Help! Is this root rot?

[alopez1021]

Hi guys! I'm new to the orchid world but SO excited I found this forum. I purchased my first orchid a couple months, I believe it's a phalaenopsis. It has been doing very well, but just this week I noticed the roots were starting to turn a different color and it has dark black spots on it now and the tips. I took several pictures to show. I took an overall picture to show where I have it in my house and lighting- It doesn't get direct sunlight. In the close up pictures you can see one of the roots looks like is starting to dry out, and i'm not sure if the small white spots are normal?? The container from the side looks like it still has water and moisture. The roots in the container all look green and plump as well.

**I haven't taken it out of it's original container yet. I give it 1/4 cup of water a week.

Should I take it out, check the roots and repot it in another container? Also do I need to cut any roots off or are the ones on top ok?

Sorry If I'm asking a lot of questions I really want to keep it alive and treat it the best way possible and I'm so new at this, I'm a little worried

I appreciate any suggestions and help!!

________________________________
**UPDATE on the roots (bottom post) ** sorry still learning how to post on this board

[Clawhammer]

That plant looks pretty happy!

The only change I would suggest is giving it a good soaking each watering.

[estación seca]

Are there holes in the pot? I can't tell. There should be. Exposed roots suffer in low humidity homes. It's common. I agree when you water, take it to the sink and run water through to soak the pot. Some people put them in a container of water and soak for a few hours.

[aliceinwl]

I agree it looks pretty happy and my Phalaenopsis often have the upper portions of exposed roots become black or brown spotted with age. Since it’s in a clear pot, a good rule of thiumb is to water when the in pot roots start to look silver rather than green. Then either soak the pot for at least 5 minutes and let the water drain out or run it under the tap.

There’s no rush to repot in your case, but the media is usually pretty old by the time you bring an orchid home. It’s good to repot proactively into fresh media before any problems develop. If the roots will fit back in, you can even reuse the existing pot. Maybe consider repotting once the flowers drop or sometime this summer.

[Mountaineer370]

That's definitely a Phalaenopsis that you have there, and it looks pretty happy and healthy to me. In many of my older Phals that have roots visible at the top of the potting medium as shown in your picture, the exposed part of the root will turn more brown with age and develop a somewhat woody texture. I believe it's due in large part to the low humidity in my home (as mentioned by estacion seca). None of the roots that I'm seeing in your pics should be cut.

Ditto to the watering advice given by everyone so far. I'm assuming here that there are holes in the bottom of that pot for proper drainage. If not, that needs to be corrected soon. With holes, the quarter-cup once a week doesn't seem like enough with your loose, chunky medium, and if you either soak it for a while or flush a good amount of water through the pot, you'll give those top roots a chance to take in some moisture.

Also, it's my own habit, when I water, to have a spray bottle handy, and I will give a good spray to any exposed roots that didn't happen to get wet in the watering.

[alopez1021]

The pot does have holes at the bottom. Every time I water it I may sure it drains out so it doesn't pool at the bottom of the pot. By reading everyones comments it seems like I just need to run a little more water through during the next watering. Thank you!

---------- Post added at 10:17 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:14 AM ----------

Originally Posted by Mountaineer370

That's definitely a Phalaenopsis that you have there, and it looks pretty happy and healthy to me. In many of my older Phals that have roots visible at the top of the potting medium as shown in your picture, the exposed part of the root will turn more brown with age and develop a somewhat woody texture. I believe it's due in large part to the low humidity in my home (as mentioned by estacion seca). None of the roots that I'm seeing in your pics should be cut.

Ditto to the watering advice given by everyone so far. I'm assuming here that there are holes in the bottom of that pot for proper drainage. If not, that needs to be corrected soon. With holes, the quarter-cup once a week doesn't seem like enough with your loose, chunky medium, and if you either soak it for a while or flush a good amount of water through the pot, you'll give those top roots a chance to take in some moisture.

Also, it's my own habit, when I water, to have a spray bottle handy, and I will give a good spray to any exposed roots that didn't happen to get wet in the watering.

I'm definitely going to run more water through it next time, may even try soaking for a few minutes method. I love your suggestion of spraying the exposed roots with a water bottle if I see they need a little extra water. Thank you for your reply!

---------- Post added at 10:23 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:17 AM ----------

Originally Posted by aliceinwl

I agree it looks pretty happy and my Phalaenopsis often have the upper portions of exposed roots become black or brown spotted with age. Since it’s in a clear pot, a good rule of thiumb is to water when the in pot roots start to look silver rather than green. Then either soak the pot for at least 5 minutes and let the water drain out or run it under the tap.

There’s no rush to repot in your case, but the media is usually pretty old by the time you bring an orchid home. It’s good to repot proactively into fresh media before any problems develop. If the roots will fit back in, you can even reuse the existing pot. Maybe consider repotting once the flowers drop or sometime this summer.

Ok thank you! I'll wait a couple months to repot it. Is there a specific media you recommend using? I've tried looking online and have read reviews of some people using certain kinds that killed their orchid due to insects/mold being found in the potting mix so I want to avoid using the wrong stuff. Should I keep using bark or try something else?

[aliceinwl]

Personally, I like bark for my Phalaenopsis but that is not the only option. Best media choice depends on growing conditions, your watering habits, etc. In general if growing at room temperatures (70s) a quick drying media like bark works best, if you grow warmer more water retentive media like moss will also work. If you like to water daily something like lava rock would also be an option.

For mine, I mix 5 parts orchiata bark, 1 part perlite, and 1 part charcoal (I have a lot of Phalaenopsis). If you’re looking for a small quantity of high quality pre-mixed substrate, I’ve been really happy with the mixes I’ve purchased from rePotme Orchid Supplies

[alopez1021]

Originally Posted by alopez1021

Hi guys! I'm new to the orchid world but SO excited I found this forum. I purchased my first orchid a couple months, I believe it's a phalaenopsis. It has been doing very well, but just this week I noticed the roots were starting to turn a different color and it has dark black spots on it now and the tips. I took several pictures to show. I took an overall picture to show where I have it in my house and lighting- It doesn't get direct sunlight. In the close up pictures you can see one of the roots looks like is starting to dry out, and i'm not sure if the small white spots are normal?? The container from the side looks like it still has water and moisture. The roots in the container all look green and plump as well.

**I haven't taken it out of it's original container yet. I give it 1/4 cup of water a week.

Should I take it out, check the roots and repot it in another container? Also do I need to cut any roots off or are the ones on top ok?

Sorry If I'm asking a lot of questions I really want to keep it alive and treat it the best way possible and I'm so new at this, I'm a little worried

I appreciate any suggestions and help!!

Hi Guys I posted a few weeks ago asking some questions about my Phal's roots. I changed the way I was watering it and starting doing the soaking method. I've only done this method once since I last posted. I soaked for about 10 minutes and then let the water drain out. I've been noticing that the aerial roots are starting to shrivel up and dry out, not sure if they are dead?? (Shown in updated picture) The clear pot does have holes at the bottom, most of the roots inside look nice and plump, I did noticed there's one root that is turning brown, and it looks a little mushy but I'm not certain since I haven't taken it out yet to repot. As I pressed into the side of the container, it seems a little squishy, might be hard to tell in picture but the root goes from green/plump to brown at the bottom. I also attached another root pic that's inside, that's yellow- seems like its becoming a little hollow and squishy. Should I do anything about these roots?

**Last time I watered it was 4/19. I was going water it again today since it's about time.

[Phalaenoptics]

Originally Posted by alopez1021

Hi Guys I posted a few weeks ago asking some questions about my Phal's roots. I changed the way I was watering it and starting doing the soaking method. I've only done this method once since I last posted. I soaked for about 10 minutes and then let the water drain out. I've been noticing that the aerial roots are starting to shrivel up and dry out, not sure if they are dead?? (Shown in updated picture) The clear pot does have holes at the bottom, most of the roots inside look nice and plump, I did noticed there's one root that is turning brown, and it looks a little mushy but I'm not certain since I haven't taken it out yet to repot. As I pressed into the side of the container, it seems a little squishy, might be hard to tell in picture but the root goes from green/plump to brown at the bottom. I also attached another root pic that's inside, that's yellow- seems like its becoming a little hollow and squishy. Should I do anything about these roots?

**Last time I watered it was 4/19. I was going water it again today since it's about time.

Hey there! I'm new to orchids too (about a few months in now) but I've been lurking this board, researching, and experimenting with my care. The reason why I decided to post was because my home environment is also very dry and my roots can end up looking a lot like yours.

As a fellow beginner, I know what kind of information is out there on websites and youtube, and it can be very confusing. I also sometimes had trouble googling answers from people who had similar environments and pictures that looked like what I was experiencing.

If your home is very dry, you will get dried out aerial roots like you have here. I find that even roots that look dessiccated (extremely wrinkled/hard and shrunken, with brown spots) can be revived as long as there is some green! A short-term quick solution is to wet some paper towel and wrapping it around the dry spots, the velamen will soak up the water. However, this makes your orchid look a little bit like a mummy, so a better long-term solution is getting some sphagnum moss and loosely wrapping a few strands around the aerial roots, and wetting the moss as needed. For me I mist every 2 days or so, but your care may vary depending on your environment and conditions.

Disclaimer: I enjoy looking after my orchids so I do check on them daily to watch their progress. If you want a more stable environment you don't have to think about, maybe more moss will help retain moisture, provided that your temperatures don't get too cold. Wet + cold = mold

As for your pot, it probably only has holes on the very bottom and therefore not very good drainage. Most orchids are sold as "easy care" plants in stores and that's why the directions are to water sparingly. Therefore, the way the orchid was packaged to be sold in a big chain store will be for the longest amount of survival with the least amount of care. The medium will be tightly packed small bark chips and there will probably some sort of cork/moss ball/ seedling plug in the middle that retains water. The media may also be very fine/broken down inside because it's meant to retain a lot of water. For this reason, I don't suggest watering by flushing the pot until you repot it into a pot with lots of aeration/chunky media!! I learned this the hard way when I almost drowned one of my new phals, thinking I was hydrating it. That's why you're seeing some rotting now while you had beautiful and green roots before.

But don't worry! From my experience, phals are very hardy and forgiving to newbie mistakes as long as you give them the proper conditions to recover. They also can handle repotting pretty well as long as you're gentle and careful with the roots. I was also stressed out about repotting but it turned out fine - in fact my oldest phal started thriving once I finally figured it out. (I've had it since October. After repotting it grew healthy new roots, bloomed, and is now putting out a new leaf and what I hope might be a new flower spike?! )

so if you're serious about being good to your new orchid, I would recommend:
- a pot with good drainage and aeration, look for slots and holes in the side
- chunky media (the classic phal mix from repotme was great for me as a beginner until I learned to mix my own)
- and if you're buying from repotme, they have a sale going on right now, you can also pick up the orchid probiotic (Quantum Orchid) which helps reduce transplant stress and will ease your fears about repotting!!

also, when repotting, any roots that feel firm to the touch are still alive, no matter what their color. I've seen people cut off healthy roots because they didn't know what they were looking for and I want to save you that heartache!

Finally, you have to keep in mind that concepts about orchid care are more important than details, because every grower's home environment is different. What works for someone who grows orchids in hot and humid Florida will be different from those of us in very dry places. You will also have to tweak your care to your lifestyle (how often you water, how often you check on it) and this will all be a part of the learning process.

Your phal still looks pretty healthy though, so don't worry too much!

good luck!

[estación seca]

The exposed roots are drying up because humidity is low. This is common when growing Phals in homes.

The roots in the pot are mostly healthy.

It's not time to water yet. The roots are still green. When they start turning silvery it will be time to water. What are your temperatures day/night? Humidity?