Help Please

[James Comeau]

My orchid needs help & I do not know how to help it. Here's what it looks like. What needs to be done & who can do it? Thanx. JimC

[Deborah Halliday]

Thank you for the picture.  The good news is, your orchid looks healthy with some nice new roots.  It just needs some cleanup and repotting.

1 - Cut off the old flower spikes completely.  Once they turn brown, the plant is not using them at all.

2 - Take it out of the pot and throw out the old bark media.  Cut off all the soft or brown roots.  Keep only the firm white ones.  

3 - If you have a long trunk left once the old roots are trimmed, it can be cut back also to about a half inch below the live roots.

4 - Soak the plant in a bucket to hydrate the leaves and roots, and to make the roots more flexible.  You can leave it overnight until the roots are bright green.

5 - Get new large (1/2 - 3/4") orchid bark.  

6 - Carefully position the plant back into the smallest pot you can fit the roots into, with the base of the leaves even with the rim.  Try not to damage the green root tips. If some still stick out, that's OK.

7 - Add bark a little at a time working it down and around the roots until you are at the base of the leaves.

Wait about a week before watering.

Happy growing!

[James Comeau]

Thank you for the advice! Now a followup question: Is there anyone, whom I can pay, to do this rehabilitation? I do not trust my competence nor should others. I have no experience. I wish this plant to live! Thanx. JimC

JAS Comeau

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