Dead sections of roots on a Phal? - Orchid Board

gehentogo · #1 10-26-2008, 07:42 AM

Hi,

Since I liberated all of my wife's orchids that she was killing, and moved them to my apartment, she bought another NOID Phal at the grocery store the other day for 6.99 EURO. It has a couple issues, such as the plastic bag it was packed in for retail sale had crushed one of the arial roots. We decided to cut it off at the break and dusted the wound with cinnamon. Did we do the right thing? I was afraid that this might cause the blooms to blast. It did, but only the buds blasted, the blooms look fine.

Anyway, next weekend I will bring back some sphagnum moss and a new pot for it, as it appears the roots might need some attention. Most of the roots look good, from what I can see through the clear pot, but a couple of dead roots appear to be rotting away in the medium.

Finally, here is my question: I have run across this on some other Phals, too. You can see in the first photo that part of a root is dead. However, beyond this part, it is healthy, and it seems to have a growing tip. Should I be concerned with this? What do I do about it?

Thanks

camille1585 · #2 10-26-2008, 07:57 AM

I don't think you need to worry about the root in the first picture. Phal roots consist of the root itself (a stringy hard part inside) which is surrounded by the velamen, (which absorbs nutrients and moisture for the root). In your case, since the root is still green and growing after the dead part, that means that only the velamen is dead, and not the root. So there is nothing to worry about! Some of mine have a root or two like that.

For the aerial root, don't worry about having cut it off, the plant will grow more! I don't think that it is what it caused the buds to plant though. If you repot, I think it can stay in the same pot though, it doesn't look overly crowded.

Becca · #3 10-26-2008, 09:30 AM

My only concern is that sometimes those sections of dead root, if kept too moist, will have fungal problems, at least this is my experience.

camille1585 · #4 10-26-2008, 10:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Becca

My only concern is that sometimes those sections of dead root, if kept too moist, will have fungal problems, at least this is my experience.

I never thought of that Becca. It must also depend on culture. My phals are in bark and I tend to keep them on the dry side, so I've never had issues with mold on the dead parts. But since gehentogo apparently plans to repot in sphag, which tends to be more moist, then rot could be a problem. It's a shame to cut off a functional root though.

Becca · #5 10-26-2008, 10:15 AM

Yep I grow in sphag moss mixtures and I have run into this problem, not just with phals....it could just be my growing conditions and watering habits. Do you just use straight bark? I have thought of trying a bark mixture since I have issues with sphag mixtures holding to much moisture for me.....it's a love hate relationship with the sphag moss....lol.

camille1585 · #6 10-26-2008, 10:27 AM

I agree about the love-hate relationship with moss! The only orchids I have in moss are the japanese minis (neos, den monoliforme, sedirea japonica) and I struggle with some. My sedirea now has some fungus issues on the roots (the netherlands is much more humid than lyon, and the moss takes forever to dry). If I let it dry out, the plant suffers, if I give it enough water to make it happy, the roots suffer.

I might put it in bark.

I used to have the phals in a mix of bark and sphag(about 20%) since they dried too quickly in straight bark. However, since I knew I was moving to the humid Netherlands for the next two years for school, this summer I put everyone back in straight bark. I'm glad I did, they are sooo slow to dry! When I go back to France, they'll get repotted back in the bark/sphag mix! How complicated!