Quote:
Originally Posted by aries23
Ok while I was trimming alot of the roots that were black i went and trimmed off the lower part of the orchid like the stem i guess ?? I think I made a big booboo! I only have four good roots about a thumb long is the longest. At the top of some of them were black so i just exposed the green again and put alot of cinnamon powder. Now I read on my other post to put long s moss and then some medium... Should I purchase any specific type of like rooting hormone or anything of that sorts?
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I'm a bit confused as to what you did, but I'll try to make sense of it.
1. You trimmed off dead roots.
Okay, don't see anything wrong with that.
2. You accidentally cut off part of the bottom of the Phal's stem.
That's definitely a problem. Sterilize using Listerine. Grab a cotton swab and dab it several times in the wound.
In the future, it's not really necessary to cut that far down the roots.
For me, I just cut as far as I can and leave it alone. Sometimes I leave pieces of dead roots as long as 1/2", because I can't get to the harder to reach places.
3. I'm confused about the moss, now.
I'll come back to this later.
4. You're asking about whether you need rooting hormones and what kind to get.
In my opinion, it's not necessary to get a rooting hormone. Personally, if I were you and I were hellbent on getting rooting hormones, I'd look up Phytotech Labs or any lab that sells to hobbyists, and purchase a group of plant hormones called Auxins. IAA is an example of an Auxin. Auxins are responsible for root growth.
Okay, now back to #3.
Here's one way to help the plant along. I think that if your plant has four roots that are as long as your thumb (approx. 1 1/2" to 2"), it has a good start.
You can:
A. Mount the Phal onto a piece of wood with moss.
or
B. Use a shallow tray (no drain holes necessary), put pumice in there (a 1" to 2" deep layer is enough), and fill it with water (only to the top of the pumice). Then place the Phal on top. Don't allow the tray to dry out at all.
Within a month, you should see the beginnings of new root growth.