Cracked and shriveled aerial roots

[lindasbabies]

Thanks everyone! I appreciate all your help and advice. I do have a temperature/humidity meter on the windowsill next to my orchids and most of the time it is about 73 F and 63 % humidity.

[Ray]

Linda - You have apparently fallen into the common beginner trap of thinking that over-watering causes root rot.

Read this to put your mind at ease a bit.

[SouthPark]

That is a very nice article that Ray created. The roots rotting is due to particular conditions or situations leading to roots (or parts of roots) 'drowning' ----- not getting enough oxygen to stay alive ----- and those portions die, and rotting etc follows on from that.

Although, exceptions do occur for certain kinds of roots that are able to gradually grow/extend into a watery environment and become adapted to watery environments (or rather - can handle reduced oxygen levels).

Over-watering and under-watering are relative terms ..... and circumstantial. For the case of media where the amount (or degree or level) of water-bridging is too great, then over-watering could mean adding too much water in one shot ..... or watering too frequently based on the various key 'players' (eg. media type, media size, pot type, drainage level, humidity, temperature, air-movement, tolerance level of roots to the conditions, etc). Here - over-watering could just mean applying the water in such a way that creates high density of water-bridged regions in the media, and remains in such state for 'too long'.

Avoiding the issue could mean changing the watering schedule and/or water quantity, or changing media type, or changing the region of media where we apply the water, or changing pot size, etc ------ whatever it takes.

It is about conditions --------- conditions that involves water plus those other aspects mentioned.

Also, might have to keep in mind that regular roots getting continuous and nicely oxygenated water ----- may be able to survive very nicely. I have noticed that big rains that keep trickling rain water nearly non-stop into pots for a week ----- did not kill or drown the regular roots of my orchids (growing in scoria media).

This could be due to the roots having adequate oxygen supply - rather than stagnant water that either doesn't move very much, or doesn't move at all - so roots in that particular region can run out of oxygen - as the oxygen in that water isn't adequately replenished/renewed.

[JScott]

Originally Posted by Ray

Linda - You have apparently fallen into the common beginner trap of thinking that over-watering causes root rot.

Read this to put your mind at ease a bit.

Back in the late 80s or early 90s when I was just starting to get into growing orchids, internet connection at home weren't really a thing yet, so I had to get all my information from books. All the books talked about the dangers of over watering. So much so, that i was terrified I might over water. It never occurred to me that you could under water an orchid.

Finally one time I went to Des Moines, Iowa to see my aunt and uncle, and visited my first legit orchid nursery. I talked to the owner and told him what problems I was having. Bulbs were shriveled, new growths were stunted, and of course there were no flowers. I assured him that I wasn't over watering. He asked about my watering habits. I told him I watered about once a month in the summer when the plants were outside, and about every six weeks in the winter when they were inside.

He was taken aback. He told that was not nearly enough water, and that would explain all my problems. He explained to me that when talking about orchids, "dry" doesn't mean bone dry like a cactus. It just meant that there were no standing pocket of water in the mix. I need not wait until the pot was bone dry before I watered.

I bought a couple plants from him, and the threw one in for free (I was at Iowa Orchids Inc, and the owner is just a delightful guy. I don't know if he's still there, this was many years ago), but anyway, I adjusted my watering schedule to keep the plants slightly moist, but neither wet nor dry. My plants finally started doing better and growing and blooming.

I just wanted to share that. I know other people are terrified of over watering and over compensate for that fear. Yes, orchids need to be dry-ish between waterings, but not dry like a cactus. Once I learned that lesson, I started having some success.

---------- Post added at 09:43 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:42 AM ----------

And Ray, I enjoyed your article. Nicely done.

[SouthPark]

JS ----- yep! For the beginner growers --- the main thing to watch for is water on (or in) roots that does not move much ----------- if that water is somehow able to stay there (on or in the root) for relatively long amounts of time (without much or any water movement) ----- and if the oxygen content in the water that surround the roots (or large regions of the roots) becomes relatively low ----- then the roots (or regions of roots) can drown - run out of oxygen. And roots need oxygen to survive.

For under-water roots (which are not 'regular' roots) ----- the ones that have somehow 'adapted' to growing under water and relatively-low oxygen levels --- they can actually probably die too if the water actually gets too low in oxygen (as the roots use it up) ----- which is probably why growers need to replace the water in the pot every once in a while ---- aside from needing to consider issues of water stagnating in the pots.

[lindasbabies]

Thank you all for the great advice and articles to read! I have started watering every day as the media I have them potted in doesn’t hold water, it runs right through the pot. Today I actually submerged their slotted pots in pots of water for an hour then drained them well. Two of my phals don’t have roots long enough to go down into the media to get water because they lost their roots to root rot so how to water them is a mystery to me. I tried putting moist sphagnum moss on top of the media to give their little budding roots some moisture but then noticed black spots on the stem of the orchid so that didn’t work. I’m just doing the best I can.

[SouthPark]

Originally Posted by lindasbabies

Two of my phals don’t have roots long enough to go down into the media to get water because they lost their roots to root rot so how to water them is a mystery to me.

Some photos could help with the assessment of that situation.

Normally, in places where orchids grow out in the wild, the plants just get adequate water through adequate humidity or adequate moisture getting into their roots.

For your case, where the plant developed a problem - with root rot - then sometimes it might be necessary to use some ICU methods, like soaking the orchid's roots for a while in water - each day. Or putting the orchid in a humid area - a tank or something - with a little air-movement inside via say a mini electric fan.

There is also the 'spag N bag' method - which if applied appropriately (avoiding fungal activity effects) can help the orchid grow more roots and recover.

Another option could probably be to sink your orchid down into some airy media (eg. lava rock, or largish bark pieces) ---- using a large pot with wide diameter. Then apply water toward the sides of the pot, so that the water can still keep a large amount of the media wet for a while, and at the same time maybe keeps the humidity within the pot high enough.

The attached image doesn't necessarily mean that it is essential to keep the media towards the centre dry. Some water can still be sprayed/applied toward the centre regions ------- but much less.

Try to avoid having water stagnating (not moving much) in regions right at the roots (eg. touching the roots).

If the media is airy enough, and gentle air-movement is maintained in the growing area, and if the pot has good size and number of drainage holes ----- then this should benefit 'transpiration' - allowing adequate oxygenated water movement into the roots ----- or at least maintaining adequately-oxygenated water around the roots from the water moving activity.

Also - very importantly - one assumption is that the orchids get adequate lighting levels and lighting duration, and suitable growing temperatures (and temperature ranges). If the orchid doesn't get enough light or if the temperature is too low (or even too high etc) ------ then the orchid won't grow well or at all.

[SouthPark]

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[lindasbabies]

I just looked at my phals and it seems the soaking for an hour by submerging the pots in water has helped. The aerial roots and the little baby roots are all bright green and less shriveled! I moved them to a south facing window but no sun touches them. There’s also a fan in there moving air so maybe this has helped. I’m cautiously optimistic. Thanks everyone!

---------- Post added at 05:50 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:43 PM ----------

I don’t want to take my almost rootless out of their pots again because I don’t want to disturb them again to take pictures. If you can just imagine an orchid with just the beginnings of roots sticking out under it, that’s what they look like. One of the phals has one longer root but that’s it.

[Roberta]

Originally Posted by lindasbabies

[/COLOR]I don’t want to take my almost rootless out of their pots again because I don’t want to disturb them again to take pictures. If you can just imagine an orchid with just the beginnings of roots sticking out under it, that’s what they look like. One of the phals has one longer root but that’s it.

Sounds like you're moving in the right direction! Now, just patience... definitely don't disturb the plants for photos. Let them grow those roots, orchids don't do anything fast.