Phal white mold or fungus roots
 

Hello, I am new and first of all I'd like to say:

I KNOW, I know, you get what you pay for.

I am having problems with my phals. I bought them on clearance at Lowe's because they had mealy bugs and I couldn't resist. I picked the least infected ones, took them home, cleaned them up, totally repotted....
Had a small re-occurrence a few weeks ago. Cleaned them again with diluted alcohol spray and then totally sprayed them clean a few hours later with the hose. Had to repot again because I must have overwatered and caused quite a few roots to rot.

After repotting I waited two weeks and them watered once. I just checked them with a pencil in the potting medium and was going to rewater... (It's been over a week.) More than half of them dropped the bottom-most leaf- it was yellowed but not dry... I noticed fuzzy white mold on one of them on a root I could see and pulled it out. It was fuzzy white mold on several roots.

Should I pull them all up again and clean the roots with peroxide? Where could the mold be coming from? Is there any way to clean my potting medium? I can't keep buying more. I sterilized all the pots in the dishwasher before repotting last time. Sorry this is so long!!

Welcome to Orchid Board.

Mold spores are everywhere and will tend to appear if the bark is moist for long periods. Having said that I had trouble when I first started with 'new' media which was actually already decayed in the bag. I found that the local stores which stock it either don't store it correctly or have such low turnover that it is stored too long.

If you have lost roots have you reduced the pot size (old drinks bottles and other plastic containers make good pots if you make holes in the bottom). If you have pots too big for the amount of roots then the medium will dry too slowly and then you get more rot and the damp enviroment is more likely to attract mold. You should always use the smallest pot you can squeeze the roots in to.

One other thing I've just remembered. Someone here said that their bark was starting to mold within a week after just soaking it before use (bark should always be soaked before use). They were advised that there was obviously a problem with the bark before they even started. I'm wondering if the same is true for you.

I also should mention I have those tiny rice-shaped bugs in the medium... they aren't jumping so I'm not sure if they are springtails... But maybe another hint that the mix was decaying in the bag? It seemed really dry.

Does sound like there was a problem with the medium from the biginning. Even if it was dry, maybe it was wet before that :dunno:

I am using Better Grow "Special Orchid Mix" from Lowe's.

Here are my questions:

#1. Should I treat the roots with hydrogen peroxide?

#2. Is there any way to save the orchid bark I already have? I have some that has been sitting outside in the sun for two weeks. Can I pour boiling water on it or something?

#3. Can I save a phal that has healthy firm green leaves but no healthy roots? I got a very sad-looking piece of a cymbidium to root by sealing it in a ziplock bag but that doesn't seem to work as well for phals.

The Better Gro orchid mix is supposed to be a good mix, but bad batches can happen. I know that wood/bark mounts can be sterilized by 'cooking' them in the oven or boiling them, so why not do that with bark mix?

You could try hydrogen peroxide, or regular brown listerine. if you use listerine, just spray the roots, let them dry, then repot. It's supposed to work quite well, and I know quite a few people on OB use it and keep it as a standby.

I have used dry heat sterlilzation for potting mix in the past-you might want to check this link.
Steps of Dry-Heat Sterilization
I also use brown listerine and gentian violet for all my fungus and bacterial problems, so far they've worked great.
Joann

Just a note on listerine... the brown is not the only colour which is safe for use on plants. I use the Cool Mint on my orchids and they are fine with it. (They ddin't have the brown the first time I bought it).

:X Go me. I just made a thread very similar to this. :dumb: