Don't be so hard on yourself... This is a trial and error process and we all are learners at some point. As far as I can tell those little white hairs are the actual roots but it is kind of hard to see. They were likely once covered with velamen.
Orchids often take a while to recover. Remember that this problem likely existed long before you met this orchid.
My first orchid was a disaster. I still have it but it will be a LONG time before it blooms again. I got it in the winter and faithfully followed the instructions of watering once a week including the 5 min soak. After it bloomed I went to repot it and to my horror the "media" poured out like water. It had pretty good root rot and not one root left Looking back at old pictures I was able to see that the orchid had root issues the day that I received it. The media was stale and decomposing. My treatment of it the first few months made it worse. I was able to save it after months of trying but not before it also lost most of its leaves before it started to sprout new ones.
Try to take the experience as a learning experience. I have 30 orchids now and so far have only lost 4 I think so far- all phals. I have phals, paphs, dracs, vandas, and Psygmorchis and a Brassavola. If orchids are what you love be willing to experiment.
I was able to grow my collection with mystery orchids as I call them. Lowe's and some other nurseries often have a clearance rack of out of bloom orchids. I inspect the roots and take orchids that appear to have a decent shot at surviving and buy them for $3 to $6. Then I take them home and work on them and if I am lucky they rebloom and I am surprised to find out what color they are.
---------- Post added at 06:45 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:42 PM ----------
I forgot to mention that I don't buy orchids that appear diseased for fear of spreading it to other orchids only ones that are out of bloom and clearance but otherwise fairly healthy.
A local orchid society can also be a good place to learn. There are people there who will have the same environment as you do and who may be able to recommend a few things particular to your area.
__________________
Traci
|
Threaded Mode
