Is this root rot on my Phalaenopsis?

[Pupsicle]

Hi all,

Longtime listener, first time caller. I'm fairly new to orchids and so far have not had any major problems to deal with. (Thanks in part to this forum!) However, my sister-in-law, the chronic overwaterer, gave me a beautiful Phal for Christmas, and I believe it may be experiencing the first signs of root rot.

When I checked on the plants today, this one Phal was really wet, while all of my other plants were dry. (I haven't watered it since bringing it home on the 25th -- five days ago.) I managed to get it out of its pot to look at the roots, and some of them are starting to go black and mushy.

Like I said, I've not yet had to deal with orchid trauma, so I'm not really sure what to do. I don't want to be overly fussy about it, but if I do need to address the roots, please advise.

Also, the plant is potted in lots of sphagum and the roots/moss are very compacted. I would be tempted to repot it in something lighter, but it's in full bloom (two stems!).

Thanks for any advice you folks may have, and thanks for all that you've already unknowingly given.

[RandomGemini]

Yes, this is root rot. It's not too bad now, but you should repot it now, or you could lose the plant.

This is definitely root rot. Root rot happens when phals are overwatered, or the medium is too compacted and the roots don't get enough air.

I've repotted several phals in full bloom due to root rot. Phals are really resilient when it comes to being repotted. I've had one plant drop a single bloom on me and on the others I've repotted, I lost no blooms. The one I failed to repot as soon as I got it? That one died. So... with larger phals like this one, I always repot them as soon as I get them home and trim any rotted roots back with a pair of sterilized scissors into the green zone on the root.

I do something entirely different for mini phals, but for this guy, I would repot it now. If it drops a couple of flowers, that's fine. The important thing is the overall health of the plant so that you can get more flowers from it next year.

[Pupsicle]

Thanks for the reply!

Could I now have some repotting tips? And, should I leave the roots as-is, or should any of them be trimmed?

[RandomGemini]

I explained how to trim the roots in my previous post.

Here's a good guide for repotting phals:

Orchid Repotting Clinic - Phalaenopsis

[Pupsicle]

That's a very helpful link. Thank you.

[RandomGemini]

Welcome! Also, I think there are some good videos on youtube that will help. The first time you do it, you're going to feel like you're in over your head. I did, for sure. LOL!

But once you've done it the first time, and watched a couple more videos on youtube, you'll become a repotting pro.

[Laserbeak]

I agree repot now, as long as you're careful you shouldn't disrupt the blooms that much. However, if the plant is really in dire straits, you might want to consider cutting off the spikes so the plant can focus all its energy on regrowing its roots. Get kelp extract to help with root growth. Kelp4Less is pretty good as they sell a totally dry water soluble product so you save on shipping.

[Brazilin]

Orchid roots need some ventilation. This little Phal. is planted on Sphagnum moist, and is reteining a lot of humidity.
So, follow these simple steps right now:
1 wash the roots and clean all the orchid with a lot of water
2 get a plastic pot and make some holes on its bottom and around the pot.
3 put some stones in the bottom of the pot
4 put a good medium in the rest of the pot, like Pinus or other kinds of wood, in little pieces
5 water and fertilize the plant
6 put the plant on a well ventilated place
Thats it. Good luck with your Phal!

[Freckles.Au]

Hi pupsicle - when you see leaves like this, it can often indicate the plants root system is not doing so well:



(credit to whoever took this pic, i searched for a pic through google images)

The outer layer of the root (velamen) will strip away easily if it's dead, i leave the "strings" as they are handy to secure the plant in a pot or basket eventually. What i then like to do is lay the pruned plant on a pot or tray filled with moist sphagnum moss, it will eventually kick out a new root - fertilize weakly weekly.

[Pupsicle]

Thanks, all. I repotted it tonight -- in bark right now, so I can keep an eye on it for a week or so. Its leaves look healthy, and the roots didn't look all that bad once I got all that sphagnum out.

I'll keep watching, and will be back for sure with more questions as they come up.