Wine delight new growth with rotting roots
 

Hello again, nice people! I have a problem again, so I need your help. It's about my two wine delight orchids that I'm afraid I'm going to loose. The smaller one on the last picture- I made a mistake and when the roots became long enough I didn't spray it first but soak it in water. Then it lost almost all the roots exept about 3 or 4. I stoped watering it, I spray it a little when it became too hot , because the older bulb is very shrivelled. I also put it over a container with water. I don't know if it will survive and how to make it grow more roots. So I need your advise on this. The bigger one-first three pictures - it was developing very nice, when it had nice roots I became to spray them, then increase water, because the temperatures here are above 25-30-35 degrees(C), but after I soak it in water today I saw that it had rotten roots-all three long rotted roots. So I carefully remove part of the moist sphagnum and added dry one. I don't know why has this happen-I thought when in full growth catasetums can't be overwatered...or? Also another thing-I saw a couple of days ago spider net arround the base, so I treated the orchids...I don't know if this can cause root rot. So what can I do? Obviously I make only mistakes...

i am not entirely sure if the pics are of what i think but it looks like there are good new roots growing off the new bulb and some of the old roots are dying off?

is that accurate or are the dying roots coming from the new bulb?

the old roots will die, at some point this year or next, but the new ones should be looking thick and white and crispy(brittle) as they do in the second pic.

The orchid has cut old roots, that are brown, but I'm saying that some of the long new roots of the new bulb became rotten...I don't know what to do to save the orchid...

I see some good new roots... they are reaching down to the medium, which is good. Do keep watering so that those new roots get what they need. This is the growing time for Catasetinae... you should not be taking the plant out of the pot at all. If roots die, never fear... The leaves will drop (maybe a bit sooner than they would under ideal conditions, but that's what they do naturally as winter arrives). When the leaves drop, stop watering, and just ignore it until spring, (Ideal time to repot is during winter dormancy, so that new roots can immediately start to grow into fresh medium) In the spring, there will be a whole new root system, and new leaves. The plant looks healthy, so I expect that it will be fine even if it starts the dormant season with a less-than-ideal reserve,

It probably depends on how the orchid is grown. If the roots are adapted to growing with lots of water around them, then maybe ok. Maybe.

But if the roots haven't adapted, or they simply can't the amount of water (assuming relatively low oxygen water) - then they can certainly run into issues with leaves yellowing/dying.

I encountered that once. Just once. I noticed leaves yellowing a bit - and checked the roots. The sphagnum was too wet. Unpotted the orchid (in order to notice the situation). I spread the sphagnum out a bit along with the roots to dry off for a while ...... then just packed the whole lot (roots and existing sphagnum together) back into a slightly larger pot ---- with scoria that surrounds the sphagnum mass ---- just to provide more aeration around the sides. It's probably unnecessary - but I did it anyway.

The yellowing leaves actually changed back to green with a day or so. That was great actually.

So - yes - depending on conditions and the orchid ----- it is certainly possible to 'overwater' a catasetum type orchid. The main thing is the definition of over-water. It will relate to the amount of water surrounding the roots or on the roots (and the surroudning media) -- and the state of the roots, media and the water. Oxygen content. And whether the roots are adapted to very watery conditions or not. And sometimes need to factor in the temperature - such as low temperatures.

Thank you! ...But the damage is already done-what should I do? Is there any hope for these two orchids?

---------- Post added at 04:27 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:22 PM ----------

Thank you, Roberta! So I'll keep watering or maybe should I just spray water? What about the smaller catasetum(the last picture), it had only few roots...should I keep watering it too or just spray water like I do now? It stoped to develop since I damage the roots from the beginning...

I see roots... so let them do what they want to do... either in the medium or in the air. You can continue to water - it may even make some new roots to take advantage of that. The best bit about Catasetinae... as long as they have the reserves (and your plants look healthy) they start each year anew... prior year's roots may help the plant somewhat, but the new ones that it will produce are the ones that will nourish it in the new year, any live old ones will die. Leaves are lost anyway (so damage from bugs, sun, and other insults are lost too)... again, they basically start all over again. So your plants will be fine.


When you repot next winter (during dormancy), you can trim bad roots if you wish, they will dead anyway. But basically, just put into new medium - and moss should be fine... when in rapid growth these plants need plenty of water, and also are heavy feeders. (I use time-release fertilizer in addition to my regular regimen) Don't add that now... the plant will be slowing down in the next few months. But for next year, you will be supporting rapid growth.

Thank you, very much for the advise!