Is my phal orchid rotting?

[Stray59]

Julia17:
When I use the microwave, I soak all the medium for a couple of hours to make sure it is saturated - our water has a lot of TDS and so I use RO water for everything. I use a 2 quart glass bowl, fill it with what I need and then add enough water to make sure it is all covered and let it set long . Before I microwave it I drain most of the water out, so that only the water inside the medium is heating up. I leave a little on bottom just to create more steam. Then I mic' it on high for about 5 minutes and then pull it out and let it cool naturally to room temp. If it is not steaming good, I mic' it for a couple more minutes. I try to turn it once while it is heating to ensure everything is getting heated up.
But first, if your using a medium that bark or peat moss, charcoal and/or perlite, be sure and watch it for a few seconds or so - if you see any sparks, then you can't use a mic' on it. Some of the clay and rock that is used in mixes has enough metal it will short your 'wave out. And As long as the media is wet or damp, it will not ignite.
That's how I take care of mold and such. I've used this for a couple of years and I have no problems with it.
Hope that helps some. Again, try small fans directly blowing on your pots - that is the best way to combat any fungus pretty well. Best of luck!
P.S. - I was not blessed with an abundance of patience either - My Mom used to say I "doctored things to death" - hard habit to break, but with orchids, you just have to slow your expectancy down some.

[silken]

Originally Posted by astrid

Silken, can you show some before/after pictures or share a few anecdotes about the seaweed?

I have been reading that superthrive isn't actually demonstrated to work, but the kelp extracts ARE demonstrated to work. Should I start a new thread? I don't mean to hijack this one!!

Sorry astrid. somehow I missed this question. I do believe SuperThrive does work but it is fairly expensive for a small bottle and having used both I really feel seaweed shows more and faster results. Since I have started using seaweed, the roots on most of my plants are unreal. Especially on Catts and Phals. I guess maybe the big fat roots seem most responsive. I have a friend who realized the roots on one of her favorite Catts were nearly all rotted and she was close to losing the plant. She has been treating the bare roots with seaweed for several weeks and they are all starting to grow. Sometimes I almost have more roots than I need as they creep out the pot holes! I have posted a few pics of my blooming plants and some of the roots in the pot. I also like clear pots as I feel the roots photosynthesize and you can see what's happening. There are also lots of other people on this forum that feel it really works well.

[Julia17]

Hey guys, I just wanted to thank you all again for all the replies and advice. Over the last few weeks I've been observing lots of new roots appear, and today I noticed a spike growing! This is much more progress than I expected in such a short period of time, so I must be doing something right!

Here's what I did:
I took Stray59's advice, and I microwaved the medium before repotting the orchid. I suspect this made a big difference.

I repotted it into a TINY container because it had a tiny root system.

I used a mixture of bark, sphagnum moss and perlite.

I also poked a LOT of holes into that container because of the poor air circulation in my place.

I kept an eye on it all the time and made sure it was always moist- it dries out very quickly because the container is so small.

I've been using mainly water, because the container is so small, I don't want it accumulating salts and burning the roots again. Yesterday however I used some orchid fertiliser, with seaweed solution, and a bit of epsom salt for magnesium.

Anyway I'm so glad it's doing well, not only was it my most vulnerable orchid, but it's now my first one to grow a new spike. Patience has been the key! Thank you all again!

[astrid]

Originally Posted by Julia17

Hey guys, I just wanted to thank you all again for all the replies and advice. Over the last few weeks I've been observing lots of new roots appear, and today I noticed a spike growing! This is much more progress than I expected in such a short period of time, so I must be doing something right!

Here's what I did:
I took Stray59's advice, and I microwaved the medium before repotting the orchid. I suspect this made a big difference.

I repotted it into a TINY container because it had a tiny root system.

I used a mixture of bark, sphagnum moss and perlite.

I also poked a LOT of holes into that container because of the poor air circulation in my place.

I kept an eye on it all the time and made sure it was always moist- it dries out very quickly because the container is so small.

I've been using mainly water, because the container is so small, I don't want it accumulating salts and burning the roots again. Yesterday however I used some orchid fertiliser, with seaweed solution, and a bit of epsom salt for magnesium.

Anyway I'm so glad it's doing well, not only was it my most vulnerable orchid, but it's now my first one to grow a new spike. Patience has been the key! Thank you all again!

Dang!! Talk about bursting new roots! Looks awesome!