roots

[VickiC]

Hi everyone,
Sorry I haven't posted in a while, but we've had computer networking problems here at home, and anyway, my lil orchid plants are just sitting there.....alive, thankfully.....but basically, doing nothing.....thus, no issues.

I have been waiting to see if one of my Catts was going to start new roots so that I could transfer it to S/H, and now it has so I started to move it over a few mintues ago..... but before I did, I decided to ask you this question: Are the old brown roots alive or dead?? From the time that I started trying to grow orchids a few months ago, determining this was always something I've been unclear about, so some of my orchids have survived and grown probably out of sheer luck. None of these brown roots you see are mushy , but the outer covering slides off a few of them. Even though the velamen comes off easily, does that mean that the actual root underneath is dead?

Another question: Why are the leaves wrinkled? What am I doing that is causing this and what do I do to correct the problem, if poss.?

I would appreciate anyone's help!
Thanks in advance,
Vicki

[let_it_grow]

Some of them look rotten to me and that could be whats causing the leaves to wither. I would also like to know about the sheathing on the roots. I have had roots crack and the sheath slide off even when the roots are whitish and look healthy. I leave them when i repot... are they dead?

[Ross]

I'd say the old brown roots are done-for! If moving to S/H you'll need to clip these off cause the rotting of them will cause a problem (so I am told). If just repotting to new bark medium, then I would leave some of them (the better ones.) The withering (as pointed out above) is do to the lack of roots and inability to absorb water. You understand that only the new growths will send out new roots, right?

[beanluc]

Hi, Vicky, I'm seeing 2 kinds of brown in the pictures:

Roots that look brown and dry
and
Roots that look brown and slimy and wet.

My opinion is that the slimy-looking ones should come off. The ones that are dry-looking in the pictures might not be alive, I don't know, but they're definitely not actively rotting and I think they might be OK to put in a new semi-hydroponic home, just in case they're still of benefit to the plant. If you keep them, I hope you could watch them for deterioration. Will you be able to see all the roots in your S/H setup (clear vessel)?

One thing seems clear: too-frequent watering was occurring. Personally, I water potted orchids pretty infrequently, but each time I do it I let the plant drink, submerged in a bucket, for 15-30 minutes. With the humidity I have, orchids often go more than a whole week without having to be watered, and even 2 weeks in the winter. This way, the roots really get to dry off and the plant gets ample opportunity to store up plenty of water and use that instead of needing to get some from the roots all the time or else puckering and withering away.

One bucket-soak, or a hydroponic environment, will plump up wrinkled leaves, like you have, again. That's why they're wrinkled: not enough water was being stored inside those fleshy leaves. Root rot is notorious for being difficult to distinguish from under-watering, when you can't see the roots. Now that you've seen them, you know it wasn't under-watered! Still, the rotted roots couldn't conduct up to the plant all the water that was going into the pot, and the plant used up its leaf-stored water. In semi-hydroponic, I don't think under-watering will be a problem anymore but I don't actually have personal S/H experience. I know about full hydroponic and about regular old pot-a-ponic.

Regarding where the velamen has come off: I don't know whether the part below the velamen is still alive and doing anything for the plant. On parts where the skinny little interior root has no velamen covering it, it probably can't do anything for the plant because the root itself absorbs everything from the velamen. I don't know whether a bare area like that could still conduct water/nutrients up to the plant from another section lower down where the root still has velamen covering. Again, I think that if there's nothing rotting, it might not hurt to include those parts in the semi-hydroponic home just in case they're of benefit to the plant. But if you were able to watch them and take them off if they were to start to funk off, I think that would be a little insurance against future problems.

Cheers, BL

[VickiC]

Thanks.....I should have monitored my watering a little closer......from now on, I will.

I'm going to read on to my next reply.....thanks again for your help!
Vicki

Originally Posted by let_it_grow

Some of them look rotten to me and that could be whats causing the leaves to wither. I would also like to know about the sheathing on the roots. I have had roots crack and the sheath slide off even when the roots are whitish and look healthy. I leave them when i repot... are they dead?

[VickiC]

Hi Ross,
I'm wondering now how I would stabilize my Catt in the PrimeAgra after all of the dead roots are trimmed off.....do you have any thoughts on this? By the way, I made a mistake and forgot to mention that I just finished rinsing them. They were totally dry and shriveled, so needless to say, I am far from having mastered recognizing that fine line between too wet and too dry.

Thanks again!
Vicki

Originally Posted by Ross

I'd say the old brown roots are done-for! If moving to S/H you'll need to clip these off cause the rotting of them will cause a problem (so I am told). If just repotting to new bark medium, then I would leave some of them (the better ones.) The withering (as pointed out above) is do to the lack of roots and inability to absorb water. You understand that only the new growths will send out new roots, right?

[let_it_grow]

I have a couple plants that don't have enough roots to hold it steady in the pot so I poke plastic cutlery to the bottom of the pot and tie the plant to the part of the cutlery that sticks above the medium so the base of the plant is at the surface of the medium

[VickiC]

Hi,
I made a mistake and misled you.....I'm sorry: I forgot to mention that I had just rinsed the roots because they were totally shriveled and dry when I unpotted the plant, so it goes without saying that my watering schedule leaves a lot to be desired, as far as this plant goes for sure!

As to whether or not I can see the roots after having done the repotting.....yes, I will be able to.....the S/H pot I will be using is the basic clear plastic one from FirstRays. Whatever I end up doing, I can monitor any activity that might be going on "down under".

Also, thanks for helping me understand "why wrinkled leaves???" better.

I really appreciate all of the detailed advice you have given me. Thanks for your reply!
Vicki

Originally Posted by beanluc

Hi, Vicky, I'm seeing 2 kinds of brown in the pictures:

Roots that look brown and dry
and
Roots that look brown and slimy and wet.

My opinion is that the slimy-looking ones should come off. The ones that are dry-looking in the pictures might not be alive, I don't know, but they're definitely not actively rotting and I think they might be OK to put in a new semi-hydroponic home, just in case they're still of benefit to the plant. If you keep them, I hope you could watch them for deterioration. Will you be able to see all the roots in your S/H setup (clear vessel)?

One thing seems clear: too-frequent watering was occurring. Personally, I water potted orchids pretty infrequently, but each time I do it I let the plant drink, submerged in a bucket, for 15-30 minutes. With the humidity I have, orchids often go more than a whole week without having to be watered, and even 2 weeks in the winter. This way, the roots really get to dry off and the plant gets ample opportunity to store up plenty of water and use that instead of needing to get some from the roots all the time or else puckering and withering away.

One bucket-soak, or a hydroponic environment, will plump up wrinkled leaves, like you have, again. That's why they're wrinkled: not enough water was being stored inside those fleshy leaves. Root rot is notorious for being difficult to distinguish from under-watering, when you can't see the roots. Now that you've seen them, you know it wasn't under-watered! Still, the rotted roots couldn't conduct up to the plant all the water that was going into the pot, and the plant used up its leaf-stored water. In semi-hydroponic, I don't think under-watering will be a problem anymore but I don't actually have personal S/H experience. I know about full hydroponic and about regular old pot-a-ponic.

Regarding where the velamen has come off: I don't know whether the part below the velamen is still alive and doing anything for the plant. On parts where the skinny little interior root has no velamen covering it, it probably can't do anything for the plant because the root itself absorbs everything from the velamen. I don't know whether a bare area like that could still conduct water/nutrients up to the plant from another section lower down where the root still has velamen covering. Again, I think that if there's nothing rotting, it might not hurt to include those parts in the semi-hydroponic home just in case they're of benefit to the plant. But if you were able to watch them and take them off if they were to start to funk off, I think that would be a little insurance against future problems.

Cheers, BL

[VickiC]

Thanks for the tip!
Vicki

Originally Posted by let_it_grow

I have a couple plants that don't have enough roots to hold it steady in the pot so I poke plastic cutlery to the bottom of the pot and tie the plant to the part of the cutlery that sticks above the medium so the base of the plant is at the surface of the medium