HELP! I've done something wrong, can I still rescue this..?

14 years ago

These pictures are of the pathetic remains of a beautiful blooming 'Ultra Violet Orbit'. I re-potted it after the blooming took a short rest, and because it had been in the same soil for almost 9 or 10 months.

I suspect that I watered it too much after repotting. It became more and more limp. I took it out when I thought it had been too wet and re-potted it again, but before putting it in the soils I noticed that the roots had shrunk. I did take off some of the larger leaves.

But today I decided something drastic had to be done so again I took it out of the pot. It wasn't wet, but moist and the soil was light and airy. When I tried to find the root clump, there was hardly anything there. I carefully rinsed all the soil off the remaining roots because at first I suspected it might have the white fluffy root bugs. Not so, there were hardly any roots left.

So I now took off the remaining large leaves. I will try to let the leaves root, I am so p....d off at myself that I destroyed it so I am determined to save it if even remotely possible.

But is there still a chance that I can save/rescue the plant stump? What ever has to be done, I'll do. Well, almost...

Here are the pictures.

If you have any idea what I can do, please let me know. Thank you so much in advance!

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Comments (3)

sabrebuddy
14 years ago
Hi, I myself would cut off all those dead roots and put a little rooting hormone on the stem that is remaining and put into fresh 1-1-1 potting mixture put it in a ziplock bag and pray. I think because you have a lot of green still in the plant it will help a great deal, hope this helps-Terri
fred_hill
14 years ago
HI,
I think you really ahve a chance to still save it. If you check the pictures of my Ness' Orange Pekoe I think you will see similarities. Clean up the root ball and repot it into a light mix. Cover it so it doesn't dry out.
Fred in NJ

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bspofford
14 years ago
I see the dreaded root rot has occurred at your house. I agree that you may be able to save this plant.

When this happens to me, I first remove all the dead and mushy roots, and closely examine the stem. Remove any stem that is brown and mushy, and just keep working your way up the stem until you have green stem. I then place the crown into some nice warm water to re-hydrate it, along with any of the leaves you picked off. I find it helps to take off leaves until you have maybe three rows, so the crown can focus more energy on growing new roots. Scrape any leaf callousses off the stem, place into 1-1-1 mix, and bag it. Bagging, or any method you choose, helps keep the humidity high and the crown hydrated. Keep under bright light but out of direct sun. In a couple of weeks it should have re-rooted.

Barbara