rescue question
 

Hello there,

Can a dendrobium with a rot be saved? I got a plant that our secretary got for a Secretary day - and she watered it to death. The tops are healthy - but somewhere in a middle of the stem there is a rotted area and the stems are bent while the leaves are green and healthy.
Can the tops be rerooted - with a Rootone powder and in a sphagnum moss as a media - or it is a hopeless case?

Newbie

On Tue, 26 Jul 2005 00:52:26 +0000, Teassi
wrote:


Hello there,

Can a dendrobium with a rot be saved? I got a plant that our secretary
got for a Secretary day - and she watered it to death. The tops are
healthy - but somewhere in a middle of the stem there is a rotted area
and the stems are bent while the leaves are green and healthy.
Can the tops be rerooted - with a Rootone powder and in a sphagnum moss
as a media - or it is a hopeless case?

Newbie

If the roots are gone and the canes are rotted at the bottom the
only way to save the plant is to work toward keiki's. To do this
you use a sterile tool (new razor blade that will be disposed of
after this) and cut the cane above the rot. Make sure ALL of the
ROT is thrown out. Put cinnamon on the cut end ( touch it to a
small amount in you palm) then let it dry a short time.

Fix a tray of sphagnum moss (large saucer will do) Make sure the
Moss is wet. The easiest way for me to do this is put a handful
of moss in a plastic bag and 1/2 fill with warm water. If your
water is softened do not use it. Squeeze the water thru the moss
to make sure it is all wet. Then gently squeeze the EXCESS water
out of the moss. You want it wet not dripping. Spread out in
your container.

Lay the cane down across the moss nestling it in a bit. You do
not want it just barely resting on the moss. You are trying to
encourage new growths from each junction in the cane or each leaf
axis. It is a slow process. Keep the tray in a well light area
out of direct sunlight. You will probably loose the leaves that
have survived. Keep the moss damp. This could take 12-18
months. Eventually some of the eyes will break and you will get
little plantlet's growing along the cane. These are keiki's
(babies) They will grow up to be identical to the mother plant.

good luck.

SuE
http://orchids.legolas.org/gallery/albums.php

Thank you, SuE

I will try.

I just got it out of the pot - the roots are healthy and white - the tops - the leaves are healthy - but there is no visible nodes left on a stem - I cut them up to the leaves,
The crown part of the plant is gone.

Looks like that the future for the D. Lim Chong Min is questionable.

Can be the roots of any use?

I salvaged another plant from the same Secretary day thing - it is Den. Sonia New Bom "MT" - it is sitting on my SW office window (glass is tinted), I put some sphagnum moss on the top, and some around the bottom and water it a bit every - 2-3 days just to keep the sphagnum slightly humid - otherwise the air is way too dry.

Cheers

Teassi


QUOTE=Susan Erickson]On Tue, 26 Jul 2005 00:52:26 +0000, Teassi
wrote:


Hello there,

Can a dendrobium with a rot be saved? I got a plant that our secretary
got for a Secretary day - and she watered it to death. The tops are
healthy - but somewhere in a middle of the stem there is a rotted area
and the stems are bent while the leaves are green and healthy.
Can the tops be rerooted - with a Rootone powder and in a sphagnum moss
as a media - or it is a hopeless case?

Newbie

If the roots are gone and the canes are rotted at the bottom the
only way to save the plant is to work toward keiki's. To do this
you use a sterile tool (new razor blade that will be disposed of
after this) and cut the cane above the rot. Make sure ALL of the
ROT is thrown out. Put cinnamon on the cut end ( touch it to a
small amount in you palm) then let it dry a short time.

Fix a tray of sphagnum moss (large saucer will do) Make sure the
Moss is wet. The easiest way for me to do this is put a handful
of moss in a plastic bag and 1/2 fill with warm water. If your
water is softened do not use it. Squeeze the water thru the moss
to make sure it is all wet. Then gently squeeze the EXCESS water
out of the moss. You want it wet not dripping. Spread out in
your container.

Lay the cane down across the moss nestling it in a bit. You do
not want it just barely resting on the moss. You are trying to
encourage new growths from each junction in the cane or each leaf
axis. It is a slow process. Keep the tray in a well light area
out of direct sunlight. You will probably loose the leaves that
have survived. Keep the moss damp. This could take 12-18
months. Eventually some of the eyes will break and you will get
little plantlet's growing along the cane. These are keiki's
(babies) They will grow up to be identical to the mother plant.

good luck.

SuE
http://orchids.legolas.org/gallery/albums.php[/quote]

On Tue, 26 Jul 2005 17:01:17 +0000, Teassi
wrote:


Thank you, SuE

I will try.

I just got it out of the pot - the roots are healthy and white - the
tops - the leaves are healthy - but there is no visible nodes left on a
stem - I cut them up to the leaves,
The crown part of the plant is gone.

Looks like that the future for the D. Lim Chong Min is questionable.

Can be the roots of any use?

I salvaged another plant from the same Secretary day thing - it is Den.
Sonia New Bom "MT" - it is sitting on my SW office window (glass is
tinted), I put some sphagnum moss on the top, and some around the
bottom and water it a bit every - 2-3 days just to keep the sphagnum
slightly humid - otherwise the air is way too dry.

Cheers

Teassi

If the canes are completely rotten thru. - soft and mushy - no.
If there is some cane that is not soft and mushy - you could try.
Barely moist. Dendrobium want TIGHT SHOES. That is they want
small pots and very tight planting so that the water runs thru
and they dry out. They are not Phal's that want 'moist' all the
time. Even Phal's are happier if they hit dry between watering.
Phal's just don't ever want to hit bone dry. Some Dendrobiums
will not set buds unless they are not watered for 6 weeks or
more. DO NOT over water a Dendrobium.


SuE
http://orchids.legolas.org/gallery/albums.php