S/H white mold growing on roots

[isurus79]

Mold often shows up very quickly in s/h and terrarium systems. They are first colonizers of fresh moist areas but will usually go away after a short period. Do NOT flush with any mold killing treatments otherwise you will just have a continuous recolonization event. Either wait for it to go away on its own (which it usually does) or increase air movement in the surrounding area to speed up the process.

[bnegrete]

Thank you so much for your advice!! I'll do that next time!!

[bnegrete]

Thanks Brooke and Ray! I'll "watch it go away" hopefully!!

Regards

[Brooke]

Even if the spot never goes away, it probably won't hurt your orchid.

Brooke

[bnegrete]

Here's an update... The mold grew up to the top leca!! I read in Ray's forum and did the bleach flush treatment for the roots (1oz/gallon) and boiled the leca and also let it sit in this solution for a while. It appears to have worked perfectly!!! Plants look very happy!!

[bnegrete]

Thank you all!!

Ray, I'm a huge fan of your method ! I want to succeed at it!! That being said, a few questions please:
- about the older roots rottening, should I take them out and cut the rott every time I see something weird? Or should I let them be? Taking them out repetedly can harm the roots right?
- And the other question, have you used (or anyone) worm tea in s/h? If so, is it a substitue of common fert, an add on? How frequently do you use it?

Thanks!!

[Ray]

Originally Posted by bnegrete

Thank you all!!

Ray, I'm a huge fan of your method ! I want to succeed at it!! That being said, a few questions please:
- about the older roots rottening, should I take them out and cut the rott every time I see something weird? Or should I let them be? Taking them out repetedly can harm the roots right?
- And the other question, have you used (or anyone) worm tea in s/h? If so, is it a substitue of common fert, an add on? How frequently do you use it?

Thanks!!

If you repot a plant with a huge mass of existing roots, when they start to go, it might create a putrid mess. In those circumstances - assuming I have new roots just emerging - I trim before repotting. If I wasn't able to do that, I'll (rarely) unpot, clean and repot the plant. Most of the time, I just water more frequently to flush the decomposing bits out of the pot.

Worm tea is not a substitute for fertilizer.

[RosieC]

Just taking this in a different direction... is it mold?

I can't see any in the pot in the picture, I see a little white on the root but it looks more like the hairs the roots grow to help them cling to things. These are often white and I've seen posts before where people have mistaken them for mold.

Just a thought I'm throwing out there

[Tabbyblack13]

I just found this problem on one of my orchids. It hasn't been in the s/h for long, so I took everything apart. I found dead/dieing roots so I trimmed the bad roots off. Cleaned off the root stem (there was black stuff on there too). I'm tempted to put this guy in a smaller containers too.

I boiled the LECA in water for 15 mins and now it's cooling. I also sprayed the orchid with Pysan 20. Now it's air drying while the LECA cools. This is a shame because this orchid is trying to put out a spike too. Just my luck.

[flo101]

Hi Ray!

I read your reply to bnegrete's question.. I also switched most of my Phals to s/h medium about three wks ago.. You stated the old roots have adapted to the old medium my question is should I un-pot them & cut the older roots off?: