root rot orchid query

[tahlia]

Hi everyone, i'm new to the board
I work in a hospital and patients always get brought in these shop bought orchids that inevitably get thrown away, so I took one home the other day. I watched loads of youtube videos on how to care for it and when I took it out of the pot it had really bad root rot to the point that I had to cut it way back. The only ones that are left are the two you can see in the image and im unclear whether these are aerial roots?
So at the moment the plant is just sat on top of this bark as i could only buy basic shop bought media and there are a couple of 'roots?' poking out the top.
I've just bought some sphagnum moss that i can also use but am awaiting for it to arrive
I just want to query whether i'm doing the correct thing to encourage root growth? Apart from the two i've posted in the image it has no other roots.
I've had to use a steak and zip tie as there is pretty much no plant beyond what can be seen on the surface and its unstable

thanks in advance

[estación seca]

Welcome to the Orchid Board!

You are mostly doing things properly, and I think the plant will go on and do well.

Your choice of bark is good. Phals require air at the roots, and large chunks of bark work well for this. The roots shouldn't stay dry for long. A plant like this, with just a few roots at the very top of the pot, in large bark, should probably be watered every day for now. When roots penetrate down into the medium you might stretch the watering interval.

Unfortunately cutting off roots is not a good idea. There are a lot of videos telling you to do this but it's not always possible to distinguish living from dead roots. I don't cut off roots when repotting my Phals. I give a gentle shaking and sometimes a few come off on their own. The dead roots won't cause harm if left on the plant, but taking off good roots will harm the plant. I can tell the plant had more good roots than you thought because it doesn't look severely dehydrated, as it would if there were not enough roots taking up water.

Most important now is paying attention to ambient temperatures and humidity - the higher the better for both. High humidity stimulates rooting.

Since your plant has no more roots than are visible, some people might suggest repotting with the bark higher up the neck of the plant, positioning those two roots under a layer of bark. If your ambient humidity is low - say, under 40% - I think this would be a good idea. That would raise the humidity in the rooting zone.

There are kelp-based products that promote rooting. I don't know what's available in the UK, but other Orchid Board members from the UK should chime in soon and help.

[tahlia]

Originally Posted by estación seca

Welcome to the Orchid Board!

You are mostly doing things properly, and I think the plant will go on and do well.

Your choice of bark is good. Phals require air at the roots, and large chunks of bark work well for this. The roots shouldn't stay dry for long. A plant like this, with just a few roots at the very top of the pot, in large bark, should probably be watered every day for now. When roots penetrate down into the medium you might stretch the watering interval.

Unfortunately cutting off roots is not a good idea. There are a lot of videos telling you to do this but it's not always possible to distinguish living from dead roots. I don't cut off roots when repotting my Phals. I give a gentle shaking and sometimes a few come off on their own. The dead roots won't cause harm if left on the plant, but taking off good roots will harm the plant. I can tell the plant had more good roots than you thought because it doesn't look severely dehydrated, as it would if there were not enough roots taking up water.

Most important now is paying attention to ambient temperatures and humidity - the higher the better for both. High humidity stimulates rooting.

Since your plant has no more roots than are visible, some people might suggest repotting with the bark higher up the neck of the plant, positioning those two roots under a layer of bark. If your ambient humidity is low - say, under 40% - I think this would be a good idea. That would raise the humidity in the rooting zone.

There are kelp-based products that promote rooting. I don't know what's available in the UK, but other Orchid Board members from the UK should chime in soon and help.

Thankyou for the reply!
Hmm, yes perhaps some of the roots were still alive. After i took it out of the pot they were absolutely dripping and drenched and the velamen just came off in my hands so I cut them back. I was surprised by this since, as you say, the two leaves look ok. There had been a yellow floppy leaf under those two but it fell off of its own accord.
I'll follow your advice and raise the layer of the bark to cover the remaining roots sine the humidity here is quite low
Thankyou for your help!

[estación seca]

When I have roots like that I just leave them. The tiny wiry core is the water absorbing part of the root. It might still be functioning; even if not, those can help anchor the plant in the new pot.

You can read about learning to grow Phalaenopsis in a thread here. From the left yellow menu select Forums then Beginners. Look near the top for the sticky thread The Phal abuse stops here. You don't need to read the whole thread; it gets repetitive after a while.

[tahlia]

Originally Posted by estación seca

When I have roots like that I just leave them. The tiny wiry core is the water absorbing part of the root. It might still be functioning; even if not, those can help anchor the plant in the new pot.

You can read about learning to grow Phalaenopsis in a thread here. From the left yellow menu select Forums then Beginners. Look near the top for the sticky thread The Phal abuse stops here. You don't need to read the whole thread; it gets repetitive after a while.

Ahhh, I see. I’ll remember that for the future. Thanks very much I’ve already started reading the thread