40+ orchids definitely suffering from root rot. Please help

[estación seca]

Originally Posted by Kinagami

Oh and I have the orchids in the shade outside and it goes up to over 100 degrees here; its fine if I left them there or do I have to bring them in?

S California is having a heat wave now. The hotter and drier it is, the faster water evaporates from plants. Plants with weak or no roots can't tolerate losing so much water. Bring them in ASAP!

[Kinagami]

There was ants running through some of the orchids when I was repotting and now they're back. What should I do? =X

[estación seca]

If they're just ants, I wouldn't worry. The problem is some kinds of ants farm mealybugs and aphids, and carry them from plant to plant. I know this happens to cactus growers in southern California.

Examine your plants for mealybugs. They hide deeply in the crevices and can be hard to see.

Some ants like sweet things and some like oily things. Get some roach powder at a store. It contains boric acid. Put a little in 2 bottle caps. Add some sugar water to one and a squirt of cooking oil to the other. Stir with a toothpick and throw away the toothpick. Put the bottle caps in the ant highway. The ants will carry it back to the nest with happy results for you. Don't let any domestic animals get the roach powder.

[Cntry]

I would bring in the sick ones, the others as long as they are always in shade out of the sun they should be ok. Just make sure you are checking them to make sure if they need any water. Should water ever 5 to 7 days if they are about dry. With your heat you may need to use a skewer and check ever 4 days.

The ones that are sick I would bring in and place next to a window where it gets light through a curtain. Filtered light only. You don't want the sun burning the orchids thru the glass. So a sheer curtain works well.

I hope this helps you just a bit.