There have been many re habbing discussions lately you may want to do a search and visit the FAQ of these are your first plants. Wondering why you chose rehabs to start with? They are challenging even for experienced growers and you will not see results for a very long time.

You may also want to get a copy of Taylor's Guide to Orchids.

An orchid is not like a dirt plant. Do not water frequently it will cause rot. You yourself see what overwatering does to an orchid. These are dry plants compared to a dirt plant. Spag and bag would probaly be best for the phal

No one can tell you frequency of water without knowing your conditions. If you could give us more details we can better assist you.

Do not remove anything on the den or any other sick orchid. These are not "pups" but probably new growth or if the plant is really croaking it, kei kei's. Doubt it if they are growing up through the media. Hard to know without a pic. This kind of Den goes through some ugly stages and it may not be sick.
I have a Burana den. It's been in rehab for 2 years. Not even close to being ok. But it is putting out new growth now.

Better off to start with a healthy plant and learn. Bless you for trying to save them, just don't get too attached.

Clara

Your phal: I have saved several of these "scraps" as I call them. No intent to be derogatory, just descriptive of what's there-- no roots and two tiny leaves. Let's be nice and call them "remnants". I have also lost many more than I saved. So the probabilities are against you, but it's possible to save them.

While Clara is right that it *can* be a long time before they bloom, it does depend on the vigor of the original. I had scraps of Baldan's Kaleidoscope and Little Emperior bloom the year after I brought them back from scrap-hood to normalcy. Just 3-4 flowers, but enough to warm the heart and make a nice show. It's now two years after remnant-hood and they have a 20-24" leaf span.

You have to get fresh medium. Just buy a small bag of sphag. The reason for fresh medium is that the old stuff has the bacteria that originally rotted the roots in it, plus who knows how many months/years of accumulated fertilizer salts, plus is likely to be broken down. You wouldn't even put a healthy plant in that, much less a tiny remnant.

Phals actually like to be repotted, and you get a 3-month or so growth spurt after giving them fresh medium. This is especially true of tinies, that don't have resources to fight against contaminated medium.

Such a tiny plant belongs in about a 2" pot, clay preferably. If you can afford a small bottle of Dyna Grow KLN (it's a rooting hormone), give it a 20" float in the KLN dilute solution, and then put the KLN in your watering water for the next months or so.

Loosely cover the top of the pot and leaves with a gallon size baggie, or provide good humidity some other way.

DON'T MIST! Not unless you want to add crown rot to the tiny scrap's problems. In a tiny clay pot, keep the sphag barely moist. That means *watering*. If you are worried about getting it too wet, use a teaspoon or medicine dropper.

In my own experience, for a plant with no roots, they often establish faster if I cut the big leaves in half. So I would cut the big yellowing leaf in half. This is what you would do with a rootless cutting of any plant, and it works with orchids as well.

It allows the plant to conserve moisture because there's less transpiration surface. The leaf beginning to yellow is a sign that the tiny scrap knows it can't support it. Letting it concentrate on growing roots and needing to support only the tiny new leaves gives it a better chance.

As you see, the scrap will cost you more than $1 in the end. But it's very exciting to succeed with one, and very good when it finally blooms.

Excellent advice of course from Clara and Mehitabel but I am picking on the only loose end I could find. A lot of the rehab depends on how much energy the convalescing plants are given. The phal appreciates much more thermal energy than the dend while the dend will appreciate far more light energy than the phal. There might be a meeting point for the two variables where both plants may be able to recover together but an expert would probably not agree. If you cannot guarantee a minimum daily rise of temp to 75F or so no recovery will take place in either plant. Enough light energy to stimulate growth can be determined by making sure that a hand placed between the light and the leaves will cast a distinct shadow. My experience suggests that enough light will not be found by window light alone but by a combination of window light and compact flourescent bulbs.

H

Good point, Howard. Glad you mentioned those.

I hadn't thought of warmth because this time of year it's a given down in my light room (75 with the lights off, more like 85-89 with lights on).

Also, light: again, taking it for granted. I give recovering scraps a lot of light-- they go on the edges of the 400W HIDS, app 12-18" from the light. The light tells them conditions are favorable for life and they should make another try.

Also, those 'pups' are part of the dead looking sticks. They are not 'pups.' Do not cut anything off. The larger sticks support the little-growing sticks. They provide nutrients and water. Do not cut the Den! Repot the whole plant in a drier mix, like bark. You stand a better chance of survival with the Den. Follow all the great instructions posted above.

Good luck,
Jane

Thanks all!

I really didn't intend to get into orchids at all...as you say, they are challenging. But..."Little ventured, little lost"--at $1 apiece, I at least got a pair of terra cotta pots out of the deal plus potentially a pair of nice plants. (Oh, OK, and the chance at bragging rights--"Oh, that orchid? Gee I got that for a dollar, because the store didn't know how to care for it and then nursed it pack to health.")

LOVE the term 'scraps'---my best afghans and quilts are made from leftover fabric and yarn...why not my indoor garden as well? And great tip about changing the medium, I hadn't thought about the bacteria in the old. I already have some in the shed, so the remnants won't actually cost me much more. It'll go into a smaller pot tonight (picked up a ceramic votive candle holder--it's the right size and has the holes in the side for drainage too).

As for humidity, I now know not to mist (good thing I hadn't yet done it) so I'm going to put both plants beside a pair of glass 'planters' full of marbles, distilled water, and rooting cuttings (Heartleaf philo, Pothos, wandering jew, chinese evergreen and syngonium). There is also a pebble tray nearby under a few bromeliads, plus a few more pots of moisture lovers (a maranta, several syngonium,and a pair of small AV) close at hand. All that evaporating moisture will provide the needed humidity. When I give my foliage plants the occasional shower I'll put the 'chids on the counter for that humidity, too.

They all sit close by a window which gets lots of birght but mostly indirect light. (A bunch reflects off of a white shed near the window, but blocks the afternoon sun.) I can move the den so that it is the one closer to the window (which will be the slightly cooler spot during the cool months) and place the phal a bit further back.

The length of time for them to recover means very little to me. I have started fruit trees from seed which take 5-8 years to bear fruit--and it's taken me 15 and 17 years to get the children halfway trained ;^D--2 years to coax a plant recover, during which time it helps to beautify my home and purify the air within as well as giving me a pleasant way to relax and destress (thru' caring for it), is no cross to bear.

Tahnks agin for all the wonderful advice,

Kitty

Actually, Kitty, orchids aren't necessarily challenging. *Some* orchids probably are, others not so much.

The challenge often is just giving them enough light to bloom, especially the tall ones, which don't get enough light under fluorescents.

Phals are quite easy, I would say. And giving them enough light is not such a problem. BTW Little Yellowboy is a very nice yellow with red-lip multiflora. It's on my want list.

Anyway, wanted to say this so you won't hold back from trying more if you get a chance.

Sounds like you have good conditions for it, and some skill with cuttings, seeds and such. This all helps.

Good luck with your venture. Here's to you getting to brag to all your friends about the secrets of reviving orchid "scraps" :)