Is this root rot or a bacterial infection or bugs or all three?

[SouthPark]

Originally Posted by elaerna

I don't know if it was getting better it just didn't seem to be getting worse.

Now that is good! Not getting worse (just before your trip) is good.

The trip away led to conditions where the orchid wasn't getting enough water, so the leaves shrivelled.

Also - if the orchid wasn't getting worse in condition just before the trip - we also have to factor-in how much time (eg. how many days, weeks) did the orchid appear to have become stabilised in condition? Otherwise, it could be hard to say if the orchid was still a border-line case, and could easily take an extra down-turn in health.

But that was the past. So right now - just resume the care you had been giving it just prior to the trip. Ensure that the bark is 'wettable' ----- make sure the bark is not super dry as mentioned - as super dry bark repels water.

If you are sure that the bark can easily be wetted, then that will be great. This will allow you to water the orchid (eg. in the way I mentioned - eg. down the sides, and you can do that every day if you want to). The aim is to keep the air within (and close to) the media moist.

Some gentle air-flow can be beneficial (not just around leaves and stem, but also air gently moving through the media within the pot itself. Some growers do successfully grow in still-air environments, and other growers may wonder why orchids suddenly develop issues (eg. maybe due to unwanted activity like fungus/bacteria growing due to them - fungus etc - growing nicely in still-air).

[elaerna]

I think it was in the same condition for about 2 weeks? I think that was around the last time I posted. I suppose in the scheme of things that's not all that long.

I have noticed that the bark does seem to dry out rather quickly - after about a day it seems to look dry but if I touch it it feels a little spongy and not hard (not sure if that makes sense). I have been watering down the sides (and misting the aerial roots) daily since I got back Tuesday morning but wondering if I should skip tomorrow. When I do the skewer test it does come back a little wet at the tip but not really all that wet.

I have a little fan (it's about 5" and not really that powerful) going in the room with the orchid - it isn't pointed at the orchid, just the air next to it. The orchid is sitting on a rack so water isn't really pooling at the bottom of the pot it's in. Hopefully this is helping with air flow. Although I also wonder if it's just drying the orchid out.

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[SouthPark]

Elaerna ------ those conditions you mentioned - with little fan (put it close - but not too close to cause excessive drying) and spongy feel of bark - sounds good.

One way to get a feel or idea about what's happening in the pot and media is to have another pot of similar kind - with the same media, but no orchid in it. And then water the media in the same way. Then after a few days or so, or even a week (or more) later, just dig down into the media at various depths - to inspect the media. This gives you an idea about whether the media is soggy or lightly damp etc.

When you water down the sides - it will generally be quite ok if the media stays quite wet there. Spongy is good - as water is getting into the bark. And if you're confortable with skipping 1 day between watering - no problem - as one idea of using bark is exactly for storing a bit more water than say rocks etc. But at the same time, don't stress over watering every day if you water "down the sides". I don't expect the orchid will be harmed. In fact - may even be benefited.

[elaerna]

Originally Posted by SouthPark

Elaerna ------ those conditions you mentioned - with little fan (put it close - but not too close to cause excessive drying) and spongy feel of bark - sounds good.

One way to get a feel or idea about what's happening in the pot and media is to have another pot of similar kind - with the same media, but no orchid in it. And then water the media in the same way. Then after a few days or so, or even a week (or more) later, just dig down into the media at various depths - to inspect the media. This gives you an idea about whether the media is soggy or lightly damp etc.

When you water down the sides - it will generally be quite ok if the media stays quite wet there. Spongy is good - as water is getting into the bark. And if you're confortable with skipping 1 day between watering - no problem - as one idea of using bark is exactly for storing a bit more water than say rocks etc. But at the same time, don't stress over watering every day if you water "down the sides". I don't expect the orchid will be harmed. In fact - may even be benefited.

Oh that's smart about the having a copy pot with the same conditions I definitely will try that.

The fan is a couple feet away is that too close? It's facing away from the orchid at a 45 degree angle but I think it probably is still moving the air around it just that I can't see or feel it.

Yeah I think it seems okay to be watering it daily so far; it doesn't seem like it's getting water logged.

[SouthPark]

Elaerna - that all sounds good! The secondary pot method (for checking our watering method) - is just temporary ------- it will just be a once-only thing, so that we get a feeling about whether the conditions are generally going to be ok for our particular watering method. Once you're happy with conditions, then the secondary pot won't be needed anymore ------ except for potting other orchids or plants into it!

The fan location sounds ok. Constant steady and very gentle air is certainly ideal. Although, we know that in the wild ------ the air certainly can become still for some moments, and then come up again, and still again etc, and sometimes even very breezy.

If indoor conditions having no fan would become permanently still-air or mostly still-air ---- then certainly having a fan come on at various times is definitely better than having no gentle air-movement at all.

[elaerna]

Originally Posted by SouthPark

Elaerna - that all sounds good! The secondary pot method (for checking our watering method) - is just temporary ------- it will just be a once-only thing, so that we get a feeling about whether the conditions are generally going to be ok for our particular watering method. Once you're happy with conditions, then the secondary pot won't be needed anymore ------ except for potting other orchids or plants into it!

The fan location sounds ok. Constant steady and very gentle air is certainly ideal. Although, we know that in the wild ------ the air certainly can become still for some moments, and then come up again, and still again etc, and sometimes even very breezy. If indoor conditions would become permanently still-air or mostly still-air, then certainly having a fan come on at various times is definitely better than having no gentle air-movement at all.

Thank you for all the advice! We don't go to the second floor for most of the day so it's probably mostly still air without the little fan. Hopefully it hangs in there.

[SouthPark]

Most welcome Elaerna. Doing the best we can is great already. I honestly can mention - I had four cattleya orchids that didn't make it (my fault and my doing) when I was a beginner grower. So information gathering and gaining experience - like you are doing now - is part of the orchid or plant growing experience. Or part of learning lots of things actually. Eg. cooking, driving, sports activity ..... anything.

[elaerna]

I noticed something white and saw that it was mold so took it out of the pot. There are some on some roots and some at the base. Someone said before not to use hydrogen peroxide without knowing what it is, so what should I use instead?

I should cut off the roots that are infected right but what about the base that has white stuff on it?

2020.08.07 - Album on Imgur

[DrDawn]

Originally Posted by elaerna

I should cut off the roots that are infected right but what about the base that has white stuff on it?

Mold is different from rot (in my opinion). What happens if you wash the roots under running sink water and gentle rub the white mold with your fingers? As long as the mold is just starting out and only on the surface, I think you should be ok. (It happens to my plants occasionally when I don't have enough airflow over them). To prevent this, I find that really doing a good strong watering (watering with lots of water so that it fully flushes out the pot each time) as well as some gentle air movement (I have a little computer fan near my plant shelves) helps keep mold issues to a minimum.

[Roberta]

Originally Posted by elaerna

I noticed something white and saw that it was mold so took it out of the pot. There are some on some roots and some at the base. Someone said before not to use hydrogen peroxide without knowing what it is, so what should I use instead?

I should cut off the roots that are infected right but what about the base that has white stuff on it?

2020.08.07 - Album on Imgur

Looking at the photo... it probably is quite harmless. However, the stem and attached roots below that point are all dead, so it would do no harm to clip the stem at that point just to clean things up. Give a good rinse under the water. Those dead roots certainly tell you the reason for the dehydration - no matter how much water you put in the pot, none was getting into the plant. If you clean up that lower part, you can probably get the good roots at least partially into the pot (you could soak for 1/2 hour or so to soften them a little) Then pot it properly, and don't take it out again.