Baby Vanda roots with fur?
 

Hello orchid friends. My Vanda keiki has finally sprouted roots but now I'm worried. The roots are furry. Is that normal? Is that a problem? Please help. See pics below.

That's a lot of really wet sphagnum going on there. How about an overall picture of how you have it planted?

that does not look like the new roots on the vandas i have but it also does not look bad...

i would make sure they are well misted and monitor them...it also appears that you have them growing in sphagnum moss, is that correct? i do not do that as mine simply free hang with no media and so i am not certain as to the impact that may have.

---------- Post added at 09:58 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:52 AM ----------

here is a pic of one of mine that is also in the keiki phase and the roots are quite different but that does not mean much when theyre grown in different media...orchid roots are quite amazing that way

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...e2ef27c_4k.jpgMagnum poppin by J Solo, on Flickr

Yes, it is in bark and sphagnum moss. I wrote another thread about this vanda which was a keiki without any roots and was removed from the mother plant. It has taken 6 months for it to sprout these two roots it now has and many headaches on my part. I'm afraid to change the setup and the roots dry up. It only has three leaves and is working on a fourth plus these two roots. Never thought I'd stress about a plant. LOL

I think they are root hairs: nothing to worry about. But, once it has enough root mass to hydrate itself you’re probably going to want to switch to bare root or something much less wet.

Honestly, I am new to Vanda's so take this with a grain of salt, but I have mine in a basket with very loosely packed (NZ) sphagnum moss and amazingly it's just started a flower spike. :)

Remember, your climate and growing conditions play a big factor. What works for one person, may not work for another. I let mine just approach dryness between watering, but I was having trouble with roots shriveling up as it gets very dry in the winter where I live. So far it seems to be working for me. I never soak the sphagnum to the point that it's totally water logged. I just spray the top and let the rest absorb moisture from the top layer.

hey CZF, the hairs are nothing to worry about. Some of my vanda's have them too like my vanda coerulescens specifically has identical roots. Others have roots that look more like dirtycoconuts but it's a good sign, nothing to worry about.

However one of your roots is a little bit brown, I would watch your nutrient strength possibly, nothing to worry about yet but it could be a sign of nutrient salts building up.

Or it's the spagnum moss decomposing which I hate as a media.

Have you been feeding it and at what strength?