I Can See Some Brown Mushy Looking Roots In My Phalaenopsis Orchid

[silken]

It sounds like a decent watering schedule. They should be watered only when they are approaching dryness. Since you have a clear pot, you can look and see when it needs water. If the roots are green, they are still moist. Once they turn a white/silver colour they are getting dry and its time to water. I'm not sure what course peat is like. Do you mean coarse bark?? The roots should have some air spaces in there as in nature they grow from trees and breathe air.

Any rotten mushy roots should be cut off. If you have K-L-N rooting hormone, you could soak the roots in water with that added and then use if for a few weeks in your watering regime to help the roots get started.

[Kirstin]

Thank you everyone. You have helped a lot. I guess I should ask how the experts do it.

Do you still recommend that I repot and trim the roots or leave them be since it is growing new ones?

Do you think I should change my fertilizing routine or the fertilizer in general or will the change affect the orchid negatively?

I have my orchid in a west facing window and closely monitor the color of the leaves. When I first got it the leaves were lighter and red at the tips. Now they are a darker green and look very healthy so I assumed sun wasn't the issue but maybe it is.

I open the window slightly at night to decrease the temperature because I heard that was good for helping the plant bloom faster.

Oh yeah, my phal had two very large stems and each had a lot of flowers on them. Since the orchid was in such a weak state, i cut the stems all the way down instead of after the first knode. I hope that was the right thing to do.

I will post a pic as soon asifigureout how..

[Kirstin]

Where can you buy K-L-N and how much do you use?

[silken]

Since its been 8 or 9 months and you are sure the roots are rotten, I would re-pot. Leaving the old rotten ones in there will just harbour bacteria and possibly cause more rotting. You can see if the potting media is looking too wet. It shouldn't be totally deteriorated in 8 or 9 months and if it is, you may be watering too much. The fact that its growing new roots and has some good leaves sounds to me like you are doing OK for the most part with it. Just make sure the rotten roots are gone and the new potting media is not too dense and soggy. If you are using bark, soak it for a few hours first and remember new bark, doesn't hold moisture as well as old bark, so you may have to increase watering for a few months.

You can use a small kebab skewer and stick it all the way to the bottom of the pot. Pull it out and see how wet it is to determine when to water. I use them a lot, but usually with clear pots, its not real necessary.

K-L-N can be obtained from most orchid places or possibly a hydroponics place. Or you can order it on line from different orchid supply places. Not sure which ones in U.S. carry it.

Cutting the bloom spike off is fine. It's better to let the plant put its energy into getting some new roots and leaves.

Fertilizing "weakly weekly' is a guideline many use. Flush the pot well once a month with clear water to remove any fertilizer salts which can burn roots. good luck with it. It doesn't sound like it's ready for orchid heaven yet

[Kirstin]

Thank you so muck silken! Unfortunately due to my job I will not be able to get home or repot until saturday but as soon as I get home that's my plan.

I am concerned that I may cut too much off the root and damage it somehow or not cut off enough of the rotted root and it will spread. I can send a pic after I depot it on sat. You think someone could help me figure out where to cut the roots?

Thanks for all of your responses.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

The easiest way to tell where the living tissue is and where the dead tissue is on the roots. is to wet them down thoroughly. The living portions will turn green, the dead portions stay brown or black.

You can also do a pull test.

Gently pull on the roots and if the "skin" (it's technically called the velamen) comes off, and you see the stringy stuff underneath (the stringy material is actually the root's vascular bundle), it's dead.

Note: The vascular bundles in the roots are what the plant uses to transport food stored in the cells of the roots and water to the rest of the plant.

Reminder: When you repot do not use a potting media with peat in it.

Up till now, what everybody has advised you on are just cultivation techniques. I highly recommend you take the time to understand the nature of a Phal in order for you to get why we said what we said and why some of these cultivation techniques work.

When you truly understand the nature of a Phal, you'll soon find that it'll be advantageous to you because you're more likely to be able to sort out the truth from half-truths or myths.

I highly recommend you read this blog and look at the photos:

Sarawak Lens: Phalaenopsis Habitat

Do understand that while it appears that there may be a lot of photos of Phals in the wild, perhaps because someone like me brings it up all the time, the reality is, these photos are actually relatively rare.

Ever since I've found those pics of Phals growing in the wild, I've felt fortunate to have somehow come across them. They have made my understanding of these plants so much greater.

[Kirstin]

Thank you so much for the excellent input king! Do you recommend a humidifier to help with orchids or do you find that most thrive well enough without.

Also, does dropping the temp at night really promote growth of the orchid?

Thanks for all of your help. Do you recommend any certain potting mix or just one with no peat.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

I'll answer the easy question first.

The potting mix should not have peat.

It can be just straight up medium or large grade bark.

It can be med or lrge grade bark with charcoal & perlite.

It can be med or lrge grade bark w/ charcoal & pumice.

It can be med or lrge grade bark w/ perlite.

It can be med or lrge grade bark w/ pumice.

It can be med or large grade bark w/ charcoal.

It can be med or lrge grade coconut husk chips (CHC).

It can be med or lrge grade CHC w/ charcoal.

It can be med or lrge grade CHC w/ charcoal & perlite.

It can be med or lrge grade CHC w/ charcoal & pumice.

It can be straight up diatomite (needs some experimentation to see if this is appropriate for you & the type of Phal you have - some Phals are lithophytes).

It can be straight semi-hydroponic materials such as PrimeAgra, Hydroton, or LECA (needs some experimentation to see if this is appropriate for you & the type of Phal you have - some Phals are lithophytes).

Note: Lithophtyes for our purposes are plants that grow on rocks.

If you look at the photos of the Phals growing on the trees, they don't come into contact with peat.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

A humidifier can help if your humidity is rather low. Low humidity causes problems with flowering not necessarily growth itself, for most Phal hybrids.

If you're talking about certain Phal species, then yes, low humidity can be a deal breaker. Some species of Phals will not thrive unless the humidity is between 70% - 80% humidity throughout the day.

Humidity fluctuates throughout the day, and from day-to-day, btw. But in the tropics the humidity changes only slightly throughout the day, and from day-to-day. The further away from the tropics we are the more likely these fluctuations in humidity become far greater throughout a given day and even from day-to-day. These large swings in humidity will wipe out some of the more sensitive Phal species over time.

As is stated in the blog, some Phals grow in humid lowland to midland tropical Asian/Southeast Asian swamp forests or forests that receive quite a bit of seasonal rains. Because of this humidity is rather high in the wild.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Dropping the temperatures at night gives the plant a break from the heat of the day.

There also some important complicated physiological stuff involved with the whole drop in temperatures at night thing that concerns respiration and such.

Here are some things you may want to read about on your own time:

C3 respiration
C4 respiration
CAM respiration
photosynthesis pathways
Calvin Cycle

If you don't want to read about the respiration stuff, I can understand.

I think (if I'm not mistaken) the temperature drop along with the absence of light also lets the plant know that it's time to open up their stomata (plant pores). Stomata are located on the underside of the leaves and are microscopic. Apparently orchids have comparatively fewer stomata than some of the other groups of flowering plants. These stomata aid in respiration and some water and nutrient absorption.

For the most part the drop in temperatures at night is necessary for certain orchids to bloom.

Seasonal temperature variances can also trigger blooms.