn't been watered enough for some time. It happens. Lots of people still give "advice" like "orchids need almost no water" or, just "water every x days with 2 tablespoons or ice cubes". The myth is persistent. With some orchids that might work, but you've inherited a beast of a plant. I can't wait to see how it looks when it is healthy again, though it might lose one or two leaves till then and some wrinkles will remain on the leaves. Point is, it is huge, is in a very small container in what looks like pure bark. Any water you give it, will run right through the pot (maybe a bit will stay on the bark if it is already a bit older bark), touch the roots and do next to nothing. At some point there were obviously roots that reached into the pot, but those have rotted away.
Water in the pot will just stay there and do nothing to hydrate the plant apart from a bit of evaporation. If - as I suspect - your humidity also is considerably lower than it was in your parents' house, that would also contribute to a the state of the plant.
For comparison: I have a relative humidity of around 60 in my home. I've had smaller phalaenopsis orchids like yours in a 100% bark set-up (granted, the bark was maybe fresher than yours, though. But not by much I'd guess). I dint like to soak my plants, so I only water them normally (like I suspect, you did until now). And during summer I've had to water that thing almost Every. Single. Day.
So: the problem had several fixes: First off, decide, what watering frequency and technique works for you. Are you willing and able to water daily from a can if need be? Did soaking it last time feel doable over time whenever you water? If your answer to both those questions is no, than maybe bark is not for your. An easy and flexible fix would be to get some good quality sphagnum moss and adding it to the bark. Or, if you repot anyway (which might be a good idea anyway), just layer some bark and moss from the start. (I like to use strands of moss like a small pipeline throughout the pot, leading from the bottom to the top, touching the roots here and there. That way the moss can wick any water upwards and distribute it, something the bark can't do).
If you want to stretch out your watering frequency some more you could go for a slightly bigger pot as well. Bigger pot=More medium= more water retained each time.
If you choose to use moss, keep in mind to use it sparingly, though. Sphagnum moss can retain insane amounts of water. You don't need a lot. And you don't want to keep the pot too wet for too long. (That's where the myth of not watering orchids comes from. Because, yes, a medium that is constantly wet can indeed also be very harmful.)
After your repot (like Nadia said: the repot tutorials by miss orchid girl are a great start for c that), all you need to do is let the orchid tell you what it needs from now on. Nadia and I immediately could tell that a) you have soaked the plant before the last pictures and that b) you have many healthy roots, just by the root color.
Well-hydrated roots look green and plump. Once they start turning a bit grey/ silvery and get that matte look (like in the original photo you provided), it means it is time to water. If (new) wrinkles/ ridges appear, it means it has been too long.
That's it.
That's the trick to correct watering. Look at the roots, water when they get silver. Done.
If you use a can, you might notice them getting very even after some few hours. If you soak them instead, the roots can fill up on water, and go a bit longer.
If you have higher humidity and a moss setup, you might even only have to water once every few weeks (orchids are absolute queens at being hydrated through their leaves). There is no one-size-fits-all formula. The roots will tell you what you need to know. Maybe after a while, you get a feel for it, but it still doesn't hurt to check once in a while anyway. Which is why I still have every single orchid I own in transparent pots. It's just more convenient in the long run.
Oof
I've been going on. Hope it wasn't tldr. I'm sure you will get the hang of it soon. 20 new plants are probably a bit stressful at first, but create a lot of opportunities to learn a lot in a short time.
Good luck.
Tbh based on the followup pictures, I don’t think it looks that bad other than it’s very dehydrated and light stressed (that purplish pigmentation all over the leaves is the plant trying to protect itself from too much light the same way human skin tans). It has a lot of leaves and it’s actively in spike. I would just keep this in the bathroom during showers and trap shower steam in there for like 30 mins after showering, and give it lower light than it’s been getting (keep it out of any direct sun)… if the leaves don’t bounce back with consistent watering and humidity, then they may have some permanent damage from something like being under direct, hot sun (in which case they’ll never look nice, but you should leave them on the plant and it will slowly work to replace them). Sure you could clean up the roots a bit but most of them look healthy enough. It looks like it’s in bark so I don’t really see a need to repot unless the medium is severely degraded (I’m personally an advocate for moss but it requires different watering than bark and the roots are healthy enough for it to survive if it continues being potted in bark if that’s what you’re comfortable with)
@DreamMachine @stephongreg @MariansOasis @smushface Thank you all so very much for all the advice and support videos! Will send some update photos as we go along here. I will move her to the bathroom which is further from the window and higher humidity.
Plus, I can keep a watchful eye on her!
Plus, I can keep a watchful eye on her!
@DreamMachine 😂ergh...I tried?🤪