Disturbing Angraecum Roots.
 

Hello all,

I recently acquired an Angraecum alabaster.

It is doing fine so far however, I noticed the pot was not draining well. I checked the bottom of the pot and found that a piece of styrofoam was completely obstructing a few of the drainage holes.

To remedy this problem, I took a skewer and shifted and broke up/dug out some of the obstructive foam.

While doing so, the bark and plant did move a bit within the pot. It also possible that I touched some roots with the skewer but I do not think so.

My question is whether or not this skewer intrusion into the pot will have bothered the plant?

I have always heard that Angraecums hate to have their roots disturbed and the plant/roots did move in the pot slightly.

Should I be concerned? Or is it more likely the plant was not disturbed by this much at all and will be perfectly fine.

If you think you may have injured a root, just keep everything dry for a few days to give the root a chance to heal and you should not have any trouble.

If you ever do choose to pot your Angraecum in a different medium, just soak the root area for a few hours, very gently remove the old medium, then hold the root ball in the pot and put the dry medium gently around the roots. Keep the medium dry for a few days while the roots heal and your Angraecum won't miss a beat.

I do not grow this Angraecum or the two species from which it is derived but if the ancestors come from breezy Madagascar, it is important to make certain that they have a steady supply of Calcium to help prevent fungus issues.

Thank you for your reply.

I don’t believe that I cut or damaged any roots with the skewer. I was concerned though that moving the plant/roots around within the pot to clear the drainage holes could cause a setback from minor shock. From what you say though, that seems unlikely. Just in case, I will refrain from watering for a slightly longer time and keep the plant nearer to my circulation fan.

You'd be surprised to find roots you swore were dead wake up after a few months.

People repot Angraecum all the time. Disturbing or accidentally snapping a few of their roots (depending on how many roots etc) generally won't harm the plant (- although, certainly minimising chances of breaking, or avoiding breaking is best). We just need to have an understanding of maybe allowing injured sections to dry and seal up before repotting or watering again.

But if the roots weren't injured at all, and are merely moved - then no problem. It's not going to kill a regular healthy Angraecum orchid.

Also - regarding orchids hating or disliking something. They are systems, but they don't have brains or emotions. So they don't 'hate' or 'dislike' something. It's really about what we might do to the system or system processes that could alter usual system activities or functions.

Roots may have those fine hairs for gathering nutrients or whatever. So sometimes, having them disconnected or pulled away from the media that the root is clinging to could possibly result in some sort of set-back. But - once again, people repot lots of orchids all the time. As long as the orchid is provided good growth conditions, it's going to have its system processes running along nicely again after a while.

In your case - you only worked on a small localised region - far different from a repot. Everything will be fine.