Vanda roots brittle and shrivelled after nightly soak

[guccisimo85]

I noticed this morning that a couple of my vandas’ roots appeared quite a bit more shrivelled and brittle than usual after their nightly soak. They normally come out really green and plump. I’ve included a picture of one of them from this morning along with a picture of what I am used to seeing once they dry off. I know it’s a bit hard to see.

A couple of the ends were really brittle and dried out, which seems odd after soaking all night. The water also looked a bit cloudy, which is the first time I have noticed that. I did have some superthrive in there too.

Could it be from increasing the fertilizer recently? I have them up to 3 tbsp MSU in 10 gallons, based on the recommendation on here that they get 1600ppm of nitrogen per week. I’m thinking I should just soak in plain water tonight?

Also ... For those who soak their vandas, how do you keep the leaves/crown out of the water? Or do you not worry much about it?

Thanks!