Roots rotting after transplanting

[Ray]

You have changed the environment, so the roots have to be replaced. If they are failing, changing them back won't achieve anything but will add more stress to the plant.

What medium are you using?

[GinaStarSeed]

Originally Posted by Ray

You have changed the environment, so the roots have to be replaced. If they are failing, changing them back won't achieve anything but will add more stress to the plant.

What medium are you using?

All orchids are in clay pellets

---------- Post added at 01:40 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:38 PM ----------

Originally Posted by Leafmite

What I have often done is just set the basket/net pots into a larger clear plastic pot, leaving enough room for good air-flow between the pots (often even more room is needed to fit the escaped roots). This helps to keep the humidity around the orchid while allowing plenty of airflow. The roots are not injured in the process so I do not need to worry about the roots getting infected.

This is a great idea.. too bad I repotted them all already. Also..what about when they outgrow even the outside pot? Do you just replant them in the netpot into another netpot? Ad inifitium for their whole life? Nesting the net pots inside each other as the plant grows ?or do you try to cut the pot off when you replant?

[Leafmite]

I drop the old pot into a larger pot. As the medium never decomposes and compacts, why not? The only disadvantage with not changing my medium is that I need to flush my pots very well periodically to keep my medium (red lava rock) from becoming toxic.

[Ray]

Originally Posted by GinaStarSeed

All orchids are in clay pellets

Growing in clay pellets in a mesh pot is not semi-hydroponics. The amount of evaporation that allows pretty much cancels out the wicking process. It's really just traditional culture in an inorganic medium.

Moving it into a less-porous pot is a move toward S/H culture, but really isn't there either, although the wicking has likely improved a bit anyway, and that's what changed enough to require the plants to grow new roots.

At this point, the best thing you can do is treat the plants with a good root-growth stimulant, and keep them in high humidity (to slow desiccation) while they get reestablished.

[tasha]

So we can plant phal orchids in net pots and leca balls? or no?

[Ray]

Originally Posted by tasha

So we can plant phal orchids in net pots and leca balls? or no?

Yes, you certainly can, but you need to be aware that doing so will require a LOT of watering, and that mineral buildup will be accelerated.

Hydroponics refers to growing in water. I coined the name "semi-hydroponics" to differentiate single-pot, passive hydroponics from systems using pumps, ebb & flow trays, etc., but the "water" part is still important.

My design of S/H pot uses any plastic container with a solid bottom and only two, 1/4" holes in the sidewall, close together, about an inch or so above the bottom. In such a pot, a reservoir of solution in the bottom is wicked up to the top, keeping the entire column of medium constantly moist.

When you water, you fill the pot quickly to the top and let it drain. Doing so 1) flushes the medium, 2) saturates it, and 3) refreshes the chemistry of-, and refills the reservoir.

The pot design has the added benefit of never being able to be overwatered, which allows automation of the watering.

The pot design can be simulated by using a solid wall pot sitting in a tray of solution, making it an external reservoir, rather than internal, as in my design. Net and perforated pots are unacceptable due to the evaporation from them outstripping the ability of the LECA to wick properly. Clay pots will also work, but only do that if you're attempting to grow cooler-growing plants, as the evaporative cooling from the pot walls will effectively chill the root zone.

If you want to actually learn more: Read This.