Multiple casualties -Paphiopedilum Maudii and No ID root rot rescue.

[alexaluna]

Hi everyone!

In the past year or so I've collected a few Paph's because they're too hard to resist buying! However I have three that suffered severe root rot once they had finished flowering. I believe it's possible that one had a fungal infection that spread to the others as I couldn't explain how else they went down hill so fast! (Two were from an orchid supplier, the other a botanical garden store - none were repotted at the time of purchase as they were all in flower) With all three being so bad I decided I would try the 'spag n bag' method. It has only been a few weeks but there's been no sign of root growth.

So i'm here to ask for any guidance to help in my attempts of of resurrection!

Also, I'm new to orchid forum and just starting out on my orchid journey properly! - Hi!

Pictures are attached!

(Having just taken the picture one has signs of tiny new root )

[estación seca]

It's unlikely a fungus problem. It's hard to say what went wrong. From reading here most beginners run into trouble watering Paphs too little. The next commonest problem is keeping them soggy wet. And to be complete - you may know this, but Paph roots look different from other orchid roots. They are brown and fuzzy when healthy.

What are your temperatures and humidity? How have you been watering? What kind of light?

[alexaluna]

Originally Posted by estación seca

It's unlikely a fungus problem. It's hard to say what went wrong. From reading here most beginners run into trouble watering Paphs too little. The next commonest problem is keeping them soggy wet. And to be complete - you may know this, but Paph roots look different from other orchid roots. They are brown and fuzzy when healthy.

What are your temperatures and humidity? How have you been watering? What kind of light?

All three if I remember correctly were potted in a fine bark mix when purchased - watering as I normally would probably caused the medium to stay soggy. I re-potted with a larger grade bark and a small amount of pertilite and removed a large amount of the root system due to root rot. I reduced the amount of watering some what to prevent further damage to the root system but misted daily to increase humidity. As there had been no signs of change I've been trying to encourage root growth by placing the orchids in a clear bag, some sphagnum moss, misting daily and placed under grow lights. I would guess that temperatures vary between 13 - 24 degrees at the moment. This is a hopeful experiment at this stage as two of the Paph's have no roots at all.

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[estación seca]

Healthy Paphs are not easy to overwater to the point of root rot unless the old medium is very decayed. I don't remove old roots because I can't tell which are dead. I would stop the misting. Orchids don't absorb water through the leaves, and misting promotes fungus.

Edit: After seeing your photos again, the plants themselves look too good to have been sitting on top of dead roots. What did you see that made you unpot them and cut off the roots? What did the roots look like?

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[aliceinwl]

I keep all my Paphs in a bark mix, but have had the best luck using sphagnum to recover those that have had root rot. If you have it, an overnight soak in a root stimulant like Kelpmax may be helpful. Then repot into sphagnum with an air gap at the bottom: you can use styrofoam peanuts to keep the gap. Put the whole pot and plant in clear container or plastic bag with some holes for ventilation. Put it in a spot with bright light but no direct sun. Water whenever the moss feels slightly damp/ almost dry. Be patient: it took months for mine to start pushing new roots. Avoid the temptation to unpot and look for signs of recovery. Good luck!

[camille1585]

To add to the very good advice of aliceinwl, if your humidity is low, the plants would benefit from an enclosed environment to keep higher humidity levels. When plants are (near) rootless you want to try to limit transpiration since the plant can't take up water very well. You can do this either by setting the pot in a large transparent bag, or a small aquarium. And then patience is needed. I had 2 paphs in similar conditions and I placed them in a makeshift plastic tent. After about 2 months I noticed a lot of new roots growing! They are still in the tent, and I'll take them out once they have a decently developed root system.