Spike damage, sphag moss, two plants in one pot!

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Wetting the roots on orchids to make them more pliable is known in the orchid hobby to be true.

This holds true for many epiphytes and very few terrestrial orchids.

But...

There are always exceptions to the notion that wetting the roots will make them pliable.

In your case, you're dealing with Phalaenopsis which is an epiphyte and is known to have roots that tend to more pliable when wet.

However...

That rule changes when you're dealing with something such as Habenaria or Disas (both "terrestrials", or more accurately geophytes - both genera are pretty diverse in their growth habits and habitats, it's difficult to generalize). Bending the roots is never recommended for these group of plants. And wetting the roots will not make them pliable. Instead, like you experienced, water makes the roots more turgid for these groups of orchids. There is a reason for this...that's because certain roots become tubers. If too many roots snap, the hobbyist may unsuspectingly snap off the special roots that eventually turn into next year's growth. This is part of the reason why people complain about how Habenarias and Disas are so hard to grow (they're actually not that hard if you know a bit about their biology and ecology).

[redperphexion]

That's amazing! Thanks!!!

So now that the two are potted up, Plant B has lost 1 of it's 3 leaves, and plant A looks to be trucking along well.

After more reading, I'm wondering if I should have trimmed the roots of plant A (they were super long) before potting, because I simply wound them around the inside of the pot in a spiral before filling in with mix. Seems as though the consensus is that Phal roots should be trimmed short enough to not touch the bottom of the pot.

I've been soaking them once a day, because the mix seems truly dry after one full 24hrs. Time will tell!

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

I really wouldn't practice cutting anything unless they're dead. I don't like doing extra things that could cause more problems.

[RosieC]

I would leave them. I always just wind them arround in the pot.

[redperphexion]

Excellent. Now the waiting game.

[redperphexion]

So my dog's tail somehow wagged over one of the pots yesterday. The roots on plant A were toast. I took them all off and put a tiny amount of cinnamon on the spot where I took off a bit of the main root base that wasn't looking good.

So I pulled out plant B and I had to take off 3 or 4 roots there.

I potted them in drier mix, and I'm leaving them for a week to see how they do before I do anything.

[stefpix]

probably cutting the tail of would help the roots!

Anyway I found these really cheap great hooks fro clay pots that you can then hang on the wall [ i do it on the side of my window]. You could hang the pots above dog tail level. maybe use some twine to tie the top of the plant to the pot so if it gets knocked off the roots are less likely to move

[redperphexion]

To clarify: the roots weren't damaged by the fall (I don't think) but they had gone soft and hollow, I'm assuming from staying too damp. So it was sort of a blessing in disguise that Blue knocked them over. Good girl! lol

[redperphexion]

So both plants have lost their roots completely. Not sure what did it, but I'm trying to move on!

I've since cut back the damaged portion of each plant (leaving no roots at all), and I've been keeping them in a shallow dish of water with just a whiff of fert in it. I've pulled them out almost daily to give them a few hours of air and to make sure they're not getting too soggy.

Much to my joy, they're both showing signs of roots developing!!! I'm not getting my hopes up, but even the sign of new un-erupted roots is an accomplishment for me. I had to share this excitement!

I wanted to know if this was a "sphag and bag" situation... although to be honest, unless it sounds exactly like what it is, I'm not sure what this encompasses.

Any other suggestions are welcome.

[RosieC]

I think no roots at all is a Sphag-n-bag situation.

Here's a link describing the steps.
Sphag-n-Bag

I think some people here have also rescued ones like this using 'water culture'. Try searching on that as I know it's been discussed arround here.