Not all dead roots are dead. Be selectively careful.

[james mickelso]

For the newer hobbyist among us. When you are repotting be selectively careful what you decide is a dead root and what may be still viable. Not all roots even though they appear brown and dead need to be taken off. Unless there is an abundance of live healthy roots to choose from, some of the decrepit looking roots can be kept as insurance against losing more roots. What you see when you take the orchid out of the pot is a nice fat root looking thingy. What is actually there is a thin hard wiry root with a spongy covering over it. The spongy material, velamin, soaks up moisture and fertilizer for the wiry part of the root to absorb over time. There are before and after pics here to show you how quickly mature velamin soaks up water. The after pic was after a quick spray with water about 2 seconds worth. So you don't need to drown the orchid for 2-3-4-10 minutes to water it. There was enough spray that it left drops on the bottom of the root. This is how quickly the velamin soaks up water. In it's normal habitat the rains come along, get everything wet, and then when finished the wind comes along and dries everything out rather quickly. This spongy velamin is the orchids adaption to this type of environment. It holds onto the moisture far longer then the thin wiry root can. So look at the roots and decide carefully which is black/grey and damaged, and which is just brown/creamy and viable. Here is one most of you would probably decide to take off but is actually still very viable.

[Joyorchid]

Good info, james. Thanks so much!

[SJF]

James,
You should write a book on orchids and their care. It would be more informative than the ones I have read.
~SJF

[KrissieLynn]

Originally Posted by SJF

James,
You should write a book on orchids and their care. It would be more informative than the ones I have read.
~SJF

I agree!

[Island Girl]

Originally Posted by SJF

James,
You should write a book on orchids and their care. It would be more informative than the ones I have read.
~SJF

^+2 I second this!!

Thanks James, this is helpful for even the not-so-new newbies (like me) and u r right, that first root I would've in most cases (except for in the worst of cases) cut it off!! (Thinking that couldn't produce new roots!?!)

You should do an orchid re-potting tutorial too, AND an orchid rescue tutorial~ like ur version of how u do shag-n-bag & ur other methods of rescue (I've seen ur various posts with pics of a few dif methods) You are certainly a valuable source of info!

[Dendy83]

I had no idea that the wirey roots are still viable...when I repotted as a beginner I chopped all those off and I could tell that my orchid had a much harder time acclimating to new conditions. It eventually did, but definitely took longer.

[james mickelso]

Every time you repot you should look carefully at the roots, bases of the pbulbs, and their condition. Many roots in the condition that this particular one was in could be cut off. But as you gain experience repotting, cultivating, and growing orchids, it's minute details that tell you what to do and what technique could be used. There are a zillion books out there and some darn good ones at that. I've read most of them I guess. But that info is just a starting point. Growing orchids and making lots of mistakes is the best way to learn. I've killed more orchids (and many many other types of plants) in my time. More than most people ever collect. But I do rescues so it didn't cost me much. Thank you for the kind words. I never had many others to learn from when I started. My addiction predates the computer. Good growing all of you.

[Oscarman]

Excellent information James!

Upon repotting, I look to remove soft and mushy roots and dry and papery roots.

[Orchid126]

Someone once said that if there aren't many good roots, keep the dry stringy roots so that the medium would have something to hold onto.

[Skayc1]

Thank you!, I did not know how the roots worked. I saw the thin wiry roots on a rescue orchid, where the velum layer was hollow..I removed those. on another orchid it had alot of brown on the roots, they were firm so I decided to not cut them off.