Do these roots look okay?

[butterfly_muse]

Afternoon, all!

I recently acquired a Bllra. Marfitch 'Howard's Dream' and it was recommended to me to get it out of the moss it was in. I ordered some CHC, which was pre-washed, and I soaked it again overnight last night.

I am repotting her today, and I wanted to make sure her roots look okay. There were none that were brown/black/hollow, and after careful removal of all the moss (what a pain in the butt with these kind of roots!), I am soaking her in some KelpMax before putting her in her new CHC.

Before I do so, I just want to make sure the roots look as they should, as this is my first Beallara. And is there anything I should know when repotting her?

Thanks!

[lornaheath]

I have no idea what a Beallara will look like when it grows up, but I will Google the little perisher now and see.

That looks really healthy to me. What a great set of roots. I bet I could knit with those!!

Lorna
x x x

[WhiteRabbit]

They look great!

Yeah, sphag is a huge pain to separate from the mass of fine roots.

[james mickelso]

Now folks can see why it is imperative to watch the watering on oncid type orchids. The roots are fine and numerous so underneath them the media stays wet for a long time. I usually build up some media in the center of the pot or use a smaller pot inside to drape the roots over so most of them are on the outside edge of the pot. then I use a more coarse media than most books say to use. this allows the roots to dry off before watering again.

[butterfly_muse]

The pot it came in had some styrofoam blocks in it, and I washed both those and the pot and reused them. I put the styrofoam in, then a small bit of chc, then the plant, then more chc. A decent number of its roots are around the outside of the pot and I didn't put in too much medium so the pbulbs would stay on top. I read that they like to be kind of root bound, and since I was just changing the medium I didn't upgrade the pot. did I do it right?

[james mickelso]

Just right. Water when the media is nearly dry.

[butterfly_muse]

Originally Posted by james mickelso

Just right. Water when the media is nearly dry.

So these guys don't like to dry out between, then? Water when it's *almost* but not totally dry? Also, is there a way to kind of...prop this up? It's sort of wobbly in the medium since it's so big and top heavy, heh. ^^;

[james mickelso]

Can you tie one of the pbulbs to the stick in that pot? When I pot up my oncids I don't water until the pot is light weight. Then I water by dunking the pot to the rim or running water through the media until it is thoroughly wet, then I don't water again until the pot is light weight again. I don't water the media....I water the plant's roots. The reason plants go south is usually associated with watering the plant until the roots can't breath and suffocate. In other words we water by judging the wetness of the media and not the roots. People who grow in lava rock or hydroton or LECCA usually never have root issues because the roots (and media) dry quickly. The roots get wet and then within a day or two are dry. The media doesn't stay wet for long. Most orchids do just fine this way. Gubler's Orchids up here in the desert of California grow orchids in 20-30 percent humidity and they grow just fine. Most orchids don't need excess humidity they just need moisture at their roots. What we think is dry is actually ok for the orchid as long as we water the roots when needed. So put a stick or two into the pot and lightly tie the leaves to them until this puts out more roots. I don't know where you live so can't give you guidance on when to water due to temperature. But the hotter it gets the more you have to water to keep the roots just moist but not wet.

[butterfly_muse]

Originally Posted by james mickelso

Can you tie one of the pbulbs to the stick in that pot? When I pot up my oncids I don't water until the pot is light weight. Then I water by dunking the pot to the rim or running water through the media until it is thoroughly wet, then I don't water again until the pot is light weight again. I don't water the media....I water the plant's roots. The reason plants go south is usually associated with watering the plant until the roots can't breath and suffocate. In other words we water by judging the wetness of the media and not the roots. People who grow in lava rock or hydroton or LECCA usually never have root issues because the roots (and media) dry quickly. The roots get wet and then within a day or two are dry. The media doesn't stay wet for long. Most orchids do just fine this way. Gubler's Orchids up here in the desert of California grow orchids in 20-30 percent humidity and they grow just fine. Most orchids don't need excess humidity they just need moisture at their roots. What we think is dry is actually ok for the orchid as long as we water the roots when needed. So put a stick or two into the pot and lightly tie the leaves to them until this puts out more roots. I don't know where you live so can't give you guidance on when to water due to temperature. But the hotter it gets the more you have to water to keep the roots just moist but not wet.

I live in Maryland ~20 minutes south of Baltimore, lol. It has been really REALLY hot this week, but everyone in the window has the a/c vents right underneath of them and we've got the thermostat set at 85 during the day when we're not here, and then 78 when we are here..and at the level right above the vents it's usually closer to 73-75. I have a couple spike stakes I could stick in there and lightly tie it to. I just wanted to shore it up. I've got it inside of a big ceramic pot with holes in it so that my cats don't knock the actual pot over (one of my cats dumped out one of my phals the other night, I almost killed him!! Now the phal is in a big heavy ceramic pot *cackle*), but I don't want it to wiggle. So I'll do that.

Thanks for the tips on watering. I generally walk around and pick everyone up..and with the phal types, they're all in clear pots so I can see their roots. I assume oncidium types don't have a root color change, I didn't notice one. I'll go by pot weight.

[james mickelso]

Temps and humidity go hand in hand. the warmer the temps the more water the plant uses. As long as the plant has a decent root system it can absorb moisture quickly and doesn't need to be kept wet. With a damaged root system we can put the orchid into a more humid environment like putting it in a Tupperware tub and leaving the lid propped open a bit. Someone here came up with that idea and I think it is a great idea for rescues. As long as the plant doesn't perspire more moisture than it can absorb through it's roots. Your roots looked good.