Help! Is this fusarium?

[Maru777]

Hello everyone! I was repotting some phals yesterday and I came across one with a purple root tip. I know fusarium causes purple “rings” so I got kind of scared, but I haven’t seen fusarium in real life and this does not quite look like in the pictures I found online. I posted some pictures here for wiser heads to chime in if possible. The plant looks quite healthy otherwise, has pretty and healthy leaves, though one of the older ones has a scar from “the great thrip infestation of 2024” which I managed to take care of though and recent leaves are ok. The phal is completely white so I doubt the purple is coming from any sort of pigment in the flower. The plant is also currently putting up 2 flower spikes. Inknow thrips can sometimes carry viruses so a bit worried it may have gotten infected though from where I do not know as none of the other plants look poorly. I posted pics of the entire plant and the offending root.

[tmoney]

well, im no expert, but it looks normal and fine to me. many of our phals will have purple to pink root tips when growing. probably totally fine...

[Roberta]

Looks normal to me too. And even the purple-ring thing is overblown, not necessarily a sign of an infection. Much damage has been done to otherwise healthy plants from such "advice". You're overthinking... It sounds to me like a happy, healthy plant - and the incipient spikes are a very good sign. Just keep doing whatever you're doing. (and don't cut anything without a very good reason and after getting 2nd and 3rd opinions)

[Dimples]

Nothing looks wrong to me. Everything in the photos looks fine. Purple is not an uncommon color to be expressed by plants.

[Kittyfrex]

It could also depend on the color of the flower. Plants with magenta toned flowers often end up with a lot of extra pigment. Out of some 17 to 20 phals i have, the only two with any pink/purple in roots/leaves are the two magenta colored ones.
Orchids are not the only plants this happens to, tho i think they are the only ones that display it in roots as well as leaves.

[Mountaineer370]

I agree with all of the responses so far. That looks like a perfectly healthy Phal. to me. From what I can see in the photos, it's just the very end of one root that has a purplish tinge to it, and there are no other issues with the plant's leaves, stem, or roots. Don't lose any sleep over it.

As I recall, several years ago, there were a number of popular YouTube "orchid experts" informing us about the dangers of fusarium, which resulted in an overblown panic by many inexperienced growers, and, sadly, probably a lot of healthy orchids that were destroyed due to a bit of purplish pigment here or there.