Root life cycle.

[Hiester]

What I've noticed over the years is the velamen can often start to look really dreadful, but inside there is still a viable, wiry root filament which is still capable of absorbing water and nutrients. I don't think orchid growers have much control over how well the velamen ages over time, appearance wise.

---------- Post added at 11:41 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:29 AM ----------

A little more detail to the points that UnstuckinTime has made... monocots and dicots produce new growth in different ways, generally. Most all dicots, if not all, are capable of both primary and secondary growth, whereas monocots (orchids are monocots), in general, only produce primary growth. In essence what this means is once the growth has matured in orchids (and most other monocots) their stems and roots no longer continue to expand in circumference (that would be secondary growth, which is the realm of dicots). This fundamental difference in the two groups accounts for some of the differences in the appearance of plants. There are some exceptions to these generalities. Gymnosperms act in a similar manner to the dicots.

EDIT: Corrected spelling

[bil]

Originally Posted by Hiester

What I've noticed over the years is the velamen can often start to look really dreadful, but inside there is still a viable, wiry root filament which is still capable of absorbing water and nutrients. I don't think orchid growers have much control over how well the velamen ages over time, appearance wise.

---------- Post added at 11:41 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:29 AM ----------

A little more detail to the points that UnstuckinTime has made... monocots and dicots produce new growth in different ways, generally. Most all dicots, if not all, are capable of both primary and secondary growth, whereas monocots (orchids are monocots), in general, only produce primary growth. In essence what this means is once the growth has matured in orchids (and most other monocots) their stems and roots no longer continue to expand in circumference (that would be secondary growth, which is the realm of dicots). This fundamental difference in the two groups accounts for some of the differences in the appearance of plants. There are some exceptions to these generalities. Gymosperms act in a similar manner to the dicots.

I'm just struck by the difference between purchased plants with roots that are like a shrivelled bird's foot, and some pics on here with long, plump luxuriant roots.