Advice on possible root problem

[Lyn a]

Hi all! I’ve been growing orchids for a year now so still very much a beginner. I have had something happen to one of them that I think may be crown / root rot. I think I overwatered it when I re potted it but just wanted advice and conformation that I’m right. The bottom leaf has turned an orange colour and when I looked at the roots some had rotted but some are still firm and intact. There were no Ariel roots. It was potted with in an orchid mix which I think is bark based. I’ve removed it from the pot, cut off they bad roots and now have it recovering in a glass with a very small amount of water In the bottom. It’s a Phalaenopsis and is still in bloom with new buds and what looks like new stems forming. Any advice to help will be much appreciated.

[aliceinwl]

That sounds typical if a Phalaenopsis is just dropping an old leaf. If the base of the leaf and underlying stem are free of black/rot, I think you’re fine. The roots look okay but not great. If overwatering is the issue, I’d repot in something like a small-medium grade based bark mix in a pot that breaths well (something with side ventilation). Watering by flushing rather than soaking can also make it harder to overwater. I found the skewer method in the sticky at the top of the forum really helpful too when I was starting out and trying to figure out when to water.

[Shadowmagic]

Hi Lyn,
looks like you have done the right things. The remaining roots look like they can recover.

The tricky part is keeping the exposed/damaged roots from rotting and keeping the plant hydrated enough.

The aim is to water daily and let roots dry out fully inbetween.

I have to admit I recently gave up on a couple of stragglers. Was too boring watering them every day with no visible progress in months compared to healthy growing plants.

[Clawhammer]

I'm also somewhat of a beginner but I think it is typical for an phal to lose a bottom leaf or some roots after repotting as the roots adjust to the new medium. I would have just left it. New roots that grow into the air or water will likely rot on repotting. I would snip the flower shoot, put it back into the medium, and water with kelpmax.

[monivik]

The thing is that when we buy an orchid from the store, we just don't know for how long it's been sitting in that potting mix. It could decomposing, and if on top of that one waters too much or too often, yeah the roots start rotting. I had the same problem, but because I hadn't repotted in ages.

This orchid seems to at least have some good roots. I would also repot it in a good potting mix as soon as possible.


The difficult thing I found at least here in the Netherlands is finding the right type of potting mix for Phalaenopsis. Most of the ones they sell at the gardening stores are not suitable. They have too much peat moss and are just not aery enough. They'll suffocate the roots of Phalaenopsis.


I found that the best thing is to order the "right stuff" from an orchid grower (nursery) online, we have a couple here in the Netherlands. They know what is the right mix for Phalaenopsis.


You live in the UK, right? I also found that this brand has an ok potting mix for Phalaenopsis, the bark is coarse enough. And it's a British brand. I'm sure you'd be able to find it.

And then it's a matter of finding the right watering routine for you. My house is right now temperature wise an average of 20C all day. I'm not using the heater in the house yet, and I notice that once every 10 days to 14 days works for me. I keep the pot submerged in water for about 10 mins.

But then there are different ways of watering. You have to figure out what works for you.

What I like about the clear plastic pots is that one can see if there's still moist in there. Also on the colour of the roots, if they're dark green still moist. Don't water until it's dry, the roots will then be silvery (light greenish).

Anyway, that's what's working for me so far.

[Shadowmagic]

Originally Posted by monivik

My house is right now temperature wise an average of 20C all day. I'm not using the heater in the house yet

Do you live on top of a kebab shop? My sister lived ontop of a chicken takeaway and the only upside was free heating all year otherwise it is 7 degrees in holland and dropping more every night. Your house could not possibly still be at 20 degrees without a dragon in the cellar or a log fire on all day.

I'd be very interested how I could keep a house at 20 degrees without heating when temps outside hit 0. Would certainly help tackle climate change and keep me a bit warmer

[WaterWitchin]

Originally Posted by Shadowmagic

Do you live on top of a kebab shop? My sister lived ontop of a chicken takeaway and the only upside was free heating all year otherwise it is 7 degrees in holland and dropping more every night. Your house could not possibly still be at 20 degrees without a dragon in the cellar or a log fire on all day.

I'd be very interested how I could keep a house at 20 degrees without heating when temps outside hit 0. Would certainly help tackle climate change and keep me a bit warmer

Interesting. Or are you joking? It's warmer in the Netherlands this time of year than it is in my neck of the woods, and we're just getting around to turning on heat here the last couple of days. I live in a drafty old house with lots of leaky windows, and even at the present 31f outside here, I'm not heating the upstairs floor of the house yet.

And my apologies to the OP.

---------- Post added at 11:25 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:18 AM ----------

Originally Posted by Lyn a

Hi all! I’ve been growing orchids for a year now so still very much a beginner. I have had something happen to one of them that I think may be crown / root rot. I think I overwatered it when I re potted it but just wanted advice and conformation that I’m right. The bottom leaf has turned an orange colour and when I looked at the roots some had rotted but some are still firm and intact. There were no Ariel roots. It was potted with in an orchid mix which I think is bark based. I’ve removed it from the pot, cut off they bad roots and now have it recovering in a glass with a very small amount of water In the bottom. It’s a Phalaenopsis and is still in bloom with new buds and what looks like new stems forming. Any advice to help will be much appreciated.

I think you have plenty of root left to just repot it in a new bark mix. Keep it warm. You don't want to switch out growing methods on an orchid that's already stressed. Each time you get new root growth, it's adapting itself to whatever media/culture you're using. If you switch it out, then switch again, you're just re-stressing the plant. And I don't think that bottom leaf looks orange. I think it looks like it has a slight reddish flush, which means the light it's getting is just about optimum, or perhaps a bit much. Depending on the genus you're growing, that reddish blush on the leaves is very desirable. It means you've hit the sweet spot for growing that particular plant.

[camille1585]

Originally Posted by Shadowmagic

Do you live on top of a kebab shop? My sister lived ontop of a chicken takeaway and the only upside was free heating all year otherwise it is 7 degrees in holland and dropping more every night. Your house could not possibly still be at 20 degrees without a dragon in the cellar or a log fire on all day.

I'd be very interested how I could keep a house at 20 degrees without heating when temps outside hit 0. Would certainly help tackle climate change and keep me a bit warmer

This isn't so unusual... My apartment is at 20C when I get up at 5:30 (with the thermostat set at 18) and on a sunny day like today, it warms to nearly 22C even if it was less than 10C outside and nearly freezing at night. The heating only kicks in on cloudy days or when the day temps are below freezing. Maybe the 'trick' is that my apartment is in a recent, well insulated building (6 years old) with all of our windows facing south. The tradeoff being that it is over 30C inside in the summer during a heat wave.

[monivik]

Originally Posted by Shadowmagic

Do you live on top of a kebab shop? My sister lived ontop of a chicken takeaway and the only upside was free heating all year otherwise it is 7 degrees in holland and dropping more every night. Your house could not possibly still be at 20 degrees without a dragon in the cellar or a log fire on all day.

I'd be very interested how I could keep a house at 20 degrees without heating when temps outside hit 0. Would certainly help tackle climate change and keep me a bit warmer

I wish, that'd be nice, not having to pay for heating the way gas prices have gone up recently. I live in an apartment building top floor with a flat roof. But it's not that cold outside yet, this morning it was around 7C, and the temperature inside the apartment had gone down a little bit to 19,5C, but now it's back to 20C. It will probably get colder inside as it gets colder outside. But for now it's not too bad.

I agree with what the other person said. On the other hand the summer gets unbearably hot here.

Anywayz, this is a bit of side-tracking from the subject of the orchids roots.

[Lyn a]

Thanks for all your advice. I like a challenge and by often buy “hospital plants” and have a go at saving them so I’ve decided to keep it in the glass for now so I can monitor what’s going on with the roots. I’m taking pictures daily to compare and today’s picture looks like there is progress.ive left the stems and flowers on as fingers crossed there is no bud blast so far. I need to buy A smaller pot before I repot it as I only have large ones left. I’m using Westland orchid potting mix at the moment but may go and shop for an alternative.
My orchids are in an east facing window but as I’m in the uk and the outside temp is dropping would it be wide to move them from the window overnight ?