Help! Repotted orchid, damaged roots and now they got mould

[aistemi]

Hi all,
So I repotted this orchid 5 days ago, the roots were very tangled, so quite a few got damaged until I untangled them. I also cut some of them cause they were barely holding.

Now this morning I've noticed that there's mould at the endings of some roots (the damaged area!) Pics attached..

What should I do?? Should I try repotting again, but this time spray roots with fungiside?

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

I am generally from the camp of not having to cut any living roots at all. The reason why is exactly what you are seeing - the cut ends get diseased. Particularly if your cutting tools were never sterilized or disinfected properly. You may try to use a fungicide to stop the spread of the fungus and see what happens.

If there are a lot of roots on the plant, that is good. Keep them as intact as possible and use a slightly larger pot. The more roots the plant has, the stronger the plant is.

[estación seca]

White fuzzy mold grows on dead organic material. It's not likely to damage living roots.

But... I think your container is far too large for that plant. I would repot into something smaller that just holds the roots.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

I'm not necessarily so inclined to write off just any old white fuzzy moldy growths breaking down organic matter as not being able to harm living tissue, especially when it is growing directly on living tissue. I've seen it happen before, and it just happened to me with another species of orchid, (and it was far more devastating than I thought it was). That white fuzzy mold that affected my orchid started off looking rather innocuous and began as a very small patch on a small little black spot that I thought was from old damage on the stem tuber of my orchid. I thought it would be contained or die off on its own, but I was very wrong! It spread throughout about 80% of the tuber in less than 1 week, (probably 3 days, I'm not certain), turning most of the tuber from green to black. Luckily I had chemical fungicides to nuke the fungus otherwise I would've lost the entire orchid stem tuber. Now, the entire tuber is black, and the only living portion of that tuber are the cells below the surface of the tuber.

I can provide photo evidence if people would like to see.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

This series of photos shows just how bad white fuzzy mold growing on living tissue can be.

The only unaffected portion of this orchid is the old stem tuber. That old stem tuber is at the bottom. After I’m done soaking the orchid in a chemical fungicide bath, I can show people the difference between unaffected and affected tissue.

Photos taken about 5 minutes ago.

If the mold is unidentifiable with the unaided eye, (which most of them are unidentifiable with the unaided eye unless you have a microscope and are trained), and it is growing on living tissue on the plant, it is safer to assume that mold is potentially pathogenic towards your plants.

[Leafmite]

When potting most orchids, it is important to be as careful with the roots as possible. I set aside a time when I am not going to be rushed to remove the old medium as this can often be a pain. I soak the orchid for a few hours to help soften the roots and old medium. I try to be as careful as possible removing the medium. When potting up the orchid (unless it is one of the Pleurothallidinae), I pot it up in dry medium and do not water it for a couple of days to allow the roots heal. An alternative to the dry treatment is to use a fungicide.

With the roots molding, I would take it out of the pot and medium to give the orchid roots dry for a few days to heal. Good luck!

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Here’s the photo of the unaffected area of the same orchid I took photos of earlier.

[aistemi]

Ok thanks a lot for all your answers! Soo.. I'll do the following:
- Get a smaller pot, fungicide and new medium
- Take the orchid out
- Remove the molded bits (with desinfected scissors)
- Treat it with the fungicide
- Let it dry for a couple days
- Pot it in the smaller pot and hope for the best

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

I'd probably just leave out cutting the plant any more.

Everything else sounds fine.