Question
Please help! I was called away to care for a sick family member and my assistant watered my orchids and left them in standing water for five days. Most, but not all of the roots are dead. I am new for caring for orchids and desperately don抰 want these to die. What should I do?

Answer
Wendy, you need to get some orchid potting mix to repot these plants.  Soak the mix while unpotting your plants. Clean the roots and remove any that are mushy as they are dead.  Use plastic pots with lots of air holes for repotting these plants.  Do not water for at least a week as the fresh orchid potting mix will keep the roots damp during this time.  Then water once per week.  Grow the plants in an east facing window if avaibable.  If you have at least one healthy root and leaf on the plant, it should recover.  It may take a month or two before new root and leaf growth will commence.  Let me know how this is working out for you.