I had intended to give Alais until mid-September to see if she would push a new leaf or a keiki. Unfortunately, when I was changing her water today, her main root was turning to mush. It was time face the fact that she was gone. I’m including a photo that was taken the day I brought her home. She was a beauty.
The question is, what went wrong? The answer is that water culture isn’t as easy as the influencers make it seem.
What I’ve learned is that what works for one person, or even one orchid, may not work in all situations, or with all orchids. Looking back through her history, the problem began with her original roots failing faster than new roots could grow in which led to dehydration that she was never able to overcome.
What would I do differently? When I brought her home, I immediately transferred her to water culture. That was my first mistake. I should have left her in her original pot for at least a month, doing only what needed to be done to prevent stress. When I did move her to water culture, it would have been better if I had transitioned her more slowly. This would mean a couple days in water followed by a dry day, increasing the wet days until I reached 6six days wet and one day dry.
As in all things, there are beginnings and there are endings. For this ending, I’m sorry that Alais won’t be on my orchid shelf any more and I hope that I’ve learned a lesson about patience.
my Plants 
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