Mother's love. What could be better?

Marci

Wow, I'm always trying to rescue neglected orchids so this gives me hope. I have my own rootless wonder right now. It keeps putting off smaller and smaller shoots but so far no roots. However, it's PSB is still looks healthy enough so I'm going to give it more time.

Great success story, thanks for sharing it.

Orchids are survivors and given half a chance will come back.

Great story (and great Mom), dragon kite. Some of those pbs look pretty fat and sassy, and this time of year the weather will be working for you, too.

Claire, in my rootless catt days, I found roots sprouted from the newest growths, about a month or 6 weeks after the new growth appeared, or about when they were an inch or inch and a half long. So you're right to stay in there. Also, a thread or two of sphag tucked under the new growth seems to help-- the new roots aim right at the sphag.

richard, I agree-- they are tough and want to live.

Good luck to all of us re-rooting out rootless wonders :)

I've got several pathetic potinara divisions that keep almost dying on me. I hope they bounce back like yours do! I added the sphag on top a few days ago.

Okay, fess up - what did you do??

That's an incredible amount of growth in just six months. Share your secret?

Jane

Steph can I send some of my orchids to your mom? I can't believe the number of root leads on that first one!

You're torturing us...please give us the conditions and products that you used to get this terrific response!
Thanks!
Jan

Way to go DK!

I had a similar experience (actually happened twice already) where the eyes are totally out, I mean rotted away and the area left on the rhizome of the parent pb is just a depression. The new growth took place at the very center of where the eye previously was located. The growth process was really slow since there are no cellular matter/tissue from the eye to supplement its development.

-Harvey

For anyone who is having a similar situation with root rot & inactive/ browning "eyes" a small investment into a bottle of Kiekie Pro (kiekie growing hormone) will yield amazing results! Peel back any dead, dry material around the inactive eyes. Place one drop of the product on the inactive eye & let it set for a few days without water. You will find in a couple weeks that the eye will start to develop into a new P.B.! Anytime I buy plant divisions that do not have any new growths starting on them or I receive a rescue plant, I place the Kiekie Pro on ALL the inactive eyes & watch it go nuts!

-Ray-

Thanks for the tip about Keiki Pro, Ray. I've read that, but never tried it. Glad to know it really works so well.

Some are just too good to give up on.

Thanx Ray, I'll be noting that down.

Harvey- that's exactly what had happened to my "eye-less" wonder! All the eyes blackened and became depressions in the rhizomes. This one grew as a big bulbous mass...it looked cancerous...and then one day it started shaping into a new growth.

Jane, Jank - I didn't soak any of these in K-L-N or SuperThrive. Nothing. I just gave them to Mom. She just put them on her window and sprays them with water from a water bottle.

watergal, Claire- Don't give up!

Calvin, I told my mom that and she laughed. You made her day. ^__^

sorry to be pessimistic, but if the plant doesn't have an 'eye' at all does it mean it's doomed? :\ Just being prepared for the worst case scenario... :)

Thanks!

I always thought so. Now I feel guilty about all the 'eyeless' catts which were Kev'ed.

Jane

Underneath the visible eye or the black area where the eye is supposed to be, is a tiny secondary eye and this is what takes over and grows. They really do have the desire to live.

I need to send my old catt I pray over to reroot to dragon_kite's Mom.

Brooke

Well....now I'm sick about throwing them in the compost pile! I thought 'no eye, no way' I could save them....what a pity. but now I know...Thanks, ~Charm

Didn't mean to make anyone feel bad about Kev'ing their 'chids. Honestly, there are times we're better off just tossing one and buying another...however, in both my cases the cattleyas were irreplaceable (meaning no one sells them anymore).

I used to think "no eyes" meant they were goners. It was pure denial that kept me from tossing these 2 catts.

BUT, orchids will sprout growths from even blackened eyes! Or some other place along the rhizome. There must be hundreds of "eyes" that are dormant just not visible to us.

Of course a rootless orchid is not going to have enough energy to activate all its eyes but if your orchid is strong enough and you provide proper culture, given enough time, one of them will activate.

Good luck to everyone who's nursing an orchid. And I look forward to seeing all your recovery posts in the forum!

Good news! I just bought (at drastic reduction: $30 down to $6) 2 Phals from Home Depot. They were going to be tossed and I couldn't stand it. The books all say that orchids from Big Box stores don't do well, and mine are a disaster. Packed in soaking wet peat moss, roots all rubbery and brown. Repotted IMMEDIATELY in good mix, let them dry out, and they seem to be OK. I cut off the (now dead) flower spikes.

It's been two weeks, how long do y'all think it will take to determine if they will survive?

Well if in the past 2 week they've been maintaining status quo and not declining then I'd say they're adjusting to your better environment and are already going to survive.

Let them adjust. Keep them on the drier side while they're adjusting. For me, I water them when their leaves get a little floppy and limp. Keep watering this way for a month. They will be growing new roots so don't think they're not doing anything.

When you see it put new leaves out (which should be soon considering it's spring), increase the watering to a day before the leaves get limp.

Sounds like yours are gonna be posting pics of these rescues in flower next spring!