If you’ve tried to grow an orchid, perhaps you’ve been here: The pseudobulb, which supplies the energy to the plant, is dehydrated and shrivelling faster than a man on a cold day. You’ve tried watering the plant, but now the medium just stays wet, which means the roots are gone and the plant can’t take up the water. If things go on like this, the plant will rot and die completely. What to do?
Here’s OGD’s Steve Topletz to the rescue:
"The pseudobulb may not come back. But the plant will still want energy.
Okay.
Here is the secret. You need to juice up the plant with energy, not
just water. if you use pure water, you’re stealing energy from the
plant.Create a soak of:
2 parts sugar
1 part drinking alcohol (any kind. my plants enjoy Bombay Sapphire)
7 parts cold water
1 pinch of epsom salt
1 drop superthrive
1 drop dish soapSubmerge the plant for a 2 – 8 hours in the dark
After the soak, wash it off in clean cold water. Make sure none of the original soak is still on any part of the plant or you can get rot."
He goes on to explain why this works:
POLLENATRIX 