What is the prognosis for this tragic orchid called Susie?

[RingBinderInjury]

Started a new job this week. My new desk seems to have come with ownership of the saddest looking orchid I have ever seen.

My mother told me to immerse the roots in water for 30 minutes yesterday and then drain Susie off which I have dutifully done. I think I was expecting some sort of miraculous Lazarus event this morning but sadly not.

Susie continues to look decidedly out of sorts.

I’m tempted to think of her as some sort of metaphor for my career but if mumsnet judges there’s no hope I’ll put her out of her misery.

Is there hope?

Now why would that photo decide to rotate itself by 90 degrees? Weird.

Susie is vertical in real life.

30 minutes isn't enough! Leave her immersed in water for 12 hours at least.

Leaves look pretty healthy (even sideways) so there is hope. However there will not be an immediate resurrection- give it a couple of weeks and you may see a new shoot. Do not over water, mine go weeks without a drop! (Although that's probably a bit extreme, I just forget)

Susie looks to be doing fine. Keep her out of draughts and water weekly as prescribe by your mother. You can buy specialist orchid food, similar to Baby Bio is little bottles.

I had a colleague with a whole window ledge of orchids that were ritually watered once a week and always came back.

Nooo - orchids grow in the wild in humid environments where there are briefs rain showers. They don't need to be immersed for that length of time.

It looks fine to me. Don't over water it. Just a just a splash every few days should be enough. It will start to grow new shoots.

That looks fine. Immerse in water once every 1-2 weeks. Never leave water in the pot in between.

Buy some orchid food and feed her once a week for a bit. Either water a tiny bit every other day (eggcup full) or dunk her for a good soak once a week for ten mins and drain off excess water. Feed after watering.

Hmm, does Susie need a bigger pot? Much like any new job she might just need room to grow! 😁

Suspect looks like she needs repotting. Apparently, orchids can sulk as a result of repotting and refuse to flower for a year (except mine, which went nuts afterwards) so bear that in mind but I think long term it might help. Use orchid bark not soil. Always water by the immersion method rather than on top and definitely, definitely don't over water. They really don't like it. Keeping in a warm position but damping the leaves occasionally can help. Good luck. Orchids can be tricky.

Suspect? Weird autocorrect. Susie.

Yes, there’s definitely hope. I am not an obsessive orchid grower so mine all have various roots growing out of the pots at odd angles and occasionally have crinkled browning leaves. I have three out of four flowering right now and I’ve had this group for at least 7 years. I break the rules by having mine sitting in shallow water quite frequently so the roots at the bottom of the pot take up moisture but most of the pot is dryish. I’ve seen them growing hydroponically too.

Definitely don’t leave or immerse in water. Orchids don’t really need much water or attention. I water mine once a fortnight and leave to drain. Use baby bio orchid feeder at the same time. They love sunlight so a window is best. There’s plenty of life left there. It’s just not flowering at the moment. You’ll see a shoot appear and start growing upwards and then the flowers appear and will stay on for months but for some months they look like this one does. There is hope!

They also like light on their roots so I’d stand the plastic pot on a saucer or use a much bigger ceramic pot.

I immerse my orchids in water containing orchid baby bio. Drain very well and put back in the windowsill.
I had really but looked after them well recently so bought slow feeding orchid baby bio that last a month and slowly feeds them ... yet to see how these work

Immersing in water is absolutely fine - you just need to let them drain afterwards. When looking after my dad's extensive orchid collection, I was told to soak them until they sank in the water and then hook them out and sit them on the slatted shelf. You'd need to be careful with your being in a solid pot though. Don't let it sit in water.

Take her out the pot and remove the bark from around the roots. Amazon sells repotme orchid bark quite cheaply.

Cut off any dead roots.

If there are no decent ones remaining place the repotted orchid in a transparent food bag and mist the leaves every few days.

If she has a few roots, soak them for no more than 15 mins once a week in the pot-no longer or it will rot the roots.

They need humidity. She could also do with some orchid food-one marked grow, not bloom for now.

I would repot in a larger clear plastic pot with orchid mix. Mine definitely do better just left in the plastic pot rather than tucked into a ceramic one. I also stand mine in a tray and splash a bit of water in the bottom every few days - it’s a very sunny windowsill so what doesn’t get used by the plants evaporates.

Wow, thanks for all the advice. This is great.

So for Project rejuvenate Susie I am going to:

Repot (in a ?special orchid pod)
in orchid bark?
with orchid food.
This all sounds like deeply specialised stuff but why the hell not. She deserves it.

And then water her infrequently and DRAIN.

And then leave her somewhere sunny and not drafty.

And voila, new beautiful regrowth and magnificence.
Yes?

If you remember that these sorts of orchids basically attach themselves to trees to grow, you get a better idea of what they need.

Often they are not attractive plants though so don't be dispirited by that.

You probably won’t get a new flower spike until the autumn - some need a bit of a temperature drop to start that off apparently. You might get a couple of new leaves if Susie is feeling happy though.

For an orchid whose leaves look as shrivelled as in the picture, 30 minutes just won't cut it. Even a healthy orchid can be left in water much longer.