Can someone diagnose this phal.? Weird black color on the roots.

[K.O.]

Wow thanks for that! I guess i have been misinfomrmed because when I was doing research on treating roots, they suggested using peroxide 3% over fugicide because it was toxic to people etc.

[Roberta]

Originally Posted by K.O.

Wow thanks for that! I guess i have been misinfomrmed because when I was doing research on treating roots, they suggested using peroxide 3% over fugicide because it was toxic to people etc.

There's a lot of "chemophobia" out there... If you use a fungicide don't drink it ... Wash hands after using, same for pesticides.

Beware of dihydrogen monoxide ... If you breathe it, could be toxic.

[K.O.]

LMFAO OBVIOUSLY NOT DRINK IT xD maybe they werent careful and got it on their skin. But ok thank you! ^.^

[aliceinwl]

What are your temperatures like? There are some hybrids with hot growers in their background that just don’t seem to thrive under room temperature conditions (low 70s and cooler). And, if this is your temperature range, semi hydroponic growing will make things even cooler in the root zone. If your conditions are on the cool side, you may want to consider a seedling heat mat.

[K.O.]

@aliceinwl Okay, so i have all 18 of my orchids in my room. I have a designated area for my catts but i put other orchids there as well. The catt area remains a constant 69-75 degrees F. Where i put my dormant afterdark (near the window) ranges from 70 - 49 degrees F throughout the day. Now where I have my phals I actually dont monitor the temp but im going to assume it falls between those ranges because they are literally between where i keep my catts and where i keep my afterdark. Again, i know not all phals are the same, but I have two other phals in the same area that I got around the same time but they are noIDs that had similar issues adjusting only now they are literally flourishing. Today i looked up root burn and figured that maybe it could be that because i noticed that there is also a lot of salt build up on top of the leca. Maybe the salt accumulation is further dehydrating the plant? Any thoughts on that?

---------- Post added at 10:58 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:49 PM ----------

@SouthPark, it didnt really have any long roots to begin with but the growing ones are starting to submerge. However i noticed that the black roots shown in the picture stoped growing almost like their growth is stunted yet they are still quite firm. as for the pot its in i had to repot it lastly in a self watering pot. I was thinking about doing that earlier but i saw another method to watering those plants potted in self watering pots by dunking the inner pot water and then completely draining the pot and not have it constantly sit in water for a few days. As for now i reduced the amount of water i allow the inner pot to sit in to prevent it from rotting. Im also going to buy a mini fan for more ventilation. What i dont understand is that how can there be rot if my room is usually in the 20% humidity level. I needed to buy a humidifier for myself to bring it up to 60% in here but its not on all the time.

[aliceinwl]

Your temperatures sound close to mine. I’ve had some roots grow into the reservoir of the cache pot and if there’s any water in there they die/turn black in short order. Based on this, I don’t think most of my Phals could survive in semi hydro. Most of my Phalaenopsis do fantastic but I have had problems/deaths of a few with a lot of Phalaenopsis schilleriana and P. violacea in their backgrounds. I don’t use fans or humidifiers.

Personally, I haven’t had issues with mineral buildup. I have a few Phalaenopsis that I water with hard water but most pretty much only get a RO water. I don’t know if the build up you’re seeing is an issue.