This is my first attempt at saving and orchid since I started growing indoor plants. My partner found out that some people have had success at replanting orchids in water, so I decided to give it a shot.

When I removed the orchid from the stores pot I was pretty sure all the roots had rotted, but did some research and found out about the stele and valamene.  I liked the idea of keeping some of the stele roots after removing off the dark and rotting outer layer because they wouldn’t hold water as much and cause issues. This may have been my first mistake (or second if you consider growing orchids in water a mistake).

My second mistake was using too much water. I had a couple inches of water in the container I was using. I thought this might be ok to try since I was using the true root and wouldn’t water log the outer layer.

I kind of gave up on the plant and resigned myself to providing it hospice care until it died completely. But, changing the water last night we noticed some new growth and a new root developing. And if I can save it at this point I think it would be a great revival story to watch develop.  I would still like to keep the plant in water, but will switch to the more common ways I’ve seen people do that instead of trying to be Dr. Frankenstein.

Any advice or comments are welcome. No need to be gentle. But I will be honest, I’ll probably ignore any comments telling me to put it in an orchid substrate since I don’t have any and am lazy.

Orchid Rescue (advice needed)