How to Rescue Overwatered Orchids
If you have overwatered an orchid, you can take steps to save it. If the orchid still has some healthy, firm roots, you can salvage it by cutting off all the soft, mushy roots with a sterile tool, like a single-edged razor, and repotting the orchid in new potting material. Go light on the watering for a few weeks to encourage new root development. Using a spray bottle, mist the orchids a few times a day to prevent the leaves from drying out.
If the roots are almost all gone, take these emergency measures but know that recovery is not assured:
Cut off all the dead or damaged roots.
Drench the roots with a liquid rooting hormone like Dip 'n Grow.
Let this liquid hormone dry on the roots for about an hour, then repot the orchid in fresh potting material that has been predampened.
Don't water for a day.
Water once, and then put the potted orchid in an enclosed terrarium.
You can use a high-top propagator (a clear plastic box with vents at the top and a tray below to hold potting material) or an empty aquarium with damp sphagnum moss or pebbles on the bottom to add humidity.
Close the top of the terrarium and put it in a location with diffused light.
In a greenhouse, this would be a shady spot with no direct sunlight. Under florescent lights, put the terrarium at the ends of the tubes where there is less illumination. If the terrarium is in the cool part of the greenhouse or growing area, put the entire terrarium on water-resistant soil or seedling heating mats, available at most garden centers. Get one that has a built-in thermostat set for about 70 degrees F (21 degrees C) to provide bottom heat to stimulate rooting.
If you're concerned about disease, spray the orchid leaves with a disinfectant solution.
A good disinfectant is Physan, a commonly used hospital disinfectant available from mail-order orchid-supply companies or at garden centers.
In this environment of 100 percent humidity, the leaves won't dehydrate, so there will be no stress on the orchid while it reroots. Water the potting material only when it gets dry, keep the gravel or moss in the bottom of the terrarium damp, and leave the orchid enclosed until new root growth is very apparent. This may take a few months.
This miniature greenhouse with high humidity encourages the orchids to form new roots.
Gardening Glossary
annuals
Plants that complete their entire life cycle within one growing season. The plant germinates from seed, grows and blooms, and then produces seed and dies.
Gardening Glossary
biennials
A plant that take two growing seasons to complete its life cycle. It germinates and grows leaves and stems in the first year; produces flowers and fruit (seed) in the second, and then dies.
Gardening Glossary
bolt
When a plant flowers or produces seed prematurely.
Gardening Glossary
cold frame
A wooden or concrete block box in which you can grow plants or hold dormant during the cold winter months.
Gardening Glossary
cole crops
A family of vegetables, including broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, and Brussels sprouts. They thrive in cooler weather.
Gardening Glossary
complete fertilizer
Any fertilizer that contains all three of the primary nutrients, N-P-K (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium). Phrase is based on regulations governing the fertilizer industry. Does not mean that the fertilizer literally contains everything a plant needs to thrive.
Gardening Glossary
deadheading
The practice of pinching or cutting off spent flowers
Gardening Glossary
evaporative-pad humidifier
A humidifier in which fans blow across a moisture-laden pad that sits in a reservoir of water.
Gardening Glossary
harden off
The process of acclimating plants grown indoors gradually to the brighter light and cooler temperatures of the outside world.
Gardening Glossary
hardiness
The ability of a plant to survive is called its hardiness.
Gardening Glossary
humus
A stable end product of organic-matter decomposition that's believed to increase microbial activity in soil, improve soil structure, and enhance the root development of plants.
Gardening Glossary
Bacillus thuringiensis Bt
An effective bacteria that attacks only the larvae of caterpillar family insects. It is safe to other insects, animals, and humans.
Gardening Glossary
macronutrients
Mineral nutrients that plants need in the largest quantities: nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and sulfur.
Gardening Glossary
mulch
Organic or inorganic material placed over the surface of soil, usually directly over the root zone of growing plants. Used to conserve moisture, kill weed seedlings, modify soil temperature, provide attractive covering to garden beds.
Gardening Glossary
organic matter
Once-living stuff like compost, sawdust, animal manure, ground bark, grass clippings, and leaf mold (composted tree leaves). Used to enrich soil and improve soil texture.
Gardening Glossary
perennials
Any plant with a life cycle of three or more years. Herbaceous (non-woody) perennials include flowering plants and herbs, mainly. Woody perennials include trees and shrubs. Longevity depends on the plant and growing conditions.
Gardening Glossary
pH
The measure of soil's acidity. Soil with low pH means it's too acidic; soil with high pH means it's alkaline. Most plants grow best in soil with a pH value between 6.5 and 7.2. Neutral soils measure 7.
Gardening Glossary
photosynthesis
The process through which plants take nutrients from the air and from the water in the soil to produce sugars that fuels the plant's growth.
Gardening Glossary
primary nutrients
Nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium are the three nutrients plants need in the largest quantities.
Gardening Glossary
root crops
Plants with edible underground roots such as onions, carrots, beets, potatoes, turnips. Most root crops are cold-weather crops.
Gardening Glossary
self-blanching
A type of cauliflower with leaves that naturally curl over the head and exclude light. Requires cool temperatures for leaves to curl effectively.
Gardening Glossary
sets
Small onion bulbs, about 1/2-inch wide, that were started from seed the previous year. Grow onion sets with the pointy end up.
Gardening Glossary
side-dressing
The act of adding a small amount of fertilizer around or "on the side" of plants after they're growing.
Gardening Glossary
succession planting
Planting small, 2-to-4-foot patches of plants every two weeks throughout the growing season so that you can harvest a crop over an extended period of time.
Gardening Glossary
thinning
The act of cutting the least robust seedlings in your garden to give the healthier plants more room to grow.
Gardening Glossary
vining crops
Crops that grow on vines, such as cucumbers, melons, pumpkins, and winter squash. They usually require support (staking, trellising, etc.) to keep them off the ground.
