Clearance Rack Rescue! (A bit pic heavy & opinion on roots)
 

Hello all,
Today, I was in lowe's, and I came across a big white phal on the clearance/half dead plant rack who's blooms were starting to age a bit. All of it's roots were under the sphagnum, so I couldn't really inspect. I ended up bringing it and a Den. Udom Blue Angel x Genting Blue home. When I got home, I promptly removed all the moss from both plants. The Den ended up being potted in a 75% moss and 25% bark mixture, but I removed it all anyways. It actually ended up being two plants -score! I'm not too sure on the condition of it's roots, so hopefully someone can comment on that. They don't look to great to me, though. One thing is for sure, though. I didn't get too lucky with the phal. While trying to remove it from it's candle holder, (that's honestly what the 'pot' looked like, and probably all it's good for :roll:) I somehow managed to snap the spike off! And what's worse, when all of the sphagnum was removed, I got to see the actual condition of the roots. Not too good, you guys. The majority of them are a brownish-yellow, and I spotted what I assume to be mold on a few. So on my shopping list for tomorrow-
orchid bark & peroxide. After the de-mossing was all done, I placed the dens in a bowl vase, suspended over an inch or two of water (to keep up humidity) on eggcrate, & something similar for the Phal. No roots are touching the water, so I think all should be good. This is just temporary until I can go to the store tomorrow to get suitable media & pots.

Here are some pics:
Phal-
http://s17.postimage.org/4pkkcop4v/IMG_2815.jpg

http://s17.postimage.org/59v01mszj/IMG_2821.jpg

Phal's Roots-
http://s17.postimage.org/e7kbcqatb/IMG_2817.jpg

http://s17.postimage.org/l9dnl6p1b/IMG_2818.jpg

Den 1's roots-
http://s17.postimage.org/8fflrublr/IMG_2829.jpg

Den 2's roots-
http://s17.postimage.org/7i96iz03j/IMG_2838.jpg

Dens-
http://s17.postimage.org/5g8p4q24f/IMG_2834.jpg

http://s17.postimage.org/p1x60x4jj/IMG_2831.jpg

http://s17.postimage.org/mpp63bry7/IMG_2839.jpg

http://s17.postimage.org/xvo2i0ri7/IMG_2832.jpg

Temporary set ups-
http://s17.postimage.org/dt9slnby7/IMG_2840.jpg

http://s17.postimage.org/z0dj9nolb/IMG_2841.jpg

http://s17.postimage.org/yz3lg8mrj/IMG_2842.jpg

The Phal is healthy withnice lil growth of a leaf and several good roots....
The Dendrobium has the core roots a bit soggy but the outer roots seem fine.
Th flowers are a bit dehydrated but its still going to be with you for a couple of weeks now that you have given it moisture.
Always trust your instincts.
Good Luck! Good Work and more power to you!

The Phal roots don't look that bad. It really doesn't matter what color they are just make sure they are firm. I don't see any mold on the Phal roots either. Sometimes when they are grown in moss the roots cling to the moss and after you remove all that you can little bits of the moss are still stuck to the roots and it can look like mold. To me the first Den roots look worse than the Phal roots. But it's hard to tell unless I could actually touch them. Good luck and nice saves!

Looks like you have plenty of good roots to work with, and with you good care they should do fine.

Thanks, everyone. I can be a bit paranoid sometimes. Ahaha.

They all look salvageable to me. I really like the den. I think I shall have to add one to my wish list.

In regards to the dens, when I repot them, should I pot them together, as they were, or individually?

I would pot them individually. Just in case one doesn't do as well then you won't have to disturb the healthier one. I wonder if they are two separate plants or if they broke at the rhizome and they are divisions? I guess it doesn't really matter since they are likely clones anyway.

Just a quick update, I've repotted them in bark, and they're all happily sitting in an east window. One thing, though. I didn't pre-soak the bark, will this cause in any trouble? From what I've read, I'll just have to water more frequently because un-soaked bark doesn't hold water as well, but that isn't much of an issue for me.

Actually even if you soak the bark it doesn't hold water like older bark. I don't know how much you want to water but I recommend soaking it for at least 24hours. Water pretty much goes right through the dry stuff and doesn't get soaked up by the bark.