hello again
i've been working at my college's greenhouse for a while now and i've got a bit of a project coming up... we have a whole bunch of seriously neglected-looking orchids in the back room that we finally moved up front (the irrigation system back there wasn't working right) and now we're looking for ways to save them. problem is, nobody who works there knows much of anything about orchids... a handful of them were labeled, there was one phalaenopsis and two labelled "cattleya cross", a bunch of really well-labeled little ones wired to hanging bark that unfortunately look quite dead (all different- some of the genus names were comparietta, chysis, dendrobium, aerides, gastrochilus, and sarcochilus). the larger potted ones are definitely coming back, but they have a lot of dead material on them and the substrate is just a mess, all rotted bark. also, the hard water here is leaving calcium buildup on the few remaining leaves (they're misted frequently during the day). what's the best way to clean these up without killing them? is there any chance for the really dead-looking ones to come back? thanx!
i've been working at my college's greenhouse for a while now and i've got a bit of a project coming up... we have a whole bunch of seriously neglected-looking orchids in the back room that we finally moved up front (the irrigation system back there wasn't working right) and now we're looking for ways to save them. problem is, nobody who works there knows much of anything about orchids... a handful of them were labeled, there was one phalaenopsis and two labelled "cattleya cross", a bunch of really well-labeled little ones wired to hanging bark that unfortunately look quite dead (all different- some of the genus names were comparietta, chysis, dendrobium, aerides, gastrochilus, and sarcochilus). the larger potted ones are definitely coming back, but they have a lot of dead material on them and the substrate is just a mess, all rotted bark. also, the hard water here is leaving calcium buildup on the few remaining leaves (they're misted frequently during the day). what's the best way to clean these up without killing them? is there any chance for the really dead-looking ones to come back? thanx!