Do you think this orchid is still alive?

[Davethecat2001]

It looks like it still has green roots but nothing new has come up fir a very long time.

Time to give up and send it to it's orchidy grave?

Pull it out and see what the crown is doing.

I probably wouldn't bother though, unless it was originally something really special.

Don't orchids have a dormant period? A few weeks somewhere bright but cool, then brought back to the warmth to trigger growth?

Answer to my own question - yes they do!

www.justaddiceorchids.com/orchid-care-resting-orchid

Pop it on your bathroom windowsill

It looks bone dry. Water it thoroughly and let all the water drain out of the holes at the bottom. Then leave in a bright spot out of direct sunlight. They use the roots to photosynthesise which is why it is in a clear pot, so don't put it inside an ornamental container, leave it as it is so the light can get at the roots.

I've had success with orchids like that after using a special orchid feeding spray and leaving them in a humid room like the bathroom.

I used to think orchids were incredibly rare due to my childhood reading (Enid Blyton mainly}, but I have several on the window ledge which seem to thrive on general neglect.

@eddiemairswife

I used to think orchids were incredibly rare due to my childhood reading (Enid Blyton mainly}, but I have several on the window ledge which seem to thrive on general neglect.

They were. Then they learned how to propagate them vegetatively by chopping up the growth tip and growing it on agar “meristem propagation”, and what was rare and expensive in Enid Blyton’s time became, about 30 years ago, commonplace and inexpensive.