Help! Persisting Mold in All repotted Phalaenopsis and Cattleya

[Roberta]

It is looking quite good! I doubt the accuracy of the light meter. If yellowish, moving them a bit farther from the light might be a good idea. If your hand casts a shadow at the position of the plants, the light is certainly higher than 700-800 foot-candles. You want light where your hand just barely casts a fuzzy shadow.

[katsucats]

Let me get this straight. You water it (tap?), it develops white spots. You clean it off, then water it again, and a day later it develops white spots again. And it's not from cross-contamination. It's a bit hard to tell since you only posted one picture of the roots in question, but I'm surprised no one floated the possibility that it isn't mold, but salts from hard water. Especially since you said you noticed it on the top root, and that it covered your roots after soaking for a day. Is the white stuff really destroying the roots? Can we get a close-up picture of this?

Personally, I get a lot of white powdery stuff on my roots and media if I let it dry out a bit, and it only becomes more noticeable with LECA (although I doubt salts don't build up in any media).

I've only seen white hairy mold on roots that have already degraded.

I've also bought a number of Phal's from Norman's that came in those small plastic containers with packed moss. I'm surprised they work so well that I started doing the same -- packing plants with moss. It seems to work with plants that love moisture. Its effectiveness might be dependent on your climate though, but there's nothing inherently wrong with the medium, in my opinion.

P.S. Where are you getting those wide-lipped pots?

[nuriko1set]

Originally Posted by Roberta

It is looking quite good! I doubt the accuracy of the light meter. If yellowish, moving them a bit farther from the light might be a good idea. If your hand casts a shadow at the position of the plants, the light is certainly higher than 700-800 foot-candles. You want light where your hand just barely casts a fuzzy shadow.

Great advice with the hand shadows! I moved the Phals. a bit further away, but the one with the yellow leaves is yellowing a bit further, so I think it's a temperature thing, our temperature recently dropped. Our highest indoor temp. is around 65, gets even lower at night. We also open windows on slightly warmer days to get fresh air. But a heating mat is on it's way here

Thank you so much for you timely advice!!

[nuriko1set]

Originally Posted by katsucats

Let me get this straight. You water it (tap?), it develops white spots. You clean it off, then water it again, and a day later it develops white spots again. And it's not from cross-contamination. It's a bit hard to tell since you only posted one picture of the roots in question, but I'm surprised no one floated the possibility that it isn't mold, but salts from hard water. Especially since you said you noticed it on the top root, and that it covered your roots after soaking for a day. Is the white stuff really destroying the roots? Can we get a close-up picture of this?

Personally, I get a lot of white powdery stuff on my roots and media if I let it dry out a bit, and it only becomes more noticeable with LECA (although I doubt salts don't build up in any media).

I've only seen white hairy mold on roots that have already degraded.

I've also bought a number of Phal's from Norman's that came in those small plastic containers with packed moss. I'm surprised they work so well that I started doing the same -- packing plants with moss. It seems to work with plants that love moisture. Its effectiveness might be dependent on your climate though, but there's nothing inherently wrong with the medium, in my opinion.

P.S. Where are you getting those wide-lipped pots?

Hi Katsucat! Thank you for your input! I'm ALMOST certain it's mold, since it's fuzzy and envelopes the roots. I've seen the white spots from salt build up and they do look different. But I do doubt myself a lot being quite new into this hobby, only a few months, so I always say I'm almost certain, haha.

In hindsight I wish I took more pictures, what seems more obvious to me in person looks very different from a photo. Now I take A LOT more documentation pictures After discussion with other growers, I believe my issue was using Hydrogen peroxide on the roots. I would SOAK them in the solution (undiluted, shameful of me ...). Now that I have not done so, the roots seem to be doing MUCH better. However, for one of the plants, the fuzziness came back after I experimented by soaking the pot in water instead of having water run out. I think I still have some damaged roots in the pot, and if I soak the pot, droplets gets tuck in the crevices and causes mold. But when I run the water through ( and I do for like 5 minutes per plant), the water doesn't get stuck in crevices like it does when soaking, and no mold. I think I did some irreversible damage with the hydrogen peroxide, but I'm able to hold off the damage by using running watering method, so no soaking for me.

Being a new grower, I have no opportunity to pass on any information, only receiving from more experience growers. So I am happy to give the information about the lipped pots from Amazon.
Amazon.com

They come in different sizes, but I'm not sure if the slits on the sides are too small. I do like the lip, makes it easier to carry and I use it to note down which day I watered and fertilized. Super helpful for me! I hope this was helpful to you!

[nuriko1set]

Thank you everyone for all your quick responses! They really have been life saving for my orchids! I have brought several of them back to life with your advice. The tip about watering by running water through really saved me (and them)!

Here are some before and after photos.
Here's what one of them looked like during it's low days. Look how barren and no new growths.

Here's the recent new growth. Look at those root tips!

I'm so grateful for this community, hopefully I'll become more able to give info in the future than just receive it. I hope everyone will enjoy the upcoming holidays!

[Roberta]

Those slits look fine. The main thing is that they drain well after you water and I am sure that they do. I see new roots starting with new growth on the Catt, so that is promising. Phals can root at any time, so they will recover, just be patient. KelpMax is an excellent product to stimulate root growth - you might want to give it a try (Ray sells it, if you want it this year you'll need to order by tomorrow (Dec 14), otherwise will be after the holidays. That heating pad that you have on the way should help your Phals. Your house sounds mighty chilly. (Shivering just thinking about it)

[nuriko1set]

Originally Posted by Roberta

Those slits look fine. The main thing is that they drain well after you water and I am sure that they do. I see new roots starting with new growth on the Catt, so that is promising. Phals can root at any time, so they will recover, just be patient. KelpMax is an excellent product to stimulate root growth - you might want to give it a try (Ray sells it, if you want it this year you'll need to order by tomorrow (Dec 14), otherwise will be after the holidays. That heating pad that you have on the way should help your Phals. Your house sounds mighty chilly. (Shivering just thinking about it)

thanks Roberta for the recommendation! I have heard good things about it and have put in my order. We'll see when it gets here, shipping tends to be slower around the holidays. On that note, I can't wait for the heater to get here!

Do you advise to use kelpmax on a more routine basis or more for plants that are newer, younger or need to develop roots? I also have a Quantum probiotic, a 20-20-20 fertilizer and a Norman's Optimal Orchid Nutrients (20-16-15). Probably more than I'll ever need! How should I use all these?

The Quantum Probiotic is from Repotme. They recommend to use every 2 to 3 weeks.

The Fertilizer (20-20-20), I havn't used very much of. Basically 1/4 strength, and every few weeks? I can't remember since it's not every week, so I lose track. I have started recently to note down when I water, fertilize and use the Probiotic.

Should I do Probiotic once every month, fertilize once every month and use Kelpmax once every month? Then the fourth time flush out with water? haha so many choices!

Thank you!

[Roberta]

The instructions on Kelpmax call for once per month. Don't know about the other stuff.. Especially in cold weather when nothing is growing very fast, very little fertilizer is needed. (Orchids don't need much in general, since they grow slowly) I hope that Ray jumps in on this one.

[estación seca]

I'll reiterate that 65 F / 16C maximum, and much cooler at night, is risky for the warmth-loving Phals that have light green leaves and star-shaped flowers on persistent flower stalks. I would not try to grow them under such conditions.

[Ray]

Concerning fertilizer- not much need until the roots are actively growing.

KelpMax can be used as much as twice a month if working to rescue a plant, but once a month is normal.

Probiotics can be applied at any time. There is no possibility of overdose, just a waste.