An Odontoglossum hybrid
This orchid came to me from a friend of a friend. The original owner did not have the heart to throw it out. My friend thought it was a lost cause and passed it on to me because I can't say no to an orchid.

The tag identified the plant as coming from a Bay Area grower with a good reputation, so it was a healty plant when it was sold. It was Odm pescatorei 'Gina' x Odm Jim Severis.

At first glance, I agreed. This orchid was beyond hope. However, since you can't really tell much about an orchid without looking at the roots. I pulled it out of the pot, rinsed it off and did a little grooming.

The roots were in bad condition. I could find no living roots and on many of them the outer coating had come off. The rest were just dried out. My guess is that the plant was a little over watered while it was in bloom and not watered at all after that.

All four pseudobulbs were hard as rocks. Two of them were black. These two were dead and I removed them. Turning the plant over gave the first ray of hope. There on one of the remaining pseudobulbs was a new growth. It was completely white since it had not yet seen the light of day. Orchids are extermely hardy! Maybe this orchid could be saved after all.

This plant has been potted in gravel and placed in a low-light area. It will get some water but not very much. There are no roots to absorb it, and the goal is to encourage the new roots from the new growth by having some humidity to grow toward. Gravel holds more water than you might think.

As this plant develops, we will post updates on the RSS news feed.

Move your mouse pointer over different parts of the plant for more details on its condition.

3 month update

At the time of re-potting, there were no live roots. Although I don't know the condition of the roots I think there is new root growth now. The older pseudobulbs are starting to re-hydrate and what was a pale tender shoot is maturing into a new pseudobulb.