Semi Hydroponic Roting/fungi

[roguekiller23231]

i just received a 'semi hydroponic' Dendrobium, it's pretty big and the roots look pretty extensive, but at the base of the plant there is a lot of rot, white fungi and black, all over the roots that are at the top are also covered in rot.

the pot is also pretty poor, it's like a plastic tub with 2 tiny holes in it for drainage an inch above the bottom, so there is little to no airflow.

i'm a little reluctant at this stage to take it out of the 'pot' and re pot it, because of the amount of roots and not having a spare pot to put it in.

so my Question is, what should i do about the rot? i've heard cinnamon powder on cut ends helps prevent infection, would putting some on the area's of rot work the same??

[Ray]

Are you certain it's rot? Could it be very dark algae?

If the plant is potted in a decent-quality LECA, there should be plenty of air flow around the particles. The holes in the sidewall are intended to define the depth of the reservoir, not provide ventilation (doing so would actually defeat the wicking ability).

[roguekiller23231]

i'm 70-80% sure it's rot, because there are quite a few dead roots on the top and it's covering them (black patch's that have a 'furry' texture when looked at closely). i've been pulling out a lot of the dead roots and just waiting for it to completely dry out before i try anything else. i suspect the previous owner of the plant kept it wet all the time and never gave it time to dry out.

i'm just a little worried because i don't want it to spread to my other plants and orchids i've got, every time it gets warm i get an almost infestation like plague of gnats! (due to having quite a lot of plants in a small room, and keeping chameleons and other animals that need high humidity).

a sprinkling of cinnamon powder couldn't hurt he plant in any case could it?

[shushu45]

Smell the rot. I'm not saying touch ur nose to it but smell the air around the plant. I picked up that technique From working the the microbiology lab. I know it sounds weird but that's how I tell if there is rot or not.


I give u a few examples. In the microbiology lab some bacteria give off a smell. This isn't really relevant in determining what microbe it is though. Example: E. coli has a musky earthy smell to it. Pseudomonas Has a frutiy smell. And Staphylococcus arias has a (what I think) a rotting carcus smell.

---------- Post added at 06:52 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:51 PM ----------

Fungi has a moldy smell. I know that one is obvious

---------- Post added at 06:54 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:52 PM ----------

Now what I has observed from buying some leca it has its own smell. Even after cleaning it. Before cleaning it it smelled like chemicals and dirt. After rain and dirt.

[roguekiller23231]

all i can smell is the LECA , it's probably not as bad as i first thought, the white spotting might be mineral build up, i'm pretty sure the person i bought off wasn't a professional grower (neither am i) and just kept it wet since 04/2013, since there's a dated label on it!, minerals must have built up on the top.

hopefully that's all it is, but the black parts still worry me, i'll probably end up putting a cinnamon powder on those area's just to be sure and then flush it all out with water, once it's dried out that is.

thanks for the help btw!

[shushu45]

Can u remove the leca with the black spots??

[Zoi2]

S/h plants are never supposed to dry out. Is there water in the reservoir?
The roots at the top probably have a mineral build up from water and dry leca.
Can you post a picture?
Joann

[roguekiller23231]

most of the black parts are right intertwined into the root system, most of the roots are stuck to them, taking them off leaves a white line/residue on each one.

i have removed some, i may remove most of it and replace it with some new pebbles, (got a huge sack of them in the attic for my reptile vivs), but there are a lot of roots that i dont want to disturb, never had an orchid this big or with such a huge root system before.

[shushu45]

Pic would help a lot.

[isurus79]

Originally Posted by roguekiller23231

a sprinkling of cinnamon powder couldn't hurt he plant in any case could it?

FYI- Cinnamon is very bad for roots.