Phals with aerial roots outside pot

[Bunny9129]

Hi. Can everyone take a look at my phal? A lot of the roots suddenly rot (i realized i might have water too much or my new place has very moist air). Then it started to be yellow at the base (picture) and the aerial roots are too long to be inside of the pot so it does not take water and I can see some of the leaves start to have crinkles. What should i do now? I cannot try to put the aerial roots inside the medium cause it will snap.

[SouthPark]

The bark pieces in pic #1 looks quite dry there. Or even super dry.

How long have you grown this orchid for roughly?

And is the bark media quite new? If the bark is very new and very dry ------ then make sure to know that water can easily be repelled by dry bark. It is like water running off a duck's back for the case of very dry bark.

This means ------ with new bark --- or quite dry bark, it's actually necessary to wet the bark for a long enough time ------ in order to get water into the bark. Otherwise, if the bark stays dry, and if most of the water runs straight off the bark and out of the pot, then the orchid may keep dehydrating ----- wrinkling leaves etc ------- and could lead to a bad situation.

[Roberta]

Originally Posted by Bunny9129

Hi. Can everyone take a look at my phal? A lot of the roots suddenly rot (i realized i might have water too much or my new place has very moist air). Then it started to be yellow at the base (picture) and the aerial roots are too long to be inside of the pot so it does not take water and I can see some of the leaves start to have crinkles. What should i do now? I cannot try to put the aerial roots inside the medium cause it will snap.

You are correct, those aerial roots need to stay where they are. However, you can keep them watered with a spray bottle... spray until they turn green. When they turn white again, you can spray them again - since they are in the air, they dry fast, and so you don't have to be concerned with overwatering. As SP pointed out, if you have new, large bark in the pot, it will tend to shed water. Also, it will dry out fast. Again, that solves the overwatering problem... as long as it has a chance to dry out, you can't overwater. Water when it is dry, not by the calendar.

[aliceinwl]

Have you ever repotted it?

I’m going to go against the flow with the caveat that this works for me but may not work for everyone.

Do a repot into fresh bark or if your current bark is fresh you can reuse it, but this is not ideal.

Once the plant is unpotted, check the roots. Unless a root is mush from base to tip: assume it’s alive and don’t cut it. If there are no live roots in the pot, soak the base of the plant and air roots to soften them up for about an hour. Then slowly twist the air roots into the pot. There may be some cracking but it should be minimal if you’re gentle and go slowly. Once the plant is reseated in the pot, add the bark. Water whenever the roots look silver rather than green.

If the bark is not taking up water well, try soaking the pot for at least 5 minutes and then letting the water drain out.

I’ve repotted the air roots of dozens of Phalaenopsis at this point and all of the air roots have done fine when buried in bark: results may be different in a denser media like moss.