Shriveled Phal Roots - Orchid Board

reinbo15 · #1 07-23-2007, 12:34 PM

I am transferring my Phal Brother Wild Thing to fresh medium in the hopes of saving it from the nematodes. There are some rotted roots I am going to clip, but I was wondering about shriveled roots. The plant is dry, so I can tell the mushy roots from the firm ones, but what about the shriveled ones? Are they simply in need of a watering, or are those dead as well? Thanks!

Lisa

Oscarman · #2 07-23-2007, 05:52 PM

It would be great if you had a picture you could post.

Are the shrivelled roots silver or grayish in color? If so, it sounds like they are alive and my just need a good soak.

justatypn · #3 07-23-2007, 07:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oscarman

It would be great if you had a picture you could post.

Are the shrivelled roots silver or grayish in color? If so, it sounds like they are alive and my just need a good soak.

It will be hard to tell without a

. Could merely be surface wrinkles, my own verbage guys. I have a phal, lively and lookin' good with 1 root that has signs of shriveled root, felt it and it is merely on the velamen and the rest of the root is okie dokie...

reinbo15 · #4 07-23-2007, 08:40 PM

This isn't the best photo, but I don't have a decent camera to show the roots. You can see one healthy aerial root and then one shriveled one. Is it dead, and should I cut it? It doesn't plump up when I water, so I don't know if it is functioning at all. It it is dead, is that just from the plant naturally selecting it's root system, or should I mist it more often? lol! Thanks again!

Neverend · #5 07-24-2007, 09:36 AM

The one on the left is definitely healthy, the right definitely dead. You can choose not to snip it off, it's alright, but if you want it to look a bit more tidy and free some space you can cut it off. You know it is dead when it's dry and light (compared to a healthy root) to touch. You can mist it more often, lack of humidity can cause the roots to die.

reinbo15 · #6 07-24-2007, 09:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neverend

The one on the left is definitely healthy, the right definitely dead. You can choose not to snip it off, it's alright, but if you want it to look a bit more tidy and free some space you can cut it off. You know it is dead when it's dry and light (compared to a healthy root) to touch. You can mist it more often, lack of humidity can cause the roots to die.

Thanks so much for the info! I don't want to over-mist, so I wanted to know whether it could be revived.