Need Help! What to do with roots?

[Mariale41]

My Phal had flowers fos about a year straight. Now all the flowers have been gone for about 6 months. The plant looks healthy has 2 new leaves and is growing. This is my first orchid and it now has a lot of what I thought were steams but I just learned are roots instead. This is my first orchid and I have no idea what to do with all those roots sticking up. Should I just leace them alone?
Thanks

[Amanda L]

Welcome to the Orchid Board. Aerial roots are quite normal. Just leave them be and mist them daily. I'm sure someone with more experience will be of greater help.

[BikerDoc5968]

Without a picture one must assume they are aeriel roots which phals and some other orchids produce from time to time. This is normal. Leave them alone...higher levels of humidity and/or misting from time to time will keep them viable. When you repot, remove any nasty looking roots and old media, soak roots in SuperThrive, KLN or Hormex for 5 to 10 minutes. This will make the roots softer and easier to "bend" into the pot and also reduce the transplant shock.

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[Hedge]

Hi Biker Doc

What are SuperThrive, KLN and Hormex and can I get them this side of the pond?
Thanks
Heather aka

[BikerDoc5968]

Originally Posted by Hedge

Hi Biker Doc

What are SuperThrive, KLN and Hormex and can I get them this side of the pond?
Thanks
Heather aka

These are root "stimulating" hormones. These brands are water soluble while the "dry" water insoluble brands are RootTone and Schultz's TakeRoot. All of the liquid products contain Vitamin B1. SuperThrive contains 1-Naphthyl acetic acid while KLN and Hormex have both 1-NAA and Indole-3-butyric acid. The actual concentrations vary from one brand to another but are otherwise very similar. On your side they may be marketed under different product names so look for the "active ingredients" rather than a "brand" name.

[let_it_grow]

Phals are nosey and like to get their feet out and walk around. By this, I mean the new roots rarely grow in a pot but rather outside of the pot, like they are stretching or reaching. I put as many as I can back in the pot when I repot but I kinda like how the roots stick out so I don't worry if 1 or 2 don't feel like fitting in the pot. When my grandmas Phal did this she thought they were spikes too so she has them tied to skewers waiting for them to flower. I didnt have the heart to tell her they were roots

[camille1585]

Don't worry about the superthrive or KLN. It's difficult to find in Europe, and from what I've seen on my plants, they recover from repotting just fine without it.
But if you are interested, I know there is a UK company that has either kln or superthrive. If your interested, I can dig up the link.

[RosieC]

Originally Posted by Hedge

Hi Biker Doc

What are SuperThrive, KLN and Hormex and can I get them this side of the pond?
Thanks
Heather aka

I've found a UK based website which lists Superthrive. Well actually Camille found it for me, it's the one she mentioned above.

BUT their website has an out of date security certificate and I've been meaning to ring them for a week or so now to try and place an order over the phone instead.

The website is orchid accessories and there is a phone number on the website which is what I've been meaning to try. You can search for KLN in the search on their site and it shows they have it in two sizes, I've been told the smaller one should be plenty because the hormone deteriorates with time.

[Hedge]

thanks for the help, will investigate the site. hve just checked my "bio Roota2" and that contains 0.0894% w/w 1-naphthylacetic acid so maybe I dose of that might work. However its a gel formulation for dipping cuttings into so it may be difficult to get the dosage correct.

Heather aka

[camille1585]

Originally Posted by RosieC

I've found a UK based website which lists Superthrive. Well actually Camille found it for me, it's the one she mentioned above.

BUT their website has an out of date security certificate and I've been meaning to ring them for a week or so now to try and place an order over the phone instead.

The website is orchid accessories and there is a phone number on the website which is what I've been meaning to try. You can search for KLN in the search on their site and it shows they have it in two sizes, I've been told the smaller one should be plenty because the hormone deteriorates with time.

I just tried the website, and I didn't get a warning about the security certificate. They must have fixed it. I've been meaning to order some supplies from them, but never actually got around to doing it. But now that the exchange rate to € is good, I'm buying, they have aircone pots!