Rootless Phal - is there any hope?

[SnowAngel]

Hello OrchidBoard,

I've previously maintained a pretty dendrobium without much trouble. After moving overseas, I decided to get another orchid to grow in the living room. I went to a plant nursery to check out their orchids, and eventually settled on a flowering phalaenopsis. Owner was very understanding and claimed that repotting the orchid wasn't necessary for a while as it had been repotted recently, and I took him at his word without checking the roots. My mistake.

Fast forward a day later and I notice the phal's leaves have limpened slightly. After inspecting the potting medium more closely, I realized that the roots of the Phal had been near-suffocated in sphag, so I immediately rushed out and got a bark based orchid potting mix, shears, fertilizer, and spray bottle.

After I pried the orchid from its moss prison, I was treated with the sight of a fully decayed root system.

There were no healthy roots.

Zilch. Nada.

I cut off the flowering stems at the base and snipped off the roots, making sure to leave the crown intact. I sterilized the ends with cinnamon as I do not have an orchid-suitable fungicide on hand. I've currently affixed the Phal on top of a bark-filled, ventilated plastic pot with wooden stakes, and put it on top of a tray of pebbles + seashells + potting mix which I dampened to create humidity.

Is there any way I can help my Phal grow new roots before it dehydrates completely?

[SnowAngel]

Photos

[Ray]

1. The "humidity tray" is of no value. The evaporation rate is too slow to do any good, and it is trying to humidify the entire room. Invert a plastic bag over the plant and pot, and that will be far mor effective. If you can enclose the tray too, so much the better.

2. Pick up a bottle of KelpMax, and spray the plant with it, and add it to the irrigation water a couple of times, and if it's not too far gone ( it doesn't look to be), it will grow new roots.

Cinnamon is not a particularly good thing to put on roots, as it desiccates them, and will prevent further growth. If there are any "stubs" though, the KelpMax will cause branching.

[Irielicious]

Originally Posted by SnowAngel

Photos

I have a similar issue this is what Orchid Whisper advised me to do...

Phalaenopsis with Shriveling Roots


I think un-potting and soaking it daily for a bit of time would help you. Do like Ray said and do the inverted bag on the bare roots to help it from loosing too much water through dehyration.

With what little roots it has it will hydrate it better than I think keeping it in the bark will. This will also allow you to see the roots daily to make sure none are rotting which could cause mold. I'm no expert but I think it is starting to work as I'm using a kelp water soak on them.

[Dri312]

I have 2 Phals in the bare root method. I placed each of them in a soak with room temperature distilled water (probably 77F) and kelpmax (2tsp/gal), leaving leaves out. I covered them with a glass cake cover. I planning to leave it soaking for few hours, then removed from water and keep them under the cover, bare root. I will spray the leaves carefully with Kelpmax solution as well.
Am I doing the right thing? Any comments?
Thank you!


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[Dri312]

Here is a picture


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[Dri312]

In my phone the pic is much more clear 😬. Anyways, I wrapped with wet paper towel the aerial roots that can't be under the water while soaking.
Let's see how it goes!


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[Pinkeed]

I don't know if this will help, but the way I have recovered several orchids is just to cut off all the rotted roots, repot, and make sure that sphagnum moss is surrounding the top of the plant in a mostly bark media (also has some sphagnum moss and perlite). Then I just keep watering every week and new roots regrow.

The humidity is keep high by a 20 gallon fish tank. I have noticed that fountains and such have a similar effect depending on their size. The bigger the better.

The cake cover should help raise the humidity. I hope it works out for you.

[estación seca]

Orchid water balance reflects water absorbed by the roots, and transpired through the leaves. Sick orchids are at increased risk for fungus or bacterial rot. Keeping them too wet for too long while sick is risky. During periods when orchids have too few roots, the grower tries to prevent the plant from drying past the point of recovery, but also tries to prevent the plant from rotting.

Phals are quite succulent. (Most epiphytic orchids are quite succulent.) They hold a lot of water in their leaves and roots. There are multiple reports here on Orchid Board from people who forgot to water Phals for weeks to several months, but whose plants recovered nicely when watered.

The take-home message is that sick Phals don't need more water. They need more roots. Your job is to promote root growth. Water may help, or hurt, with this, depending on what the grower does.

A Phal with a good set of leaves, and no roots, will usually form new roots if put someplace with high humidity. It becomes a race between water loss through the leaves, and formation of new roots to take up water. The higher the ambient humidity, the more time the plant has. If the plant has roots, and is watered carefully through this period, success is likely. But even without watering, Phals will often form an adequate set of roots under these circumstances.

It is important not to let leaves touch the sides of the enclosure. They are prone to begin rotting at this point. I find the plastic bag method problematic, because I can't keep the plastic from touching leaves. I use a covered aquarium or a covered, large jar.

The fewer the leaves on the Phal, the less water it will use, because it will have less surface area from which to transpire water. Phals that drop all their leaves, but still have good roots, will often recover, if not watered so much the roots rot.

For a rootless Phal, the grower's main aim is to give the plant as much humidity as possible, so it will use the water in the leaves to form new roots. Kelp solution on the stem helps to form new roots. Leaves don't form roots. Kelp on the leaves serves no purpose. Dunk, not soak, only the stem, in a kelp solution once a week, then put the plant back in the enclosure. Because orchids take up next to no water through their leaves, but fungal and bacterial rots are promoted by wet leaves, rootless Phals should not be spritzed, sprayed, or have their leaves soaked.

Put a completely rootless Phal someplace with the highest humidity possible, like an enclosed terrarium or large covered jar. Keep the plant dry. Don't keep it wet. Don't dunk it, soak it, or spray it. Perhaps, put a shot glass with water into the terrarium, not touching the plant at all, so ambient humidity remains very high. It should form roots. From this point, water the roots only, not the leaves, but keep the plant in the enclosure. When the plant has about 2-3 roots, between about 3"-5" / 7.5-12.5cm long, it can be put into a pot. It should be kept quite humid until it forms more roots, and watering should be careful, as always.

Phals with a few roots and sufficient leaves - like yours - are farther along the recovery curve. The roots can take up water. The leaves still store water. Treat only the roots with a kelp solution, once a week. Keep the leaves dry. Keep the plant in a high-humidity area or enclosure. Dunk the roots in water once every day or two. They should not stay continually wet; this invites rot.

Other people successfully root plants like yours by soaking only the roots, in a vase, for several hours, every 1-3 days, then emptying the vase. This works better if the room has high ambient humidity.

It seems to me that you are still keeping your plant too wet. Wet and sick Phals quickly succumb to rot. Try and keep your plant humid, but not wet. I would never drape something over aerial roots to keep them wet. Even dessicated and wrinkled Phals, sitting bare-root on a bench, with good roots, plump up within 2-3 days, after wetting only the roots once a day.

[Dri312]

Thank u again estación seca for the detailed information! I will follow your instructions. No more soak, just dunks! And I will go back using the glass cover instead ziplock bags. I'm using KelpMax once a week and I'm hopeful that the bumps I'm seeing now will break through and form healthy roots. Yesterday I lost one of them😢. The 2 leaves detached from steam completely and it was black in the middle. Probably I soaked them too high up. But I still have 2 more Phals on the ICU and I haven't lose hope yet!
Thank u for ur time and dedication on this board. I appreciate ur work!



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