Why are my roots dying?

[scy]

Originally Posted by quiltergal

First I want to caution you about re-using old sphag from the original pot. Toss it. Typically sphag is only good for about 6-8 months and then needs to be replaced. It breaks down pretty quickly compared to other media.

I mix my own organic media. I have found that coconut husk chunks mixed with perlite and charcoal works very well for me. That said it retains more water than bark, so if you like to water a lot it may not work well for you. I only water every 7-10 days because I don't have time to water more often. So it works for me. The individual components of my mix are stored dry until I'm ready to use. I will usually mix up about a 5 gal container or less at a time. I never store the premixed stuff. The pre-mixed orchid media you can buy at the BB stores is wet. You really don't know how long it's been sitting around so it's my guess that the media was half decomposed before you even used it.

Once a plant gets comfortable in S/H you will find that some plants will grow roots right down into the reservoir and stay there with no ill effects. Normal pot size recommendations go out the window with S/H. As Ray has said you can overpot with no ill effects. That's actually a plus for plants like Dens and Catts that are sympodial and spread. You won't have to repot as often.

Your Phal that was in the small food container needed to be in a much taller pot. The drainage holes should be about an inch up from the bottom of the pot.

Oh this was not from reusing sphag. This is the original sphag that came with the orchid. This is before I even repotted. I was just trying to use what it came with. It's when it seemed too wet that I took it out and added bark with it that. I don't keep any leftover sphag; I throw it out.

I don't necessarily like to water a lot. It's just that when I do water, I am heavy handed. Ideally, I would like to water once a week, since I do not have time to water every day / every other day. If I were to mix it myself, can I just store it out of direct light on the floor somewhere?

The drainage holes are 1" from the bottom, but I was wondering what the distance should be between the drainage holes and the bottom of the roots? This way, I can ensure that the roots do not stay too moist.

[Eyebabe]

One misconception here I need to correct. Phals are not supposed to dry out completely.
The roots should always be in a damp/humid environment. It is when you have a media that does not allow enough air to reach the roots. When you pack any media around the roots and they sit in water you suffocate the plant. So I have no problem that my phal media doesn't "dry out" in a day or so because there are plenty of air pockets around the roots; in fact, when left to completely dry out the roots become damaged and then when you wet them again they are ineffective and can begin to die with such a cycle. When roots are dead, your plant looks like it needs water. So you overwater and then the rot sets in.
Bottom line, keep the roots moist and AIRY.
Don't soak Sphag media when you water and only water again when the top "crinkles" a bit...

Wet/dry cycles are critical for some orchids to do well like cattleyas; but definitely NOT for phals.
Understand the difference between overwatering and wet/dry cycles.

[scy]

How can I properly water if they don't like to be soaked since the fresh bark doesn't necesarily absorb a lot of water and just goes through the pot. Normally when I water, I pour water straight through the pot until it comes out through the bottom. With the phals, I normally watered when I pulled out a wooden skewer and felt that it was barely damp (before I potted in s/h).

[Eyebabe]

Originally Posted by scy

How can I properly water if they don't like to be soaked since the fresh bark doesn't necesarily absorb a lot of water and just goes through the pot. Normally when I water, I pour water straight through the pot until it comes out through the bottom. With the phals, I normally watered when I pulled out a wooden skewer and felt that it was barely damp (before I potted in s/h).

To water phals in a bark mix you immerse the pot in water for about 10 minutes to allow the bark to soak up water. Then you pull the pot out and let the excess water drain off before you place your plant back on the shelf or wherever. You rewater when your skewer is almost dry.
Otherwise the bark dries out too quickly etc.
With Sphag/Perlite, I water it like a normal plant making sure not to "soak" it. Then rewater when the media looks almost dry on top.

[silken]

scy, do you have any moving air around your orchids? I am wondering if that is why I don't have a problem with sphagnum drying out in a decent time. I have good air movement using fans and my sphagnum dries out within the week and often before. But of course if the plant has nearly no roots, it won't be taking up the same amount of moisture out of the pot as a healthy well rooted one. I think you just need to treat yourself to one with good healthy roots and try a media that will work for your conditions and start from there. A healthy rooted phal is so satisfying. Sometimes I swear the roots visibly grow from one day to the next.

I water my sphag mix pots pretty much as Eyebabe does and for catts etc. that are in all bark, they do need to soak or they will be bone dry again in a few hours.

[scy]

I have low air movement and only have some if I have the central air on, since the vent is right above them. Given my conditions, I am probably best off with a bark mix. Would I encounter the same issues as I do with sphag if I used chc? I think I'll just pot up all my orchids in some form of bark mix and see how it goes from there.

[silken]

For me I find CHC to wet and have found mold in it when I re-pot. It's hard to advise someone else tho because we all have our own growing conditions that vary in some way from someone else. You could consider running a small fan as regardless of what media you end up with, most orchids like and do better with some gentle moving air.

I think you are likely at the point of information overload. You don't want to get so frustrated that you see the orchids as a sense of frustration. As far as I know, even expert growers lose orchids occasionally and learn along the way. So look at it as an experiment and just start slowly with any changes you make.

[scy]

Thanks everyone for your wonderful suggestions and input! I really appreciate it! I have decided to repot into a bark mix and hope for the best. If it doesn't work, then it'll be an expensive lesson and I can use this as an excuse to get more orchids for next time.

I just spent the last few hours replacing my screens, cleaning the windows and growing space. Now I can open those windows and let in some fresh air without having to worry about pests coming in. I ordered a small desk fan to give it some gentle air flow on the days I don't want to open the window.

I think it's a good start for now. If the orchids don't like it, then I'll just buy more. I just have to find a new use for my leca.

[WhiteRabbit]

In regards to CHC - I have read a couple of times people saying they have gotten mold on theirs - that baffles me - it's my understanding CHC is resistant to mold ? - I use it quite a bit, and even in plants that I keep moist, I haven't got mold - so I don't know what's going on that has caused mold for some. It is airy-er, and lasts much longer than sphag.

The few plants I have, or had, potted in sphag - I use an overturned net pot in the pot, or styro pnuts in the center of the root mass for aeration, and more even drying.

gl

[silken]

Leca works good for putting in large pans. Add water and set your pots on them to increase humidity. Of course the water should not be above the leca balls and pots should not actually touch the water.

I also sometimes add a few in with other potting media.

Good luck with your orchid adventures. I bet you will be adding more to the collection even if these do survive