Preventing Root Rot mini phal?

[jmcastagna]

Today 09:33 AMjmcastagna
I'm new Orchid owner and have large Phal, loved so much I bought a small phal. Was doing great with 9 flowers (still budding when purchased) I put next to larger on window sill (med natural light). Known to overwater plants accidentally (thinking not enough) and have learned from mistake. Noticed the small phals in the store were dry but seemed fine. I watered small phal every 5 days or so and let all water drain out. It was looking great! Noticed the moss was absorbent unlike large phal in bark. 1 flower drooped and upon inspection, through the clear pot a couple healthy green roots had couple blackish gray spots and a couple roots at end had black. Other roots looked fine and wasn't too bad. Like to save it so wonder if can spray roots with 3% peroxide and should I use new medium? Don't want to stress plant, but need to get rid of fungus. Certain it's from overwatering. I believe plant can be saved as otherwise other blooms look great and leaves too. TY

[Dimples]

Hi and welcome to the board! Check out these threads, The Phal Abuse Ends Here, and Should I Use Peroxide on my Plants.

Hydrogen peroxide is not something you want to apply to the roots. It is an indiscriminate oxidizer and will damage the root tissue in addition to any fungus. If there are only a couple of small spots that look bad, you don't need to do anything at this point to treat them. Keep an eye on them. Adjusting your watering method will keep the other roots healthy and slow/stop any mold or fungus issues.

Watering moss is different than watering bark. Most phals that come in moss are in very tightly packed moss in a thin plastic liner with one hole at the bottom. Let the moss dry enough between waterings that the top is beginning to be crispy. Once it is at that stage, water very lightly so the moss is damp. Don't flood the pot.

If the moss ends up wet, take the rootball out of the plastic liner and set it on a dry towel. The towel will absorb a lot of the water from the moss, leaving it damp.

You can also attempt to carefully remove some of the moss so it is not packed as tightly around the roots, but only if you are comfortable doing that. If I had a phal in tightly packed moss that I didn't want to disturb, I'd remove the plastic liner and put the rootball straight in the decorative pot (also called a cache pot). The cache pot will keep the area around the partially exposed roots humid but will allow the moss to dry out faster.

[jmcastagna]

Thank you dear for your help. I will try this for sure! How long do I keep it without the plastic pot? Like a week? The plastic pot does have 3 good sized holes in the bottom. Also, as I said it was doing fine but I fertilized it last week so I watered it through before I put the fertilizer solution in which is what was recommended. I do feel comfortable at some point repotting it in some bark/moss mixture instead of what it's in now. Should I wait for the blooms to all finish course before repotting? Your a blessing and thank you for answering so quickly. Jennifer

[Dimples]

Originally Posted by jmcastagna

How long do I keep it without the plastic pot? Like a week?

You can keep the rootball naked/potless in the cache pot for as long as you need. Tightly packed moss typically holds together quite well so it doesn't really need a pot. If you find it is drying out too quickly, put it back in the plastic pot or water more frequently.

Originally Posted by jmcastagna

Also, as I said it was doing fine but I fertilized it last week so I watered it through before I put the fertilizer solution in which is what was recommended.

What fertilizer are you using and at what concentration (tsp/gallon, etc.)? The advice to water before you fertilize is based on older methods of applying a concentrated fertilizer solution infrequently (like only once a month). Strong fertilizer solution applied to dry roots can burn so watering beforehand prevents that. It also prevents the orchid from absorbing most of the nutrients.

Many people on the board use the "weakly weekly" method and apply a weaker (more dilute) solution once a week, or a very weak solution at every watering.

For example, I use Dyna Gro Foliage Pro (NPK 9-3-6) at a rate of 1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon per gallon and water my phals with it once or twice a week depending on how often they need to be watered. I water them with plain water a couple of times a month to flush out any excess minerals building up on the bark.

I need to water often because I use bark that doesn't hold a lot of water and my indoor conditions are warm all year. In winter, most days it's 74-82F where my plants are in my house. Relative humidity is around 50% unless I open the windows and doors and then it drops as low as 10%.

Originally Posted by jmcastagna

Should I wait for the blooms to all finish course before repotting?

That's up to you. Many people on here wait until after they are done blooming. Other people don't wait. Phals usually don't notice and don't skip a beat if they are repotted in bloom so long as their roots aren't damaged in the process. I have repotted phals in bloom and in bud with no issues, but again, you need to do what you're comfortable with. There's nothing wrong with waiting so long as you can manage growing in moss until the plant is done blooming.

There are MANY right/correct ways to grow plants. You need to figure out the methods that work best for your growing conditions, and the methods that you are comfortable with.

[estación seca]

Welcome to the Orchid Board!

Root rot in Phals is caused by not enough air or low temperatures. Soaking moss obliterates all the air spaces. Moss or bark work well with Phals when you water properly for the medium.

[Ray]

Do not get in the mindset that “it came that way, so that’s the way it should be grown”.

How a plant is growing in a large, commercial greenhouse environment may not - and probably isn’t - appropriate for your home environment.

You apparently have done well with a phalaenopsis in bark, so you should consider moving this new one into bark, if for no other reason that it allows you to treat your plants the same, rather than having to remember different methodologies for each individual.

Orchids are “niche plants”, that is, they each have a specific set of cultural parameters that are best for their growth. They don’t “prefer” one medium over another; what we must do is find the right combination of pot + medium that works with the rest of our cultural parameters to best mimic those parameters.