Orchid dropped green leaves

[lizharman9]

Ive had this orchid for a couple years and until recently it seemed very healthy until one day I noticed it had started dropping green leaves until they had all dropped off. Im wondering what might have killed it off and if there is any hope for it? Regardless if I can save it or not, I would like to make sure it doesn't happen to any of my other orchid babies!
it looked like this about a year ago

and now this

[rbarata]

Hard to tell...what are your conditions (temp, HR, watering frequency, etc).
It seems dehydrated...

[fishmom]

Dehydrated--yes. Plus if all the roots are growing up, it may mean that the potting medium has broken down and that all the roots in the pot have rotted--thus dehydration even if you have been watering.

Have you repotted recently? Checked the roots?

[lizharman9]

I have repotted it since it dropped its leaves to a pot that holds moisture a bit better, but its also inside of a plastic planter and the roots are pretty tightly packed inside. I have been trying to water it every day. Is there any hope of saving it?

[rbarata]

I prefer to have good drainage and water every two days (in hot weather) with a limited amount...slow and steady...

[silken]

Leaf drop can also be caused by spider mites. But it does look dehydrated. Plants are not always dehydrated from lack of moisture. It can also be caused by the roots dying from too much moisture, poor drainage or poor media. With poor roots it can't take up moisture.

[gngrhill]

definitely looks dehydrated. You should probably take it out of the plastic pot and really inspect the roots. The ones in the pot may be completely gone from rot so it can't absorb the moisture you're giving it.

[estación seca]

It's an Oncidium hybrid. They are often sold at markets and garden centers in medium that is breaking down, because the plants have been in that pot for quite a while. Most of them need to be repotted right away, or the roots rot. That is probably what happened to yours. The tight tangle of roots is probably all dead.

As mentioned, it grew roots above the medium to try and compensate for not having roots below in the pot, but they didn't get enough water.

Oncidiums are surprisingly tough plants. It might live. It can be hard to tell which roots are still alive on a tightly packed Oncidium.

Did you remove as much old medium as possible before you repotted? If you did not, I would unpot the plant, and use a very harsh hose jet outside to try and jet off as much old potting medium as possible. A lot of dead roots will also be blasted off the plant. I would not worry about damaging roots, because they're probably mostly dead, and if the plant is going to survive, it will have to grow new roots anyway.

Then I would repot the plant into a loose potting mix, like medium bark, and water it when it is almost fully dry. The higher you can keep the humidity around it while this is going on, the greater your chance of success.

There are also plenty of people who would just throw this plant away and buy another. They are not expensive and it is going to be some time before this plant flowers again.

[No-Pro-mwa]

You have gotten good advice, so I will just welcome you to the board.

[bil]

Originally Posted by estación seca

It's an Oncidium hybrid. They are often sold at markets and garden centers in medium that is breaking down, because the plants have been in that pot for quite a while. Most of them need to be repotted right away, or the roots rot.

There are also plenty of people who would just throw this plant away and buy another. They are not expensive and it is going to be some time before this plant flowers again.

Spot on. I repot all my orchids as soon as I get them home, for PRECISELY this reason. There is a standard practice in a lot of orchid sellers to pot them in moss or a similar medium, and by the time they are ready to sell, they are also ready to die.
I would take one look at that and bin it. It is JUST possible to save it, but why bother to put that much effort into it when you won't see a flower for yonks?