Hmmm, just bagging leaves sounds like a good idea. And I'm guessing the sphag may be too wet as well. I watered it with a bit of DynaGro KLN and fert before bagging it. I think I'll open bag the roots, spray with some Physan, and just bag the leaves. I'm really impressed with its new leaf. This poor little guy has been through a lot, going from double spikes to almost rootless, mediumless, almost waterless when I couldn't devote time to what looked doubtful. But it's barely lost any leaves, is still nice and green, and growing. Still, it most certainly would've been dead if I'd left it at Trader Joe's, as I doubt anyone else would've said, hey, nice yellow flowers but most likely suffering from root rot; let's take it home on the cheap and see if I can learn something by nursing it back to health. More likely, it would've been, hey, nice yellow flowers... wait, why'd it die? Or nice yellow flowers, but it's prob got root rot... not buying it. Which is prob what I would've said if I weren't determined to bring a non-pink non-brown orchid home that day... oh well. Can't say I didn't know what I was getting into.

Howard, did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed this morning? You seem to be saying that those of us with proper light never need to repot when our mix decays and becomes a wad of swamp muck. I would be happy to argue, based on enzymatic reaction rate, that proper temperature is more important than light level, but that would also be a gross oversimplification. Water cultured does not work in a pot full of rotting mix. Roots do not live long in water logged conditions because of anoxia, bacterial and fungal attack, and whatever toxins are produced by the decay. The new leaf is dinky because the plant cycle produces a leaf before it produces roots, and sometimes it matures the leaf fast to get to the associated root growth part of the cycle. Loss of the lower leaves is due to relocation of mineral nutrients to promote new growing areas (new leaves/new roots). Roots removed from the peices of mix they have grown onto are pretty inefficient at nutrient uptake, so the plant feels a need for more roots until it gets restablished onto the peices of the new mix. During this period the plant cannot pull in enough nutrients to grow larger leaves. So, you can have nutrient stunting or developmental stunting of the leaves Aerial root production is a tricky subject. After repotting you generally see roots grow down into the pot where the nutrients and moisure are. Later, when the pot is either full of roots or the mix is decaying you see more aerial root production. The roots seem to be avoiding the pot. Now for the bad news. Roots can weaken and die in a bad environment, or they can be infected and killed in a bad environment. If they are infected the infection can move up the stem and cause one or more of the following: premature death of the lower leaves, excessive spike production, and/or excessive production of new small leaves. If this is the case the plant will decline quickly or it will stabilize and be weak a very long time. Unlike a lot of plants orchids are very hard to kill completely so don't think that just because there is a spark of life left in it the plant will come back into its former glory. Without seeing a picture of your leaf rings it sounds like it could either be a local fungal infection or virus. One thing you could do to help the plant during its root transition is to put individual peices of sphagnum moss against a few roots in the pot rather than mix it in. That way the plant has access to a little more nutrients/water, and you are not in danger of having a water retentive mix.

and never expect all of many to survive ... expect some ratio of failure ... could you favor us with a pic of the whole .. i have never seen nor heard of the netting ... sounds interesting .. BTW .... dig up one of them.. AND FIND OUT HOW WET OR DRY THE SOIL IS .... and adjust watering accordingly ... if you are just guessing with your watering.. obviously.. you are frustrated because you lack info ... but coming to us for info ... gets you no where.. but more guesses... so all you are left with.. is digging some holes and finding out .. and mind you .. dealing with a hill ...and how water moves across and thru it.. can be divergent in differing spots ... and that may be why.. those struggling.. are not all in one place.. leading you to dig more holes ... you might want to dig out all those struggling.. and set up a nursery bed with some break in the blistering sun ...... and see if you cant rescue them.. by fall ... then.. you have a whole bunch of holes all set for observation ... i SUSPECT ... you have been incredible successful ... perhaps even better than many of us might do ... but are a perfectionist at heart.. and its driving you a bit crazy ... that yoru success is not 100% ... heck.. most gardeners ... dealing with the vagaries of mother nature.. would probably be thrilled.. with a 90% success rate and would just replant the holes in fall [NOT NOW] ... and if that is the case.. the problem is in your head... LOL ... BTW.. in fall ... you can harvest some of the plants on any edge.. and put them into the bare spots... to make the 'look' equal ... and then add replacements at the edge.. or even better.. DIVERSIFY your planting ... good luck pic of the whole.. please ken

I found an absolutely beautiful Jade in a dumpster when I was tossing my trash. I pulled it out and after trimming a bit it was absolutely fantastic. I proceeded to over water it and practically kill it. It got so bad that I thought it was a goner...and then I did the unthinkable. I cut off the entire matted and ruined root ball. The whole thing. I let it air a few days and stuck it in an awful mixture of street dirt. 6-months later, it is making a huge comeback. I barely water it now and give it a shower every six weeks or so to blow away any mites or whatever crawlies happen on it. It is doing fine. I happened on another specimen with an 8-inch trunk and I broke it up to make about 5 new plants with 4-inch trunks (the 8-inch was rotting). I'm hoping to get at least 3 of those rooted using the same method. Re-rooting a 4-inch trunk gave me some confidence with Jades. They seem to be really resilient if you sorta be a little mean to them ;-)