Black spots on vanda roots.

[Justright1]

Hello. I'm struggling with some Vandas. I own about two vanda orchids. I follow the regular care for Vanda orchids. I own a 2 gallon bucket full of water and dip them everyday. My watering is kind of strange sometimes I let one of them sit in the bucket for 3 hours and then maybe the next one for 1 hour. I'm quite busy in the day so I never really have a timer on them. I'm just realizing there are black spots on the old roots , and have this strange pink pigment to them. I just thought that the black spots were something on the old roots , but now they are traveling to the new root growth. I noticed one time that I haven't changed the bucket in a while, and when I dipped the orchid in I realized the water had a strange film on top of it. I have a feeling dipping the orchids in that strange film a couple times led to this strange black spotting. I don't know what it is, and is there any way to get it off or prevent it from spreading? And is my orchids going to die?

[estación seca]

What are your ambient temperatures day/night? Humidity?

Vanda roots seldom look perfect except in perfectly warm, very humid environments. Yours are acceptable.

Use fresh water every day. This is very important. Don't let a bucket sit, and soak in that day after day.

[Justright1]

My room stays at about 40% humidity day and at night 35%. And my room stays at 75 Fahrenheit day and night. I do have a small diffuser going to keep the humidity go up.

[estación seca]

That's quite cool but not impossible for Vandas. They like much warmer days. Use fresh water each time.

[Justright1]

Is there a way to get rid of the black spots?

---------- Post added at 05:48 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:45 PM ----------

And is it killing the roots?

[Orchidtinkerer]

ok so you have a bucket sitting around for months that you use to dunk your orchid in, just so I understand the context.

The water in the bucket has developed a film on the surface on the water. Ok

Roots have black spots - this I have no clue but I think this is not a major issue.

Roots have pink color - now this I think is a slight problem

Roots should be silvery and green. If they develop staining as bare-root plants the only thing that can stain them is excessive nutrients.

So we must ask what and how much are you feeding it - also don't forget since you are re-using your water you are feeding it on every single watering.

Generally people feed and rinse. Feed rinse and repeat. If you don't rinse every so often nutrients can build up to toxic levels and burn the roots causing discoloration.

The film on the surface of the water is from something decaying in your bucket - this will not harm your orchid as such but is not a good practice. Some fertilizers break down soon after use - all organic fertilizers do anyway since they are organic. They need to be used straight away and can't be kept in a bucket otherwise they start to decay (and even smell sometimes) and more importantly decompose and dissapear!

Just as a tip - use a Glass Vase - this stops roots drying out as fast so you don't need to dunk - you can use a spray bottle instead and the Vase will hold the excess water from spraying. Always find what is easiest and works best for you, dunking is not a very time efficient or safe method for that matter. It's the best way to transfer a virus (if one were present) from one plant to the other so a spray bottle is far more hygienic for the plant too.

[estación seca]

Vanda roots are certainly alive as long as they have the larger diameter. Sometimes when they die the velamen shrinks in size down to the wiry core root, but this also happens with unhappy but living roots. I don't cut off Vanda roots unless they are black and slimy.

The black spots will not go away. The roots will never look great in your lower humidity, but they will stay alive and the plant will grow. Your temperatures and humidity will lead to a struggle for most Vandas but they can survive and flower. They prefer hot, humid weather with slightly cooler nights.

[Roberta]

On general principles, it is not good to share water between plants. Any disease/fungus/rot, etc from one will be transferred to the other.

It is pretty difficult to over-feed a Vanda - they like fertilizer more than most orchids. A small amount of fertilizer with each watering mimics what they get in nature, and is much better than a larger amount less frequently. But you need to come up with a better way to accomplish than than by sharing water, and even worse, having it sit around for multiple days growing whatever organisms that it got from the roots. The suggestion of a vase is very good. Search the forum for "Vase Culture" and you'll see some very successful setups that people have used to grow Vandas in low-humidty, in-the-house conditions.

[Justright1]

Thank you all for the help. Replying to some of those questions. When I fertilize I use the recommended amount of Miracle-Gro fertilizer. It says mix 1/4 tablespoon for every gallon of water. Since my bucket is 2 gallons I add "2" 1/4 tablespoons. I forget to fertilize, so lately I have been fertilizing every week. I'm so glad you mentioned this because the pink coloring wasn't a huge concern. I'm glad I know now. The instances when the water has strange film on it, I did not chang the water for couple of days. I do change it every two or three days. Also I definitely do not leave the fertilizer in the bucket, as soon as they are done soaking, I will dump the water and refill it with fresh tap water.