When root rot is seen thru the glass...

[greenpassion]

This may be a question for Ray...I have all my orchids in S/H. I have had great sucess with this, even to the point of being able to take a keki and put it directly into S/H and it never missed a beat. However, despite how well these guys are all doing, I have seen on some, that there are rotted roots seen thru the glass. (My plants are in clear glass containers) These orchids in question are all rapidly putting out new root growth both inside and outside the pot. The roots that are or have rotten are from the initial introduction to the S/H. Sooo, my question is this. Do I have to un pot the plant and trim off the old dead roots? They are all doing really well, and due to the clear glass I can see the vigorous new root growth on each one. Will the dead roots harm the plant, or get 're-absorbed' eventually?

[Wild Orchid]

I agree, it's a great question!

[billc]

I just leave them be. They eventually degrade enough to get flushed out with the water. If the algae starts to build up enough to bother me, I will repot the plant in clean leca and take care of any dead or decaying roots at that point. As long as you have new growth you're doing great.

Bill

[Ray]

Bill took the words right out of my fingertips.

[greenpassion]

Thanks for the quick replies. It's good to know that I don't have to go thru all that repotting.

[SlipperGirl]

This is very interesting I would have thought you would want to repot it and cut off the bad roots.

[Ray]

That depends upon the extent and cause of the root loss.

If you have chilled the pot and a bunch of roots are dying, while no new ones are replacing them, I'd repot and trim. If it's normal root senescence, no problem.

[keithrs]

Probably a ? For Ray... If the velamen on the outside of the root is rotted does that mean the root is dead and consequently need to be trimmed? Or can the cells of the velamen rot while the cells of the root is still able the absorb water and nutrients?

[The Orchid Boy]

Good question. I always thought that when the velamen is rotted and dead, that part of the root is non-functional. Hopefully someone else will comment that knows.