To cut or not to cut at base of crown?

[dounoharm]

it looks like the plant is sustaining itself with the arial roots primarily....i would trim off the dead rotted roots, wash the remains with physan 20 or peroxide and pot as deep in a pot as i could....trying to get the arial roots down into the medium....after it has finished its blooming i would unpot, trim that dead funky stem off a few inches and repot with the former arial roots well into the medium....always disinfect any cutting tool and cuts....gl

[redperphexion]

Originally Posted by dounoharm

i would trim off the dead rotted roots, wash the remains with physan 20 or peroxide and pot as deep in a pot as i could....trying to get the arial roots down into the medium....

Thanks for the info Dounoharm. When you say pot as deep as possible, this means as deep as possible without removing any leaves, right??

[mspatt]

That seems a little pricey to me! I'm not sure if this place will ship to Canada, but I have never been displeased with the orchids I got from Hausermann's. They have a 20% off sale that runs through Aug. 15th,too. Their web site can be accessed at info@orchidsbyhausermann.com. This site will give you their phone number and hours of operation. It also gives you a chance to look at their on-line catalog. Hope you find something you like...

[Eyebabe]

Originally Posted by redperphexion

So I'm confused about something. There are roots that are good at the ends but rotten up closer to the plant. (see picture "roots" and "bad roots" this is the same roots at different portions). Is this because the root is able to be healthy at the tip and bad at the top and still be ok, or is this a slow death that will eventually take the healthy looking root tips with them?

Your opinion on what to keep and what to leave?

I would cut off the bottom of the stalk at the base where it is black...removing all the base roots with it.
I would make sure I was cutting into good tissue the first time as cutting into rotting tissue and then again further up into the good tissue can contaminate the cut into the good tissue.
I would treat with Physan 20 and probably hit it with cinnamon as well.
I would remove the bottom 4 leaves preserving the arial roots and essentially creating a new stalk and pot as recommended previously in soaked media etc. making sure the arial roots are now in the new media.

[redperphexion]

Last night I unpotted and inspected - all roots were soggy and hollow except for two at the very bottom of the main stalk. I cut all rotted roots off cleanly at the stalk, and trimmed back the two healthy ones of any branches that looked mushy or hollow. That left two firm green roots about 6-7 inches long on end of the stalk. I pulled off as much dead material from around the stalk area I cut the bad roots from.

After much deliberation, I gently removed the 3 bottom-most leaves, leaving the roots that were above each leaf more exposed.

I let the stalk dry a little while I mixed fresh, soaked orchid mix (bark, pearlite, and charcoal bits) with a little of the media it was originally in. I think the original media was coconut husk mulch. I mixed it about 1/3 husk to 2/3 soaked orchid mix. (It looked so inviting to put roots into capable of holding some moisture but very airy and chunky).

I took the plastic pot it was potted in and went at it with a sharp tool I own for doing metal etchings, making many holes in the plastic pot. (lots!) This pot sits inside a clay pot.

I put a little media in the pot, placed the plant back in with the roots curled under a little, then filled it in. I was able to get 1 air root just under the surface of the media where it will get lots of air, and another has a sharp downward turn to it so I have the tip of that one growing into the media. Both look greenish just at the surface of the media this morning instead of silver. I think this is a good sign? (Taking in water?)

I've left the flower spikes for now. If it starts to drop flowers, or leaves change colour, or roots look poor through the plastic pot, then I will cut them off.

Now all I can do is cheer her on, right?

Thanks again for all the advice!

[Eyebabe]

Awesome!

[nutgirl]

maureen

[redperphexion]

So far, ok. She's started to drop some blooms (6/15 withered), but could that be because I let her dry out somewhat over the weekend? If anymore start to wilt, should I remove the flower spikes?

[nutgirl]

If it were me, I would cut off the flower spike and put it in a vase and let the plant concentrate on root growth.

If the flowers are withering it's probably a combination of age and not enough roots to sustain them.

Maureen

[quiltergal]

I agree with Maureen, cut off the flower spike or risk losing the plant. Also in the future it is always best to never reuse old medium. Who knows what icky things you have just transferred to your fresh medium. Best practice for repotting is all new medium.