phal in S/H old roots rotting - Orchid Board

murphy48 · #1 09-01-2009, 06:18 PM

Three weeks ago I put a new phal in S/H. It had active root growth. I just pulled it out as all the flowers were wilting. All the older roots are a squishy mess. The ends where it was growing still seem firm. What should I do at this point? There are not many healthy areas of the roots left. The tips that are still healthy are far down on roots where the top parts are almost completely rotten...

RosieC · #2 09-02-2009, 05:47 AM

First I should say I've never tried S/H but from everything I've read about it, I believe that death of the old roots is normal.

That is why you move it to S/H when there is new root growth so that the newly growing roots will take over.

My understanding is that the old roots are not correctly addapted for the S/H enviroment and so will die quite quickly.

Perhaps someone who has done S/H can confirm if I am right or not.

DelawareJim · #3 09-02-2009, 08:49 AM

Rosie is correct. Plants should be shifted to semi-hydro when they are starting to put out new roots that will adapt to the different environment. Existing roots, even though they are activily growing are not adapted to the new environment and will die.

That said, the best thing to do now is replant it in the semi-hydro pot, cut off the flower spike and the rotted roots, and keep it a little drier as it develops new roots.

Cheers.
Jim

trdyl · #4 09-02-2009, 09:38 AM

Also one thing that will help is to mist daily. It will help to retard dehydration. Don't feel too bad I did the same thing when I first started using S/H.

TylerK · #5 09-02-2009, 10:23 AM

This has happened to all my plants after I put them into S/H. The plant will be unhappy for a while, but it should recover in time.

I'm not sure I agree with the misting scenario though. I find that it actually dries things out faster. When the water droplets on the plant leaves evaporate they will pull water from the plant along with them. The intent behind the misting is correct though. You should try to keep your ambient humidity higher if possible without spalshing water on the leaves. Misting won't work well, and humidity trays won't do much either. Your best bet I think is to place a humidifier near your plant if you have one.

My current strategy when repotting into s/h is to place the newly potted plant in my terrarium until the roots have had a chance to re-estabilsh themselves. The old roots still rot, but the ambient humidity is close to 100% so the leaves don't have a chance to dry up before a new root system has a chance to develop.

Tyler

Undergrounder · #6 09-02-2009, 10:33 AM

In my experience even on a plant with no roots, if you just leave it sitting in S/H then slowly over time new roots will develop and take hold. Although expect the plant to lose leaves and put out smaller new leaves for a while. It might take 6 months to a year to recover.

Ray · #7 09-02-2009, 11:05 AM

If you can boost the humidity and warm it up, plants will adjust much more quickly.

I have had keikis start growing new roots in the LECA in as little as 10 days when using bottom heat.

zxyqu · #8 09-02-2009, 02:17 PM

Ray, did you use bottom heat directly on the bottom's of the S/H pots, or did you have a divider? I'm worried that heating the pellets up too much may damage the plant.

DelawareJim · #9 09-02-2009, 04:46 PM

Zxygu;

Generally people that use bottom heat use a heating mat made for germinating seeds. It heats up to around 70-75'F. Better one's use a thermostat. No worries about overheating the LECA.

From Burpee seed:
Seedling Heat Mats - Seed Starting - Burpee

From Johnny's Select Seeds:
Johnny's - Search Results

Cheers.
Jim