Hello all, newbie here and maybe in trouble

[Mukesh Patel]

Hello All,

I am 50 years old and just starting to grow plants indoors.

I bought a orchid about 2 years ago and left it in the bathroom without much attention, and it seemed fine. I only watered occasionally if I remembered and probably never fertilised. I was struck by how resilient my orchid was, even without any attention it survived for over a year.

As I really needed something to do in my spare time, I thought I'd have a go at keeping orchids, they certainly seemed easy enough.. Anyway I initially starting growing my orchid near the window, but as I have other plants near the window, I decided to buy a grow light and set it up above a table to grow my orchid(s).

I decided on the semi-hydro method as it seemed to be low maintenance and just made sense. I repotted my orchid in a glass vase with hydroleca about 3 weeks ago and it seems to be doing fine. One thing I didn't do at the time is drill holes into the vase at the bottom because I didn't have the tools to hand. I do have the tools to hand and will be placing 2 holes near the botton about an inch above the base soon. By the way, I water my orchids with rainwater collected in a water butt.

One thing I noticed today, is that some of the roots have a white fluffy growth (I think) near the ends.

Not too sure how to add images on here

[SADE2020]

Does that jar have holes on the sides?

[Shadeflower]

Hi Mukesh,
holes might help but lots of people grow in glass containers without holes.

The holes are only needed for water to flow out (Arguably a bit of ventilation through the pot too but things should not fail because a tiny hole is missing.

I would have to ask what substrate you used. I don't recognise your substrate. It looks a bit like a cross between lecca and lava rock.

I think I actually saw SADE ^ show the same substrate if I am not mistaken. It might just be a different grade of lecca but it should not be as wet as it is on your pictures.

We live in the UK. It does not get as dry and hot here as a tropical country so in our climate especially once temperatures start to drop these pots need to be kept bone dry with just a little layer of water at the bottom (hole or no hole, the hole just makes it easy to keep it at the same level every week)

Some guides, specifically for hot climates will recommen to flush the whole pot once a week and soak it all.

This might work with fast draining lecca but the lecca in the picture looks far too wet.

When I use semi-hydro I just drip a little water down the side of the pot to make sure the bottom 1-2cm is wet.

The lecca then wicks the water up.

If I were to add more water then the root tips would start to rot.

The holes will not change this.

[Mukesh Patel]

Hello Sade, The Jar does not have any holes in it yet. I'm going to be putting in the holes today and then putting the plant back in.

Shadeflower, the substrate I used is this.
VitaLink 02-050-105 10L Clay Pebbles Bag : Amazon.co.uk: Garden & Outdoors

I believe it is just plain old LECA.

So I guess the problem is that the substrate is staying too damp. I will make sure I reduce the level of water in the vase to only a little, not an inch worth.

Is there anything else I should do to treat this problem, really don't want the orchid to die.

I guess this is a learning experience for me and I will make mistakes. I just hope I can correct them in time.

[Shadeflower]

Mukesh, you have done well so far.

This is a minor setback. Gently dry the stones as much as you can and you will be ok.

The roots will probably not do much for the next month or so, although I already see a new root forming so that is good.

You need to keep them really dry if you are growing in a glass vase.

So the consensus is either growing them airy and water lots or use a high humidity retaining container and water little.

This is where you have encountered problems, the media is great, it has good reviews so that won't be a problem.

The Vase will keep the roots in a high humidity state - as long as you see some water at the bottom.

You need to accept with this new way you need to just rely on that bottom layer of water to know the orchid is hydrated enough.

You will have to start looking at the roots and the leaves far more with this method. Those will be your indicators whether the plant is adapting ok or drying out too much.

Every week you check that the pot has enough water left, most of the substrate and the roots should be a silvery color, the Vase will keep it hydrated even if you might think it is staying very dry at the top - use the leaves as your indicator. If you see any wrinkling then you need to just wet the roots a little.

Phalanopsis can tolerate quite a bit of drying out and their leaves will wrinkle like an old persons skin and then f the plant has good roots as soon as you water it a little the leaves will plump right back to the smoothness of a baby's bottom.

So don't worry, know you need to water far less (the advantage of S/H) and rely on the leaves to tell you if you plant is thirsty or not.

I've taken a quick picture of how dry I keep roots at the surface of the pot (for a UK climate approaching winter)

[K-Sci]

Originally Posted by Mukesh Patel

Hello All,
...
One thing I noticed today, is that some of the roots have a white fluffy growth (I think) near the ends.

Because the adjacent tissue doesn't show any signs of becoming necrotic, I'm reluctant to conclude that the tips are molding. It could be an adaptation of the roots that is different because the roots were in a changed environment.

Do the roots adjacent to the "fuzz" still looking whitish and healthy, or have they started turning brown adjacent to the "fuzz"?

-Keith

[estación seca]

Welcome to the Orchid Board!

This may not be rot. Orchid roots can form root hairs in very humid environments, and these root hairs form at the very tips of roots, in the new growth zone. i think you may be seeing root hairs.

Holes are not needed for semihydroponic growing, but they make emptying and refilling the vessel much easier.

[Mukesh Patel]

Thank you all,

The plant seems to be doing fine and the roots don't seem to be going black or dark, they are a green color and not squishy. I did take the plant out, drilled some holes into the vase and re-potted as that was my original plan. When i took the plant out, I could see that the roots seemed healthy so I guess I was just freaking because I had noticed something new. Also the growth does look like tiny hairs growing out the ends of the roots.

Again thank you all, I will update if something changes.