phal roots drying/rotting?

[Reneelb]

I am extremely new to this wonderful world of orchids!

I lusted after the 'Elegant Orchids" sold here in Melbourne at local florists but was concerned about their longevity, after all I had always been lead to believe that orchids are finicky plants.

After a lot of deliberation and maybe not quite enough research, I ventured to a specialst orchid nursery and purchased a Phalaenopsis King Cav purple Queen and a small mericlone Dtps.

Now, I have had them for nearly a month and the little baby phal is going great guns, I have slipped it out of its spag to take a cheeky peek at the roots to check everything is ok.

The mature plant is a different matter...

It is potted in what I believe is either coconut or bark with styrofoam pellets in the base. I have watered it twice since I got it, ensure everything drained well.

It had roots growing out the bottom of the pot that extended for over 15 cm. These have now dried up and turned hollow. I thought this might have been the plant sulking after leaving its greenhouse but now I am getting concerned...

Roots that are air exposed - not 'real' aerial roots but ones that travel along the surface of the medium started to get dry looking patches on them. I worried that my humidity tray solution was not enough and misted them. Now they are definitely hollow but the root extending further is still green and turgid.

The plant is in bloom and has what I believe to be lots of viable roots left, should I repot?

If I trim the 'dodgy' roots how far back do I cut them? If I repot what is a good medium ( I know this is a loaded question) but Melbourne has proper cold winters/hot summers.

Basically, what am I doing wrong/what should I do?

This is keeping me awake at night

I have included some images so you can see what I am dealing with here...

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Wynn Dee13]

Welcome! First off it looks like you just watered the plant right? You also said you have had these plants for a month and you have only watered them twice? I think they need more water. How warm is it in your house and what is the humidity? Growing inside sometimes makes it hard to keep the humidity up and it can be dry. The roots I can see look fine. They do sometimes have a brown patch and if the root is still growing healthy past that point they are fine. How long are the plants going dry before you water again? You should water the plant well then let it dry almost all the way out then water again. You said the other one was in sphagnum moss and moss holds more water than bark or coconut husk chips and it doesn't dry out as fast so that might be why it is doing better. You also said the big plant had some roots growing from the bottom of the pot that are hollow and you use humidity trays. Did the roots sit in water in the humidity trays? If they did then that would probably rot them. Are the roots coming from the bottom squishy? If they are then they are rotten. If they are just dried up then they need more water and humidity. You don't need to repot unless the medium is broken down or if the plant is out growing its pot. Or of course if the plant is dying from root rot or something then you would need to repot but from the roots I can see it is not. You don't want to disturb the root ball if you don't have to. Gently easing the plant out of the pot to check the roots is okay once in a while though. From what I can see in your pics the medium looks fine. I just think you need to water more. I have to water at least once a week. But my coditions are different so I can't tell you exactly how many days you should go in between watering. It depends on the environment the plant lives in. What kind of light are they getting? I also recommend reading The Phal Abuse Ends Here thread. It is long but has a lot of great information. In the pics the leaves look good too. You also made a good choice of buying your plants at an orchid nursery than the grocery store. You came to the right place and you will learn tons here!

[Reneelb]

Thank you for your reply and good spotting! Yes, I had just watered. It was the second time I have and I was nervous to do so as the medium hasn't really felt that dry the entire time, that may well be due to it being quite cold here at the moment (if cold can be considered 19 celcius daytime highs).

The humidity tray is basically a big glass platter with riverstones and spag round the edge to help wick the moisture up. I don't allow much water in the tray but haven't let it dry either. Where roots that are actually under the pot are - there are 3 or so of these, they have gone a little black where they rest on the rocks. I figure that our humidity is fairly low. Outside sits at average 50% (according to the weatherman) but inside I have no idea, I'm heading back to the nursery this w/e to get a hygrometer.

The roots that dried up/went squishy at the bottom I snipped off with sterilised scissors (they looked fine where they went back into the pot) and dabbed a bit of cinnamon on the cut ends. I don't think we can get physan? here. The roots had the thread like insides...

The phal is on my coffee table, and much to my other halves detriment I drag it to the (north facing) window for when I go to work and then back to the centre of the room at night as i worry it will get too cold up against the glass.

The little one in spag doesn't really have any roots that are going aerial so they aren't showing up as dry.

The parts I am worried about is the root in the second image just below the happy looking aerial root. Its kind of gone brown squishy and 'drawn' looking for about 2cm. It doesnt feel like there is anything inside it for that section. I figure I can see this root all the way down the side of the pot, so if it does need to 'go' I can probably snip it off and slide it out (this may be overly ambitious!)

And also in the third pic where it looks a bit discoloured where the roots join the plant...

I am probably being over protective but I have only just graduated from growing bonsai Crassula so this is a major shift in thinking for me!

[NYCorchidman]

I'd like to add a little bit as well from my personal experience.
First off, drying roots are quite common. Phals in the nursery are kept in nearly ideal condition and when they come to our home where humidity is usually much lower, their roots suffer unless you live in semi tropic area or mist them throughout the day.
They do adapt really well though. Your plant looks great and I wouldn't trim off any roots. In the second picture, you see how the new light green root is growing? Phals usually grow these new ones to make up for damage. They also grow new roots off old roots. The browning root on the second picture is still alive. You see how the browning part looks dead (the velamen is dead or damaged, but the side core is alive) but past that, there is a slightly wrinkly but living roots continue?
Leave it and just wait for new roots to grow. They will adapt to home condition and grow accordingly.

Your phal looks like it is planted in a semi clear plastic pot. You don't really have to pull it out of the pot to check roots as you can see through the pot and check the roots and the how moist the media is.
Make sure it doesn't dry out completely. They will not die but drying out is not good for phals at all. Also avoid to keep them too wet which leads to root rot and death.

The dead roots at the bottom of the pot is probably because it was crushed and damaged while it is being sit on the saucer or something, and then when it gets wet with watering, the rotting starts. simply just cut it off and let it dry before sitting it back on the saucer.

In the nursery, phals are not sitting on saucers but on wooden or metal wire benches, where roots have more than enough space to grow out of their pots and grow all over!

wish you all the best!

Wynn Dee 13- I would like to find that thread and read.
Thanks for mentioning it.

[Wynn Dee13]

The root in the second picture does have a brown section but it also is green and healthy beyond that brown spot so I wouldn't cut it. It is fine. In the third pic the little bit of brown on the root is also fine. I wouldn't disturb it. Get a minimum/maximum thermometer/hygrometer so you know the temp where you keep the plant as well. How cold does it get by the window at night? I think it should be fine there. It might need more light than a north facing window but I don't know. I grow under lights not window sills. In the Phal abuse ends here thread it should talk about lighting too. Another good tip is to put a wooden skewer in the pots. It will help you know when to water. Pull it out to check it and if it is still wet/damp then you don't need to water yet. If it is dry then you know it is time to water. Put the skewer in the middle of the pot since the medium in the middle is usually the last to dry out. A lot of people on this forum use this method.

[Reneelb]

Thanks for all your help!

I have a hygrometer/thermometer now. It looks like the humidity isn't nearly as bad as I feared!

The lowest it has been was 55% when I first turned the unit on and it mostly sits at 65% except for when I'm cooking pasta - when it gets up to the mid 70s!

The temperature though is around a constant 18C near or far from the window but there isn't really much I can do about that at this point.

I think the next purchase for my orchid tending kit will be a light meter/lux meter...

Where I am the most sun is received from the north (southern hemisphere) but my apartment windows are not bright. All light comes down through a courtyard. Since I have just added some Den seedlings to my collection I want to be sure I am getting the light right. If it is not right I am going to look into CFLs.

But once again a big thank you! I have been doing lots of reading and this forum is pretty amazing!

I AM SLEEPING SO MUCH BETTER NOW!

[RosieC]

Glad you are feeling more comfortable about them now.

I think you've had some great advise and what you describe happening has happened to loads of mine after buying them with no long term problem as a result. As has already been said, surface roots often dry up after you bring them home, and I often find ones growing out the bottom don't last long either.

Your plants look healthy to me. The only thing I would perhaps comment is that I feel uncomfortable if phals take longer than 2 weeks to completely dry and I tend to try and put faster drying materials in the medium next time I repot if that's the case. That having been said I don't usually rush to repot just because of that and if they dry faster over the warmer weather it's probably fine to stick as you are. If they are still drying that slow in the summer I would consider making extra holes in the pots or adding some sort of faster drying medium when it does become time to repot them.

[RosieC]

Forgot to say, I feel uncomfortable about them taking longer than 2 weeks to dry but I like to aim for one week. 7 days from wet to dry is a good target, it means you don't have to water every day but the roots dry fast enough that they are not sitting really wet too long.

It's one of those things to experiment with when choosing a medium. If it takes too long to dry then try something faster drying, if they dry too fast and you have to water too often then add something slower drying.

[dianchik001]

Hello,

I am new to this site. I absolutely love orchids, especially Phalaenopsis , however i have had three and none of them survived and i dont know what im doing wrong.
this is my latest one...
its planted in bark, no spag at all, have trimmed the roots that were dry/dead. the roots on the pic are silver/green. sometimes they are just silver, do they need more water when they are silver as suppose to green??. i currently keep it under another plant so it gets moisture, position is close to the window, only gets morning sun, nothing too hot.

any suggestions would be much appreciated!

[RosieC]

Hi dianchik and welcome to orchid board

Silver roots are dry and green have enough water HOWEVER if you are only looking at the ones at the top then you could be overwatering. Your pot is not clear so you can't see the colour of the roots at the bottom and in the middle, they could be green when the ones at the top are silver.

It's difficult to tell but the medium in your pictures looks quite dark which could be a sign of being still quite wet, so despite the silver roots at the top it's not time to water yet.

Use the wooden stake you have in the pot to judge watering. Pull it out and if it's damp (feels cold on your cheek) then it's not time to water yet. Put it back in and wait, when it's dry when you pull it out then it's time to water.

The plant doesn't look in good health, The dead leaf has black spots which could be some sort of fungal infection, although I'm not an expert on that. The new leaf is an encouraging sign.

Personally I would check the roots, you said you cut off dry looking roots, but did you remove it from the pot, or was it aerial roots you removed? I would gently remove it from the pot, and remove the medium and take a look at what the roots in the pot are like, if they are soft/hollow/mushy then they are rotting and have been kept too wet, if they are firm then that's good.

Finally unless the root mass fills that pot then it might be best to reduce the size of the pot, phals like to be pot bound (because that help get air to the roots which they like) and at first glance that looks like the pot might be too big, however if there are masses of healthy roots it might be right. You need a pot which just fits the root mass.