Help! How to care for a TINY minuature Debdrobium + is it even alive?
 

A few days ago I was given a tiny miniature Dendrobium (I'm not sure of its name) from an orchid greenhouse. It didn't look great to begin with but now I'm worried that it's very fragile. The pot is less than 2 inches in diameter. I keep it in my indoor greenhouse on the top level closest to the light. I've been watering it with very diluted fertilizer and root simulator (how I water most of my orchids) + Physan whenever the top feels dry. I couldn't really find any information on miniature Dendrobiums to begin with so I came here. I will attach pictures. Thanks in advance.

I can’t tell if it’s alive or not. The moss looks pretty broken down. Wait for a second opinion, but if it were mine I’d repot it and determine if there’s any life left.

Got it! How big of a pot should I repot it in, and should I go for just moss, or add a little aliflor to it? Also, how can I tell if the roots are healthy on a plant this small?

Plain water and less light is a good idea until you determine if there is any life in it. I doubt it.

To check the roots you have to unpot it.

If the roots are firm they’re generally alive. If you don’t see any roots or live stem at the base it’s dead. Not knowing what it is, I’d repot into fresh moss. I’d either reuse its old pot or buy one of the really small clay pots sold at craft stores.

Leafless Dendrobiums I don't count as dead until they have been that way for a year... they can really surprise you, especially if the roots are alive or if there is a firm pseudobulb.

I unpotted the plant and here's how it looks. Unfortunately, I believe I destroyed many of the roots while taking apart the old moss, it was very firm and packed for some reason. I'm guessing this is pretty far gone? Thanks.

I see one decent root. The "core" of the others are still capable of transferring moisture to the plant. Fortunately, if the plant is in a leafless/resting stage it doesn't need much moisture - if it is alive (remains of the roots indicate that it is, or at least was) new roots accompany new growth. As Ray indicated, fertilizer is not needed. Just plain water. When unpotting it is NOT important to remove all moss or other medium. It is much more important to preserve roots (won't help now but in the future, keep in mind) Hard, impacted moss can be softened with a soak in water for an hour or two or overnight. Then it's a lot easier to separate from the plant without damaging roots - again, you don't have to remove what is firmly stuck on the roots. At this point, it's probably better off mounted if you can maintain it that way, otherwise fresh - loosely packed - moss in the same pot. see what it does.

Thanks, this is helpful! I don't think I have the time to maintain it mounted. So just plain loose moss in same put? Should I cover the roots a bit or just let it rest a top the moss? Anything else I should keep in mind? Thanks again.

You can wrap the roots in moss before putting it back in the pot. Just let it dry out between waterings.