A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The House Plant Forum Is there hope for my Dendrobium Orchid?

I "rescued" this Dendrobium Orchid from the clearance rack a couple weeks ago.

I didn't know anything about this type, although I have a Phal that's doing very well. So I figured it was worth a shot at saving, since there were green leaves emerging.

This is what it looked like when I got it, it was SO cramped in that tiny little container! I read they like to be cramped, but looking at the roots I didn't think this was a suitable container in this case.





I re-potted it yesterday, into a 4-in orchid pot and used the original moss mixed with an orchid mix. I discarded the parts that were rotted and the yellow leaf. I kept every piece that appeared to have green emerging.



Is there anything else I can do for this poor little thing? Do you think there is a chance for recovery here?

Looks like you done well, the green is a good color, it should continue growing.

What a luckly, little plant. Repotting and removing dead leaves can do wonders for a plant. It looks like its doing fine and will thrive.

Thanks guy, I'm anxious to see how this plant does over the summer. I guess I bought it at a good time, so it can have all summer to recover.

I'm hoping it does well. You should have seen the roots though. I didn't want to cut any away because they all looked so dried up and dead that I couldn't even see a healthy area. I figured just leave it all and give it some time.

Even on a healthy plant, the roots can look pretty "ugly" and dried up. So I think it was a good idea to leave those alone. Otherwise, he looks so much better! Way to go. That must make you feel really good. And I am sure your plant is loving you, too! Best of luck!

Is that with this type of Orchid? Where the roots look like that? I'm glad I left them! Most things I read said to cut off any that appeared dead or rotted.

It does make me feel good, Orchids are so beautiful and it's a challenge to get them going in the right direction after this much neglect. I don't want to shock the poor thing, but should I fertilize it at all, this year? I would imagine that's it's conditions have improved so much with just re-potting that it might not be a good idea right now.

Wait a bit before fertilizing. Let it recover completely befor fertiizing it. Maybe just give it a shot or two of fertilizer just to boost it.