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First Phal orchid with root rot? Pictures

16 years ago

I am a new orchid owner and have a few questions for you pros. My husband bought me this orchid for Valentines day. I pulled it out of its plastic container to inspect the roots and saw that some of them on the bottom look brown and mushy. Do I need to cut off the rotten roots and repot? As you can see from the last pic, it seems to look healthy otherwise.

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Comments (7)

jane__ny
16 years ago
Roots look perfectly fine to me. I don't know what that 'green-stuff' is, but I would leave well enough alone.

Jane
richardol
16 years ago
Roots are fine, more than fine actually. That weird green is some man-made dye.
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Hi, lara. Root hormones work, they really do. You can get them in powders, gels and liquid forms. I've used them on tropicals and houseplants for many years, and on orchids successfully for about five years. You paint the gel or powder or rootless pieces, or can paint the gel on existing poor roots or root nubs. The liquid (eg Dyna Grow KLN, or Hormex) can be used as a watering solution each time you water, and encourage root growth. Check out the websites of Charlie's Greenhouse or Worms' Way to see the different kinds available, and the prices. They are sometimes called "cloning" or "propagation" solutions. This time of year, plus the root hormones, you should be able to get good roots started and maintained on your orchids. There have been a number of threads here on re-rooting rootless orchids. If you do a search, you may be able to find some of them. Search for "root", "rootless" or "re-rooting", see what you get. One useful thread was entitled something like "don't give up on your rootless phals". Sphagnum moss around the area where roots would form helps maintain a humid and slightly moist environment that encourages roots. Good luck.
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Hi. You need to think what caused the rot. One of the commonest causes in cultivation is too low temperature , not enough light. What I would do is cut away ALL the dead tissue with a sterile knife, wash the whole plant in a mild chlorine solution - don't forget to rinse off the chlorine with sterile or boiled water - then leave the wounds to dry for 24 hours. I wouldn't treat them with anything. Get a large jamjar or similar, quarter fill it with fine gravel and add a couple of tablespoons of water, not enough to reach the top of the gravel. Sterilize the whole by microwaving for about 3 minutes. Don't let the water boil away. When it has cooled, pop your plant into the jar (its ICU)and seal the lid.It should fog up. Make sure it is not in contact with any base water. Some people use sphagnum moss, but unless there are live roots, there's not a lot of point. Keep it very warm but out of direct sunlight. In a couple of months ( if you are lucky - your plant is critically ill) you will see new roots forming.
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Comments (7)
I also have a Phal. sphag 'n bag right now as well as one Paph. that I got from our local orchid society (unbeknownst to me, it was neglected and had NO roots). I was also having problems with new roots rotting with my Phal., but I knew immediately it's just too much moisture. Here's what I've done (just to the Phal.) and I now have six little nubs of roots on my Phal. as well as a new leaf: I first soaked the entire Phal. under water in a one gallon bucket for a few hours. I used my RO system for the water and made sure to have plenty of air in the water while I soaked the Phal. I took a cotton swab to the part the new leaves grow from so it doesn't rot out any new growth. I then soaked the stem in [overly strong] Dip 'n Grow for an hour or more (that was by accident - got busy with the kids - I meant to soak for 15-30 mins). Let stem dry. I placed the Phal. in a gallon-sized clear bag right near the opening and covered the stem with just damp sphag. very loosely. I put it in my greenhouse under the lights (about 18" away) and I have a humidifier & fan going, making sure the air gets to the Phal. The Phal. is currently lying on its side because that's the best I can do right now. I did have the root rot and the fungus problem once because I had the sphag. too wet. I hope this helps in your efforts to save your Phal. :-)
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ty for the replies everyone. im not too attached to it but I do want to keep it as long as possible. id like to see a keiki grow out but im not holding out much hope for that. I wont go overboard but i'll try my best and hope it recovers. its a fangtastic color variety that I haven't much seen show up again although similar yellow/pink varieties are common enough in the stores. I have a lot of plants and none are in a garden theyre mostly smaller plants and even the brugmansia is a small one1.5 ft tall or so. there were and are some plants I have that grow too big or too fast which im more willing to part with but smaller ones I tend to hold on to. I do have Neem oil which eradicated the mealy bugs that grew on my brugmansia nearly 6 months ago. it works like a charm and I only needed 2 treatments for it. the white patches are starting on the lowest leaf too so it'll deal with that too.
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mehitabel
16 years ago
I agree with the previous comments. The roots and plant look healthy. And BTW, the flowers are lovely, too-- a lovely, soft, clear pink. Nice pick on your husband's part :)
oliver75
Original Author
16 years ago
Thank you for all of your replies. I will not repot since you all think the roots look fine.
I am pretty sure that the 'green stuff' is dye from the bamboo stakes that came with it. I am looking forward to learning about the world of orchids on this great board!
jane__ny
16 years ago
A word of advice to keep those roots looking good, don't overwater! Make sure the plant does not sit in water in that ceramic pot. Put peanuts or pebbles in the bottom of the pot to keep the plastic pot above any water. Let it get almost dry before you water again.

Over-watering and not enough light will cause the demise of the plant. That is a pretty phal which will send out many branches and lots of long-lasting flowers.

Jane
howard_a
16 years ago
Regardless of what is thought by many it cannot be a good idea to unpot a beautifully blooming plant like the one pictured. Even if one is careful enough not to damage the roots, what about accidentally knocking off a bud or two on the desk or table while holding the plant upside down? Catching one of the flowers on a sleeve...
In another recent thread we are discussing a phal that just may have been the victim of too little watering during bloom. Bloom, especially on a double spike, doubles or trebles the amount of surface area the phal has but the root area remains constant. Overwatering is bad as Jane noted but the reverse is just as bad when an orhcid is blooming. The fine line must be held to and neither exceeded one way nor the other. Its art, technique, science and magic all rolled in one. If it was easy there wouldn't be all the interest. Good luck.

H
sweetcicely
16 years ago
Just so. And well said, Howard.

Sc

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