Help! I'm re-potting!

[gehentogo]

Hi everyone,

I need a bit of quick advice.

I am following advice I received about repotting my dend. that is in coir. I soaked it to remove the medium.

Anyway, I got most of it out, but I would like some advice about what I have so far: Are these roots still good?

Some of the roots at the top are obviously healthy, but the rest are a dingy, dirty, rusty color. There are a lot of them, and I think my plant will suffer if I cut them off. But, they don't look good to me at all! Should I leave them or cut them?

Thanks,

[Kona's Gold]

gehentogo,
Most of the roots look good but I would cut the ones that have no new (whiteish w/green tips). Then I would soak them in water with Super Thrive to promote new root groth and also for the shock the plant will go thru. It will be just fine and Happy.
Roland

[gehentogo]

I would guess 90% of the roots are not whiteish w/green tips. Also, I don't have any Super Thrive, only some MSU fertilizer. So, I cut off all of those roots and soak it in that?

[Becca]

Well I have a different recommendation....if they feel firm but are still discolored, I would leave them....they could be discolored due to the coco husk or something. I think most of the roots look ok! Just because a root doesn't have a green tip (which means it is actively growing I think) doesn't mean the root isn't good....at least in my opinion. One test you can use for determining if a root is good is gently pull on the end (it it looks like a bad root) and if the cover of the root slips off easily leaving behind a thin string then it means it was dead....at least that is what I was told.

Check out this video I just found...I think it will really help you!

Orchid Root Care & Maintenance: Part 1 | Expert Village Videos

[Cookiemonster]

I wouldnt cut ALL of those roots--- only the squishy black rotted ones cause those will cause you trouble later.
MSU is a fertilizer, i dont think that would help -you need something like KLN which is a mix of nutrients and root hormones-- if you can get some of that I'd say soak the medium with a bit of that and repot...
I've also heard a tsp of molasses per gallon is good when repotting stimulates root growth-


Repotting a dendrobium - Orchid Article Library

[Becca]

Here is part two....I found these video's, and there are more to go with it, by typing in Orchid Roots in Google's Search Bar and it was the fourth link down. Here is a link to the search:

Orchid Roots - Google Search

Orchid Root Care & Maintenance: Part 2 | Expert Village Videos

[gehentogo]

Thanks for the video, Becca, it was helpful.

I wound up leaving most of those roots. The tip that they could be healthy, just not in active growth confirmed my instinct.

There really were very few roots whose outer skin came off when I pulled on it, and very few mushy ones. There were a couple black ones, but on further inspection, just were really dirty.

So, I cut some, sprinkled with cinnamon, after spraying with listerine and rinsing, and put it in a much larger pot.

I'll leave it in reduced light for the weekend, and put it back under my light on Monday.

Unfortunately, I don't have any root hormones, so I'll just fertilize it next time it gets watered, and hope it grows.

Thanks!

[RosieC]

In the first clip it mentioned that some people cut off healthy roots to help it fit in a pot.

My advice... don't do this!

Before I found the Orchid Board and when I wanted to do my very first re-potting of an Orchid (Phal) I read a lot about it on the web first. One of the sites suggested cutting them back to fit the pot and that is what I did.

For those of you have read all my threads about my really sick phal... well I am convinced that is what I did wrong. It's not been happy since the re-potting and I am really convinced that clipping the roots to fit the pot is what I did wrong.

Leave all healthy roots you have!

[quiltergal]

I agree with Becca. If the roots are firm but just discolored leave them on. They are still fully functioning roots. They just don't look as pretty as the newer ones. Also please do not put cinnamon on the roots! They really don't like it and you could end up burning them. Cinnamon is fine on any portion of the green plant that has a cut but not the roots.

With as many nice roots as you have I see no need to use Superthrive or KLN. I save the KLN for plants that are struggling with root growth, or for transplanting into Semi Hydro.

[Ross]

Originally Posted by quiltergal

I save the KLN for plants that are struggling with root growth, or for transplanting into Semi Hydro.

Had no problem with this discussion till this statement. I must say "roots are good," thus, regular use of KLN will help stimulate new growth on even old roots. Plants don't need to be struggling for KLN to be of benefit (IMO). I regularly use 2 drops KLN per gallon in the fertilizer mix that gets dispensed daily. Thus, they get fresh KLN on the day I mix the stuff and probably no reaction on the last day I use the stuff, since it does degrade. Want to see the results?