Help! moldy roots on Phal ambilis, possibly potted incorrectly

[chidnewbie]

I'm new to orchid raising. Would someone please help me?

My plant has some mold on a few of the roots and the smallest of four buds has turned pink and seems to have brown spots.

I bought my first plant two weeks ago: a medium/small white phalaenopsis amabilis. It was an impulse buy at Trader Joe's. It came with a small clay pot with three open slits on the sides. I added a little bark just to fill it out in the pot and put that pot in a larger pot without holes. I also bought some Gubber pro-blend orchid food from Home Depot.

I've watered it twice, each time putting the clay pot in the sink and letting it drain before returning it to the larger pot. THe second time, I added some of the food per instructions on the jar and another bud opened the next day! At the same time one bud opened, however, another was turning pinkish and has since developed brown spots.

This morning it began to grow mold on a few of the roots.

I read some of the other posts on this site. Do I really just cut off the moldly roots and sprinkle cinnamon? What can I do about the pink bulb?

I really love this plant and would like to save it. Please help!

[chidnewbie]

I'm incompetent and can't find a way to link the picture to this message. Three pictures of my sick plant are in the photo gallery under my name

[Orchidophile]

I would start by getting all that old sphagnum moss out from the roots and then see what roots are dead or alive. It looks like it is being suffocated, Phal's need lots of air movement on thier roots but moist at the same time.

[quiltergal]

Ditto what Tim said. Get it out of that sphag PDQ! It's dying of root rot. Repot in bark, but make sure you presoak it overnight. After removing the sphag trim off all the old dead mushy roots and dust the cuts with cinnamon. You'll probably lose that last bud.

[chidnewbie]

Thanks for your help. I got all the moss out, trimmed off the dead roots and repotted in bark. Hopefully it will be okay...

[Ross]

Since you are in a buying mood, why not get some KLN (which is an advanced rooting agent) and water with that mix for a while till it sends out new roots? Product Listing - Dyna-Gro K-L-N Root Growth Stimulant - 8 ounce Bottle Be sure to let the roots dry out between waterings. I really like clear pots for this purpose - lets me see the wetness of the mix prior to watering.

[priz_m]

I know this is going to sound dumb but, I had a similar problem with one of my phals that is potted in moss and a little dirt on top of it (it came like that BTW) and yes the top roots got moldy for a couple of days, but I thought it was beacuse of the high humidity where I live (San Diego, by the beach) I dusted cinnamon on top of it to dry it off, should I just repot even if in bloom?

I just moved my mini phal to S/h but I don't know how it's going to turn out, so if I must repot the other doyou recommend bark or s/h straight up?

Thank you!

[priz_m]

Well I un potted my Phal to find out it was suffocated as well

So I removed all moss and trimmed back the rotten roots, and I'm happy because it still had a few healthy ones, so its right nowin no media, I'm just letting it out dry out a little, I have bark soaking in a KLN solution, so I'll be repotting it in that later today Hopefully it will recover soon enough

[Ross]

Originally Posted by priz_m

Well I un potted my Phal to find out it was suffocated as well

So I removed all moss and trimmed back the rotten roots, and I'm happy because it still had a few healthy ones, so its right nowin no media, I'm just letting it out dry out a little, I have bark soaking in a KLN solution, so I'll be repotting it in that later today Hopefully it will recover soon enough

I think you'll be pleasantly surprized. Save the KLN from the soaking and run it through the potted plant about 7 days from now. That's give it one more uptake.

[priz_m]

Thank you Ross, I will do that

How about coconut water? I've been hearing a lot about it lately....