Ouch! I hurt so much for my little PEOY!! :cry:
This poor baby has been through the wringer. I got this late last June and unfortunately a couple of the newer roots were broken in shipment. Since then, I underwatered it probably the first three months I had it. I know, I'm a dumbass.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y134/ahmcd33/IMG_0248.jpg
Here are my notes from the database....

Having a good amount of trouble w/ this plant. Treated for a couple mealies. Lost lower two leaves. Now losing the
next lowest. 9/25/04, 11/8 removed another leaf.
1/28/05 - repotted due to no roots, left in "greenhouse" while away. 2/25/05 a new leaf! 3/10/05 New start.
3/17/05 another new growth, still no roots. 4/29/05 Still in "greenhouse", another new leaf, smaller new growth not doing well and still no roots!

On 1/28/05, I placed newly potted plant (it had been in my CHC mix, I put it in seedling bark mix) in a large ziplock bag and it has been there ever since. Watering every 3 weeks or so when there is no more condensation. This method was recommended to me for another plant I had received from/by a vendor and worked well, so I decided to try it with this one. Today, I moved the bag, and the plant shifted right out again and no roots, still. Think I should try it on/in sphag? Tonight, when I took this photo, I noticed another new leaf. What is going on and how should I proceed??

Poor poor dear thing, I feel so terrible, only one other plant has not survived with me. This plant was so beautiful when I received it. Is there any hope?? Please say yes! :cry:

Is that the PEOY? Still no roots? Poor plant! By now it should have grown some new roots. I do see a new growth but I would much rather see new roots. It is not dead yet, so there is still hope especially season is getting warmer and humid.

Is that the PEOY? Still no roots? Poor plant! By now it should have grown some new roots. I do see a new growth but I would much rather see new roots. It is not dead yet, so there is still hope especially season is getting warmer and humid.

Sigh...:cry: YES!
Poor sweet thing....I don't know what to do next!

I know I'm a dumbass for asking but what's a PEOY? :poke:
Like I need another acronym in my vocabulary.
Thanks,

PEOY is Prince Edward of York (sanderianum x rothschildianum).

Heather, I have brought a few plants back from this stage, but it takes time.

Given the size of the plant, I would suggest you dry it out a bit if the roots are still dampish as they appear to be. Maybe a day at most.

Then take a very large Ziploc baggie (the gallon or 2 gallon size is best) and make a bed of moist sphagnum. Set the plant on top of the moss and keep the bag closed.

Every few days, open it for a few hours- even take the plant out to air it a bit and make sure the leaves are not soaking up and becoming rot-prone- and rewet the moss.

Keep it in good light, but not full light needed for a healthy large plant.

If you want, you can certainly send it to me and I will have a go at reviving it for you. I can make no promises, but I am happy to try. This plant is not yet a lost cause- and the new growth gives me much hope. That new growth is more likely to induce new roots.

I might even send it back if it recovers :D

(seriously, happy to take a shot if you want me to)

That plant can easily be recovered.

First, cut off 1/2 of each of the lower leaves. You will kill a plant by having a disproportionate amount of vegatation versus root structure.

Then submerge the plant overnight in:

1 gal spring water
1/4 tsp rooting hormone
1 cup sugar
1 pinch epsom salt

This will not only charge up the plant with energy, but also give it a start at rooting.

After this, wash the plant off thoroughly with pure water. Wash it off multiple times, you don't want any sugar on it.

create a slightly moist ball of sphagnum around its base, and encase it in some plastic wrap and tie it off. Move the plant into low light. Change out the sphagnum every week. After three weeks you will have some good roots. Repot as normal, and the plant is fine.

Listen to the people above and it should be fine.

I even take "cuttings" by removing small offshoots and putting them in a jar of sphagnum and placing them in low light for a few months. I know it sounds absurd, but I will post some pics of my process to show what a little sphagnum and humidity can due. Don't let the leaves touch the walls of the bag/container and make sure the plant never gets water droplets or noticeable moisture on it and you should be alright.

Be patient...I've done offshoots of multiflorals that literally took over a few months to root well. And pay as much attention as you can to moisture accumulation and mold/rot. I will get photos and post them to show you that this really isn't that much to worry about.

Jon

Okie Doke! Great! Thanks for all the advice, interesting process there Steve, I'm looking forward to trying it. Hopefully will have some results soon! :-dance:
Tom, thanks for your kind offer but I've become rather attached and would like to continue to work with this little one. It will be an exciting day if I can recover it myself - I like a challenge.

Jon, I'm curious to see your photos, thanks!

Couscous - sorry, I have a goofy habit of abbreviating slipper names....comes from typing them so often, sorry.

This is great info. I was repotting a plant not long ago and i broke off a lot of the roots and it has not recovered yet. So I am going to try one of these suggestions tonight.

Steve
Do you have a brand suggestion for rooting hormone?

good question Rick, I have the dyna-gro, but I will wait for Steve's suggestions.

Alright I'll be the mean guy... THROW IT AWAY :poke: Buy a new one! Sorry! Good Luck with the patient.

Alright I'll be the mean guy... THROW IT AWAY :poke: Buy a new one! Sorry! Good Luck with the patient.
:ohmy:

*Gasp* No! I can't! I am too attached, and also would feel bad because then I'd be killing one of my first Paphs from Paphraguy! :embarass:

I do have two others though...:twisted:
One large enough to spike any time now!

Alright I'll be the mean guy... THROW IT AWAY :poke: Buy a new one! Sorry! Good Luck with the patient.
:ohmy:

*Gasp* No! I can't! I am too attached, and also would feel bad because then I'd be killing one of my first Paphs from Paphraguy! :embarass:

I do have two others though...:twisted:
One large enough to spike any time now!

Don't throw it away.... Chop the leaves if you want. Pot it in a really small pot, even if you don't use rooting hormone. That plant will come back. Especially if it is starting a new growth (that is where the new roots will come from, too). Somebody who I trust once suggested making 'fake roots' using twist ties. Just something to anchor the plant in the pot, to keep it from wobbling. I usually just put a couple of stakes in, one on either side of the fan to keep it stable.

Tadd is a mean insensitve lout :evil: :evil:

How could you?

Myproblem is like Heather I becometoo attatched to sick plants. You end up putting so much effort into one plant, nursing and worrying about. Too much energy! You end up running an orchid hospital eventually, and alot of the plants are set back quite a bit. With the lack of space I have I would rather cram it full of some what healthier gonna produce something plants. Instant gratification. I'm rich! I get a nice southern high school teachers salary. Which comapred to Mass, NY or Conn is about jack-squat. Good luck, I hope
Peace,
Tadd :evil:

Myproblem is like Heather I becometoo attatched to sick plants. You end up putting so much effort into one plant, nursing and worrying about. Too much energy! You end up running an orchid hospital eventually, and alot of the plants are set back quite a bit. With the lack of space I have I would rather cram it full of some what healthier gonna produce something plants. Instant gratification. I'm rich! I get a nice southern high school teachers salary. Which comapred to Mass, NY or Conn is about jack-squat. Good luck, I hope
Peace,
Tadd :evil:

Oh, Tadd, I hope you didn't take offense. :( Actually, I think my first PEOY (this was my second!) was about 5th after I met Peter, I really love PEOYs. sigh....This one was SO beautiful which it arrived and I just didn't know better at the time. Thankfully the other one I got first as a seedling is doing fine. I hear what you are saying though, I too am short on space and it makes it a little harder to keep three of these guys around. Truth be told, one of the benefits of it being ill is having to keep it in a lower light area. Once it is established and growing it will be difficult for me to fit it back in w/ the others.

Just FYI, I work for a non-profit museum here in MA that has trouble meeting payroll, despite our gorgeous view and 210 acres, and while the standard of living is definitely higher, me and my (Physicist working for the DOD) SO still can't even think of buying a house here. I can't even imagine what we could own by now if we still lived back in Albuquerque. Don't take your location for granted. :wink:
A shack,(literally, a SHACK) with a great view down the hill from where I work just went for over $450k! Heck, let's just consider that the land, because clearly, the house will be demolished and whoever bought it will be surely spending another 2 mil. to build on the site.

My view - this isn't the best....I'll have to look for a better one, but I think you'll get the point. Rare in MA, we generally have too many trees.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y134/ahmcd33/9f9b749e.jpg

Here's the plant as it originally arrived. WAH! :cry:

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y134/ahmcd33/pe.jpg

If your collection is still relatively small, and you're not commercial, I think it can be a good learning experience to bring back sick plants.

Sometimes they will seem to come out of it with a permanent limp, but I've had a few that seem to come out of it bullet proof.

No telling. :therethere:

Since April 30th's treatment, and several fresh sphag changes. Today, before the latest change of bedding.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y134/ahmcd33/9f1e30bf.jpg

8)

Thanks again all for great advice and suggestions and lots of support!

That is great, which method did you use to revieve it?

That is great, which method did you use to revieve it?

Mostly Steve's method. Though I found it hard to water, so I just removed the saran and potted w/ fresh sphag. Will continue to treat the same way.

Wow, look at all those fresh new roots! :clap2:

Wow, look at all those fresh new roots! :clap2:

LOL! Well, there's two anyway....hehehe!
Thanks for the encouragement!

YAY!!!!! ROOTS!!!!!!:clap::clap:

Excellent! You'll have this plant back in shape soon.
:Party:

Great Job!! :Party:

Super Heather! Great effort there. I will retract my previous "throw it out" statement now. Your a good nursemaid.

please - call me Nana. Or, just Mom will do.....

(did anyone get that? I just watched Finding Neverland - it was really good, I thought. I had nursemaids on the brain I suppose...)

I'm really excited for you! not many things can make you feel better than saving a paph you thought was lost.
amber

Good job! Glad it worked.

Thanks all!
A lot of my posting here is really partly to help others in my boat. Being pretty new to all this, it is fun to bring it out in the open, share, learn, and hopefully pay it forward. Y'all are my friendly encyclopaedia (and friends to boot!) Hopefully, now others' also!

I love this little plant, so I'm thrilled - now, just to keep those wee roots going...

Great job Heather. What brand of rooting hormone did you use?

Great job Heather. What brand of rooting hormone did you use?

I didn't do much - the plant is the one deserving the kudos! :wink:

Rootone, I'm afraid.
What would you all recommend the next time, if you don't mind my asking?

I've tried rootone several times, mostly on phals, and it hasn't done jack shiite for me. :mad:

Looks great, I did a few plants last month but I don't have any new roots yet, I used the dyna grow stuff

I known this is an older post but it is one of the best I think
I read it through -and what is the best part is the follow up that happens a couple of weeks later with the results --
A lot of this "hobby"?? is trail and error having advice given to us and showing us back -- This is what makes this WEB-site THE BESTEST .


Billie
:clap: :clap: :clap:

Just think if Heather had listened to me, we wouldn't of had this great bit of info :) :evil:

I am getting new roots on 3 of the 4 plants that went into the bag. The 4th plant did not make it.

My baby's still struggling, but I'm not giving up yet!

Okay, so I am looking for more info...

The new growth started turning brown two days ago, and today, when I went to see how it had progressed, it had half turned brown and I pulled it off, rather than have rot spread to the rest of it. :roll:

The two new roots have done practically nothing since the last photo. I think now it is staying too moist in the sphag.


What next?
I'm really very discouraged....:?

Add a little cimonemn and keep it warm if you can, and boost airflow. :therethere: :therethere:

Sometimes I've had them go down after a breif improvement, but I'd keep it going if you can.

Add a little cimonemn and keep it warm if you can, and boost airflow. :therethere: :therethere:

Sometimes I've had them go down after a breif improvement, but I'd keep it going if you can.

Sigh - ok...now it is such a challenge to keep it...Been almost a year with trouble of some sort. :cry:
I also probably am not changing the sphag as often as I should (as Steve suggested.) What about a re-soak? I'm worried that it isn't drying out, though....

It is warm, been so warm lately - it is in the kitchen, near the sink, not much light, windows open so it gets good breeze, A/C vents closed down here for the plants. Been very humid lately.

Thanks. :|

Okay,
So, now I have a lower leaf w/ Erwinia. Yes, it has been removed and cinn'd.
I'm getting this "--" close to giving up on this poor baby. At this stage, well, honestly it will be YEARS AND YEARS before I see blooms!

Someone talk me out of just giving up? Or not...Poor thing!

Ce la vis - In the end it's your decision Heather.

Some plants will simply decide, no matter what you do to coax them, to die. If you give up, you'll never know what could have been :) Time is very much on your side and, technically, a well managed plant can potentially live forever.

Cheers
Stephan

I'm sooooo discouraged over this one. :?

(that was very helpful, btw...:poke: )

I'm sooooo discouraged over this one. :?

(that was very helpful, btw...:poke: )

:evil: :-dance: