Fungus, salt, or other? Also, two rot questions

[JKeys]

I've noticed some white stuff on a few of my plants. I have flushed the ones I noticed it on with rainwater, which reduced it on some but not all. My question is, is this salt, fungus, or something else?



Also, I have a healthy phalaenopsis that is currently spiking, and just recently put out a large new leaf. There are a lot of brown patches on the roots. Is this harmless, or rot?


Another rot question: I recently repotted some bulbos into sphag. They are both actively growing, but the roots look bad. Should I do anything now, or let it be?


Thanks a lot!

[billc]

In the second pic that looks like fertilizer salts to me. Cut back on your feeding, especially in winter in the Northeast. Flushing will reduce the buildup and you may want to repot in the spring.
In pic three, I get the same condition on some of my phal roots. Don't really know what causes it but I suspect it comes from growing them cooler than they would really like and the cooler moisture in the mix in winter.

Bill

[MattWoelfsen]

In addition to Billc's advise on fertilizer, the other causes for these ailments--as you have identified and your photos indicate--are 1) your plants are staying too moist, too long, and 2) your temperature is too cool for these plants' culture. The remedy is to allow the plants to come almost dry before watering and raise the heat. I would also provide air movement. The plants may be in a drafty location where air stagnates--warm, moving air will help dry the plants and eliminate fungus.

[Ray]

The mineral deposits could simply be from your water supply, but might be fertilizers, depending upon how much & often you feed.

I have to disagree with Matt on the watering, especially for the bulbo. The issue really isn't watering, it's lack of air flow to the root system. You've got that moss packed so tightly that when you do water, it fills all of the voids space and suffocates the roots. Matt's suggestion to let it dry out is a possible solution, but is drowning/reviving/drowning again really the routine you'd like to subject it to?

If you remove about half the moss, and fluff it up, the moisten, not soak it when you water, it will be a major improvement.

Matt is dead right about the temperature though - most bulbos and phals are really "hot growers", and although they may tolerate cooler temperatures, they thrive if not exposed to them.

[JKeys]

Thanks all.

[meliana]

I used to get those cork-like patches on my phal roots when I was in the habit of putting a tiny bit of fertilizer in my spray bottle. Big mistake... the plants that I've obtained after the breaking of that habit never developed the patches no matter how dehydrated or cold the roots got. Now I make sure the roots have already been moistened before fertilizing, but sadly the patches seem to be permanent. I might be entirely off-base with my reasoning here, but perhaps yours are also being slowly burned?

[JKeys]

Hmm... I don't have any fertilizer in the bottle now, I did that maybe once a long while back, so maybe they developed then?

[meliana]

Live and learn