Phalaenopsis new (and only) roots are dying

[NadiaR]

I bought this orchid about 2 months ago. It was looking good, but I noticed it had root rot. I tried to save it, but made many mistakes along the way.

I couldn’t repot it right away, cause I had to buy new pot first. But I didn’t water it for too long and it became dehydrated. Later I cut off all dead roots, but rest was wrinkled, dirty, and had weird dark spots. But I thought they seemed healthy enough to leave them be.

I repotted it and got rid of all flower spikes. But it wouldn’t get any better, and it turned out it had root rot again. Then I placed it in jar with water instead a pot, but still nothing changed. I also noticed few bottom leaves were black at the base, so I ripped them off just in case.

Last thing I wanted to try was watering it by spraying leaves with water. One leaf soon became more firm. Later it had 3 new roots growing, and even new leaf too.

The day before yesterday, I cut off roots (unforch not sterilized tool). And also accidently damaged smallest one of the roots. At the end I sprayed it with hygrogen peroxide 3% (I used it on this plant quite a lot before) and thought it will be fine.

Yesterday I saw these new roots dying. Their tips were soft and shrinked. Today they are looking worse. I don’t know why it happened. What can I do to help this orchid?

[estación seca]

Ouch, sorry. A few comments.

There is a thread here about learning to grow Phals. From the left yellow menu choose Forums then Beginners. Near the top is a sticky thread, The Phal. abuse stops here.

Orchids grow slowly. Doing a lot of different things quickly usually doesn't help. Once you know more about these you'll do better with the next plant.

What are your day/night temperatures? Humidity? How much light does it get?

They can't absorb water through the leaves, only the roots.

I don't ever cut orchid roots. I can't tell which are alive and which are dead. If they fall off I let them. The roots in your 4th photo were quite alive. I hope you didn't think they were dead. I think there's a good chance most of the roots you cut off your plant might have been alive.

Fresh new Phalaenopsis roots are white with a green tip. As they get older they may turn silvery white when dry, and green when wet. As they get even older - but still perhaps alive - they turn light tan. Many, many people make the mistake of cutting living roots based on bad video advice, so don't feel too upset about it.

Phal. roots always need lots of air. They die, then the plant dies, when there is insufficient air at the roots. The problem is not too much water, it is medium that does not have enough air spaces. Was your plant initially potted in sphagnum moss? That can work well, but only if you know how to water with it. Watering sphagnum is different from watering bark media.

Hydrogen peroxide can damage roots. Some people use it. I don't.

The black at the bases of the leaf makes me think your plant might have collar rot, an infection often caused by suffocating roots. Take a look here:
Collar Rot, Southern Blight - St Augustine Orchid Society

As for what to do now - If this is collar rot, I would throw the plant away. The chance of survival is minimal, and your time would be better spent reading how to grow orchids.

If you don't think it's collar rot, it can recover. It needs to be kept in as humid an environment as possible, like a terrarium or jar, or put a transparent plastic bag over it. If you have access to a product called Kelpak it helps promote new root growth. Once the plant begins growing new roots you can pot it into fresh medium of your choice. Use a very small pot the first time.

[Optimist]

I agree with all the above from Estacion Seca. Roots in Phalenopsis and most other orchids are somewhat "deciduous," meaning they do their thing and at the end of their life they die. I don't want to get too complicated, but they will continually grow new and also die. The trick is knowing what is alive and what is dead. Being new to orchids, be rather prudent with your trimming. Think of it like "hair" -- hair is also constantly replaced. The old stuff falls out, and the new stuff grows out.

A root growth technique that has worked for me-- I live in a dry area with low ambient humidity. What I do is when I see a little new root growth I get a thin piece of rock wool, and keep it damp and lay it on top of the root. Keep it moist. I water nearly every day because the drainage just goes in and out. Here is a picture of the rock wool and of the new roots growing (this is a small Encyclia Radiata). So I have had the rock wool on the root since it was just a little nub, now they are about 1 inch long and ready to start burrowing into the medium.

[NadiaR]

Thank you for reply! I started reading thread you mentioned, I already knew some things, but probably still can learn a lot from it. To answer first question (I hope it’s what you meant):
Light: This orchid is placed on east facing window’s windowsill, it’s in the corner, so it’s kinda protected from sun by wall
Temeperatures: Currentely about 15-20 Celsius degrees during day, sometimes higher, about 5-15 during night
Humidity: Outside it’s about 40-60%, I can’t check humidity inside. But I’m thinking about buying air humidifier, since I have more tropical plants than just orchids
As for roots, maybe it wasn’t good idea to cut them off, but I did think they weren’t alive. And they were black at the base too, which worried me. I will just be more careful with cutting them in future.
I believe it was originally potted in bark, then I repotted it to mix of sphagnum moss and bark for orchids. But it seems that I kept it too humid and root rot returned.
I never heard about collar rot, it kinda looks like it, although stem didn’t turn yellow. There is some black on it, but I don’t think it really progresses. And leaves got sunburned when it was at different spot, so I can’t really tell if they’re fine. I keep this orchid in a room with no other plants. I think I will wait and see what happens.
I’m gonna try making it’s environment more humid. Can I just leave it in jar with some water and put plastic bag over it?

[estación seca]

Originally Posted by NadiaR

Temperatures: Currently about 15-20 Celsius degrees during day, sometimes higher, about 5-15 during night

That's too cold for most Phals, and probably the main cause of your trouble. Try and keep them 15-18 at night and above 20 during the day. An electric heat mat may help. People who really know what they're doing may get some plants to survive at those temperatures by keeping them very dry during cold seasons.

Phals are mostly warm to hot growing plants. Think of trying to keep a hairless cat or dog at 5C.

...I have more tropical plants than just orchids

5C at night may be too cold for those. Some tropicals are fine with that.

As for roots... they were black at the base too, which worried me.

The living part of an older root is the thin core. The material around that core can look bad but the core can still be alive, connected to better looking parts of root farther from the plant.

I’m gonna try making it’s environment more humid. Can I just leave it in jar with some water and put plastic bag over it?

It needs higher temperatures to recover. The water method does not work at low temperatures.

Others here may disagree, but if my home had those kinds of temperatures I would not try to grow Phals without some kind of extra heat.

[NadiaR]

First of all, sorry it took me so long to answer. I was really busy lately and kept forgetting about this.

I forgot to mention these temperatures are outside, I don't keep track of temp inside (maybe I should) and it's definitely warmer in my home.

I have one orchid which I bought about 2-3 years ago, and from what I can tell, it's doing good. Keeps growing new roots, leaves and it blooms too. So I guess temperatures in my home are good enough.

I'm afraid I won't be able to provide extra heat for this orchid. But soon it should get even warmer and maybe it'll be able to recover.

Anyway, thank you for your help. Even if this orchid won't make it, I will know what to do in future. And I'm gonna make sure to read thread you mentioned before asking about anything else.