filamentous fungus appeared on roots/media after repotting

[fig]

hi, i'm new here, and was hoping to get some advice--
i just repotted my first phal for the first time last week. since then, i haven't watered the plant, and i've noticed a new spike just starting to emerge. the orchid doesn't seem unhappy. but i am worried because when i look closely at the roots through the clear pot, i see some very fine, silky/stringy, nearly-invisible filaments of fungus on the roots and in the media.

i am not sure what to do. should i scrap everything and try to re-sterilize and re-pot again, now that a spike is emerging? should i try to water with peroxide or a mild bleach solution?

here is some more information, if it helps--
i haven't seen this type of fungus on this plant before. i've owned the plant for a year, and it's been fairly healthy and i've gotten it to re-spike twice.

to re-pot, i cut off dead roots (there weren't too many) with an alcohol-sterilized blade, soaked/misted the root ball with hydrogen peroxide, and dabbed cinnamon on the cut ends. i sterilized the plastic pot with bleach and hot water and placed some styrofoam peanuts at the bottom, then repotted in bark/charcoal/perlite mix (better-gro special orchid mix) that i'd presoaked in hot tap water for 24 hours.

i'm new to this, but i tried to do my homework! many thanks in advance for your help!

[Ray]

Frankly, it might be nothing to worry about, but first, I'd try absolutely dousing the pot with hydrogen peroxide. If that doesn't work chlorine bleach at about a teaspoon per quart of water might.

[fig]

thanks for the advice, ray!

i wonder if the problem was that i needed to let the soaked medium dry out a bit before repotting.

[Merlyn]

I've seen that once, a long time ago, and Physan 20 sprayed thoroughly until it came out the bottom got rid of it never to be seen again !

[GenevaDad]

Might you be able to upload some pictures? Pictures are worth a thousand words when trying to assist with a problem like this.

[fig]

Update:
Problem solved. I ended up un-potting, dousing the roots in hydrogen peroxide, cleaning the plastic pot and media by soaking in dilute bleach for a few minutes and rinsing well with hot water, and repotting, using the same media. for a week, instead of placing the plastic pot in a cachepot, i kept it elevated so that the drainage holes were fully exposed to air. I never saw the fungal filaments again, and the phal is still happily growing its spike.

Thank you all again for your help!

[johnblagg]

way to eleminate the problem ...good going