The first thing I would do is slip the rootball out of the pot and gently blot as much water off as you can. Then let the roots sit in the air on some absorbant newspaper for several hours or overnight.

How badly the roots have been damaged remains to be seen. Examine them. See if they're mushy, in which case damage has been done. Perhaps only a portion of them may be damaged. If so, there are some steps you can take to help the plant recover. If they're still firm then they stand a good chance of recovering quickly.

The roots are another concern. I think they too heavy and it looks like it may break off. Would it die if it breaks off? My orchid is falling apart. I should have took it home. My other one is happy at home.

If a plant loses one root it isn't disastrous. There should be lots more roots in the medium. Have you
slipped the pot off to check them? This is the number one
priority.

As long as it has 3 or 4 leaves and a few good roots left it should do OK. Get it out of the wet environment. Gently remove the plant from the pot and shake off as much of the medium off the roots.

I would re-pot in a clay pot with holes on the sides. In my experience a 1/3 mixture of bark and 3/4 mixture of 1/4 - 1/2 inch granite rock works well. You could get away with 1/2 and 1/2 but easy on the watering.

I mist my pots and the medium nearly every day but I never drench it with water. I use a mister and it works well for me. The point is WATER is the number one killer of orchids.

Keep in mind that most orchids grow on trees and in areas where it's humid. NOT WET. Having WET FEET is a NO NO.

...and oh yea ... they love the MORNING SUN ... My orchids are in a canopy of palms. See my pics in the orchid gallery. Good Luck.

I don't think I can take it out of the pot. One of the roots is growing through the hole of the pot.

Yes you can if it's a plastic pot. Get a cheap pair of wire mesh snipers from your local Home Depot and carefully snip the plastic from the bottom. You can even use a pair of garden snipers if it's small and pointed enough.

I would start from the bottom large middle hole and cut towards one of the smaller holes until I reach the outside of the small holes.

Then I would cut around the outside rim of the holes until I wind up with the round bottom plate of the pot. Then I would carefully trim around where the main root is located until I can free the root and the plant.

It won't hurt to turn the pot sideways while you free up the root system or even expose the root system for a while. It may even be good for it in that it will allow it to dry up a bit.

I do it all the time whenever I purchase a plastic potted cattleya plant from Wal-mart. A lot of those plants have roots growing through the bottom holes of the pot and stuck on the sides. Just take your time and do it carefully and diligently.

I forgot to add that if it's a ceramic or clay pot, you can take a hammer and a ceramic drill, nail punch or a screw driver and carefully chip around the small hole(s) which should release the root. It may take two persons to do it, one to hold the pot and one to chisel away.

Good Luck

This post was edited by branmuffin on Thu, Jan 24, 13 at 15:41

In January I cut it down after the orchids fell off. My orchid is happy and healthy because it's starting to grow new orchids but only one grew back.

It's Not Dying! :) My Phal Orchid did the same thing. Two leaves at the bottom turned yellow so I took them off. My Phal Orchid has been in bloom for 10 months now with new leaves growing every 3 three months. I noticed that every time a new leaf started to sprout out the top, an old leaf at the bottom died. I was worried that my Phal was dying as well but if it's blooming and leaves are sprouting then it's happy so I left it alone, and I'm glad I did. She keeps blooming non stop. But I would try and free up the root at the bottom.

I have a blog at the bottom of page one.
Title
I'm Blessed With A Constent Blooming Phalaenopsis
Take a look I have pics of her on there. I can help you out if you need.

Martina :)