Fungus one week after repotting, why?

[LisaK]

Thank you everyone for all of your advice! It is very appreciated. This morning there was a slight fuzzy appearance on the roots. I read straight hydrogen peroxide 3% can be helpful in fighting most fungus, instead of diluting it like I did yesterday morning. So I gave it a squirt over the fuzzy roots and it fizzed on them. I am thinking that I will repot it. Of course right now I am sick with a virus myself!! If I'm up to it I will do it tomorrow.
I'm thinking to go with what some said and just barely wet the sphagnum moss when I repot it.
As far a bagging it, my gut tells me it will promote the fungus growth. If I bag it at all should I hang it above the slightly damp moss on a skewer? Should I seal it? Should I keep it in less light?
If I see the fungus reoccur I have to treat it. Should I really use no treatment during repotting even with recurrent fungus?
Plus, the darker mini phal has shot off a new spike for me and I was so excited to see it. If I bag it how long would I need to?
Fertilizing, I have an organic spray that they seem to have flourished under for the last 6 months. Do you fertilize too?
The black roots, if they are still firm, but grow fungus should I leave them on or cut them? I doubt I will be able to cut alongside to the base close enough. Plus I imagine it makes even more trauma and opportunity for infection to do so.
I have replaced the photos with somewhat larger ones so people can see it better.
I'm new to this as I mentioned, so specific advice is helpful. Thank you everyone for the advice. I would love to know what you think to go further since the fungus continues.

[Orchid Whisperer]

Lisa, despite receiving good advice from many people, you seem very determined to kill this plant.

If I'm wrong, please follow the very simple advice previously given. Stop spraying this poor plant with harsh chemicals. Wash the roots with plain water, repot in a coarse bark mix, not moss. Water sparingly (maybe once a week) until it starts growing again. added later: note that when I say "water sparingly" I mean that you should water less often, but each time you water, you should run copious amounts of water through the bark medium, and allow it to nearly dry out before watering again.

[estación seca]

I definitely would do what Orchid Whisperer said. People with a tendency to overwater should not use sphagnum moss for Phals.

It sounds like the neem oil killed the roots and they turned black. Cut off the black roots with a cuticle scissors.

The bag is only for plants in dry or nearly-dry medium. The idea of bagging is to provide high humidity but not wet roots, so the plant will grow new roots but not rot. If you put a wet plant into a bag it will rot. So if you are going to water, don't use the bag method.

[jason45244]

Originally Posted by Orchid Whisperer

Lisa, despite receiving good advice from many people, you seem very determined to kill this plant.

If I'm wrong, please follow the very simple advice previously given. Stop spraying this poor plant with harsh chemicals. Wash the roots with plain water, repot in a coarse bark mix, not moss. Water sparingly (maybe once a week) until it starts growing again. added later: note that when I say "water sparingly" I mean that you should water less often, but each time you water, you should run copious amounts of water through the bark medium, and allow it to nearly dry out before watering again.

This is the best advice for this plant. I would like to add that sometimes it seems like the wrong thing to do, but once repotted forget about it (except for necessary watering). Then when you water inspect for any further damage and heck you will be tickled to death when you see new root growth or a new leaf popping up. Some near death rescues I have recovered fully by giving this treatment. The main killer of orchids is overwatering DO NOT DO THIS. They grow slow. Also please do not fertilize this plant or it will surely die.

[LisaK]

Jason & Estacion - thank you for backing up Orchid Whisperer. Estacion, I think your right than neem oil caused the fungus. But I'm confused why I have heard others have success with it protecting their plants.

Orchid Whisperer - Thank you for the advice.
1. If fungus grows again, what would you do? It grows so fast.
2. The two mini orchids did great for 6 months, so I don't think your guess of over watering had anything to do with the fungus. I would let them totally dry out then water. These are two "mini" phals and I read that bark can be too big for mini's. Plus I have also read never to buy any medium from a garden store chain. Since many say Lowe's etc. is no good for quality bark, do you think my local garden store would be a reliable place to purchase or is it just as bad?

Interesting how some people think I want to abuse and kill these plants. If that were true I'd just throw them out. This is very time consuming and costing me money. There are many sources to go to with many different opinions. I think people forget what it can be like.

[Orchid Whisperer]

Lisa:

There are fungal diseases, and there are fungi that decompose dead or dying tissue. The diseases often are apparent as discoloration on the leaves, etc. Most of the fuzzy fungi are decomposers; they happen because of cultural/ environmental problems (wrong growing medium, too much moisture, poor air circulation, etc.).

I grow plants outdoors in the summer, and I sometimes (rarely) get fuzzy molds when a plant gets too much rain and stays wet. When it happens, I move the plant to some place drier with good air flow and don't water for a while. I might pick out moldy pieces of bark, etc.or wipe the fuzz off of a moldy root with a paper towel, but I don't spray. Usually the problem goes away.

The best thing you can do is PREVENT - provide good care and you will not have this problem. If you have not repotted to bark, do so now. You can get perfectly acceptable orchid bark from Lowes or Home Depot or similar stores. While you are there, get a terracotta (unglazed red clay) pot that you can barely fit the roots into. Repot using __DRY___ bark. No moss at all. After you repot, don't water - seriously. Wait several days.

Plan on one day each week as your watering day (for example, Saturday). Mark your plant with a label that says SATURDAY. Until your plant is growing again and making new roots, this is your ONE AND ONLY watering day, no mist ing, spraying, or watering on other days. When you do water, take it to the sink, run water through the bark for maybe 15 to 30 seconds, then stop. Put the plant in a place with good air flow. No more water until next Saturday. Giving the plant less water will encourage it to put out new healthy roots in search of water, but will discourage fungal growth. If the leaves are firm, they will support the plant during this process. After you have some good new roots, write another day of the week on the plant (for example, Tuesday). Water on your two days of the week only; Saturday and Tuesday. This may sound a little silly, but learning to do this teaches the single most important orchid growing skill that I know of. . . it is called Benign Neglect. Phalaenopsis orchids thrive on benign neglect, and once you master it, orchid growing is much easier, takes less time, and gives better results.

BTW I would skip fertilizer or other supplements until after you have some healthy new roots formed.

Regarding fungal diseases, you can get a good idea regarding the appearance of bacterial and fungal diseases at this link: Orchid Diseases. Although I am NOT advocating that you buy more chemicals, a link on that page provides a list of chemicals that treat specific disease problems. Note that bacterial diseases are not necessarily treated by fungicides, fungal diseases are not necessarily treated by bactericides, and no one chemical treats all fungal diseases. There is another page regarding orchid pests, and a list regarding pest controls, elsewhere within the same website.

[Leafmite]

The fungus may have come with the bark. We had a speaker at our Orchid Society who explained that, long ago, orchid medium was usually sterilized but, now, it isn't. He did quite a bit of unflasking so he had to sterilize all his medium first, to avoid issues with fungus. It makes you wonder what else lurks in the bark....
I had some issues when I once used bark for my orchids so I now use LECA or red lava rock (and, occasionally a thin layer of New Zealand Sphagnum moss). I also use basket pots to allow air to more easily circulate around the roots. Solid plastic pots do not work very well for me. (My Phals did do well with unglazed clay pots, though).

To get an understanding of a plant, you need to picture how they grow. Phal orchids tend to grow clinging bare-root to the branches of trees in very warm, humid places. There is rain but then the breezes dry the roots off before there is more rain. The purpose, then, of the medium is to keep humid air around the roots.
Fungus tends to grow in damp, stagnant air so you probably want to avoid that for a time to end the cycle.

I hope this helps. If your orchids would happen to die, I hope you will try again. I think most of us have lost orchids but have learned from the experience and bought 'replacements'. Once you get them figured out, they are pretty easy to grow and very rewarding. Good luck!

---------- Post added at 11:31 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:30 AM ----------

Just one more thing...the reason the neem oil may have killed the roots is because, as with many plants, the roots breathe and, thus, need exposed to air. When you suffocate them, they die. When they are dead, they rot.
Don't feel bad, though. Many years ago, when I was trying to rescue one of my Cattleyas, after rotting the roots in bark over the winter, I put cinnamon on the new roots to try to prevent fungus issues. The cinnamon promptly killed the roots. Opps. So, I have done it also and learned from it. :|

[LisaK]

Orchid Whisperer - Thank you for your very specific advice. It is very helpful when it is your first time. I will go to the store and see what I can find. My budget is so tight right now that any purchase is a strain.
As I mentioned, these are gifts while I'm recovering from a big surgery, so money isn't flowing in. Again, I really appreciate your time to help me.

Leafmite - Like you said and some others, I think the fungus cause began with the neem oil spray (for the spots) I bought combined with moving it away from it's normal sun to "recover from repotting", combined with too much cinnamon on the roots where I saw black spots when repotting. Boy did I learn from that. Whenever someone mentions cinnamon they must mention how it can kill good roots! And I still don't know how people can use neem oil with any success. For five months they showed no signs of over watering. I read it was best to wait till they fully dried and not water on specific days because humidity can vary in a home. Where I live we are going into fall and we are having a lot of dark days too. The suns angle to the window is changing from over the spring and summer and I don't have any other place to put them.

I hope I get to see the new spike flower. I'm trying my best.

[silken]

Cinnamon should never be used on roots. I think the same could be said for neem oil. Both work great on the upper parts of the plant when applied for the correct reasons.

Good luck with your recovery and future orchid endeavours. You have lots of good advice here to go forward with. Sometimes less is more with orchids. They often grow rather slowly and slow and easy on what you do with them also works.

If you are going to try something major, seek advise here or elsewhere first and you will get lots of helpful advise

[Orchid Whisperer]

Originally Posted by LisaK

I have also read never to buy any medium from a garden store chain. Since many say Lowe's etc. is no good for quality bark, do you think my local garden store would be a reliable place to purchase or is it just as bad?

Lisa, I do understand the concern over costs for materials. I keep myself on a budget too for orchids and supplies.

Regarding bark, for 30 years of orchid growing, I have used bagged orchid bark from places like Lowes, Home Depot, Walmart, etc. whenever I have needed bark. I just checked online, Lowes has it priced at $4.98 per bag.

Can you get better stuff online? Yes - a type of bark called Orchiata is really good stuff (a friend once gave me some samples), but it costs a lot, plus online ordering requires paying shipping. For your Phals, the high dollar stuff is not needed. Just make sure that the bag of bark that you buy is sealed and has no obvious signs that it has gotten wet (weathered or faded bag, etc.) The mail order supplies are fine for those that can afford them, but that does not include me.