Dead roots on my Brassia - Orchid Board

daniellaroses · #1 02-01-2009, 09:30 PM

Hello!

This is my first post here, regarding my first orchid!

Today I was repotting my Brassia, and much to my concern, 99% of the roots were dead! I cut the dead ones off(brown and squishy).....and there were only around 3 or 4 new roots (healthy, white).

So, I am concerned that the orchid may not like what i have done to it! Has anyone had this happen before? Is there any hope for this [I]Brassia[I] to survive? What steps shall I take to help it along?

Thank you!
Danielle

RosieC · #2 02-02-2009, 03:58 PM

I don't know anything about Brassia.

If it was a Phal I would say it sounds like it's been overwatered and the roots are rotted. For a Phal the advice is to cut away all the dead roots and re-pot into new medium. I'm guessing that bit at least is the same for a Brassia.

For a Phal I would say that 3 to 4 roots may be enough for it to then recover given careful treatment, without need for other steps, but again I am not at all familiar with Brassia.

Hopefully someone who knows the type of 'chid better will be able to give better advice.

daniellaroses · #3 02-03-2009, 04:37 PM

So, to give a bit more info....

Right now, I have the Brassia in my bathroom, which has a west facing window. At least, there is one shower taken per day, and my house retains moisture like a sponge.

Other suggestions I have read are to place a bag over the orchid, however because there is so much moisture already in that room, I have decided to forego the bag and just mist it a few times a day with water.

I will let you all know how it goes! If anyone has any suggestions however, I am all ears!

Thanks a bunch!

let_it_grow · #4 02-03-2009, 06:29 PM

1st off... WELCOME

2nd, if all the roots you cut were truly rotten and dead the plant got no benefit from them, they didnt transport any water or nutrients. Cutting them would not hurt the plant. In my experience the roots will turn a little tan cause of the potting medium so its a good idea to make sure they are good and dead before cutting them. Sometimes roots are borderline so i leave them but others cut

3rd, there are lots of things you can do to increase humidity for your chid including tenting it with a bag. The main thing you wanna do is stimulate new roots. Your plant will probably do that on its own but keep in mind that it wont grow new roots on old growth.

beanluc · #5 02-03-2009, 06:59 PM

Hi, Danielle,

This March, when the Pacific Orchid Expo and also the San Francisco Flower and Garden Show happen, Brassia species and hybrids are on my list to acquire. For now I have a Miltassia, a Miltonia/Brassia hybrid.

Quote:

Originally Posted by daniellaroses

What steps shall I take to help it along?

First, you have it now in new, fresh, clean medium, right? Not the same old stuff it rotted in already? Good.

Second, while it's recovering from root-rot, this may sound counter-productive, but go easy on the water for a while. I mean real easy!

The rot happened because it was being watered too frequently anyway, and it will probably want even less while it begins to gather itself back together for a growth spurt following this trauma.

I completely believe it will recover. When it does, water much less frequently. In as humid a spot as it is, you'll probably be watering a lot less frequently than many of us would need. There's a way to water very infrequently without stressing or harming the plant. I described it in this post.

For now, as long as it's got pseudobulbs that aren't completely shriveled and pleated like an empty paper sack, then it's storing enough water to permit you to go real easy on the water during the first few weeks of recovery. If the pseudobulbs are already very shrunken, then you could do the bucket soak once or twice until they swell up again.

Personally, with Oncidium-type orchids like this, that's how I determine my watering schedule. Between lifting the pot to feel whether its weight has become light (means dry), and watching the pseudobulbs to see when they're starting to shrink a little, I get feedback from the plant itself about when it needs to be given water. No guessing. No contrived schedule that might not be the best for the plant.

There's a method recommended often around here, the "skewer method", to see how dry the inside of the pot is. Personally I don't use this for most of my orchids for a couple of reasons. One reason is maybe superstitious on my part: I'm not convinced that I won't injure roots by sticking a skewer into the pots. But, nobody here has ever (as far as I've seen) reported such trouble. The other reason is that, since most of my orchids can store water, I won't water them until even some time after the roots and medium have become very dry. The skewer doesn't help with a schedule like that. But, you may want to look it up and see if you want to try it for yourself.

Good luck,
BL

daniellaroses · #6 02-06-2009, 12:52 PM

Thanks everyone!

So, there are three pseudobulbs on this plant, the largest of which is fairly shriveled. The other two are not as much. I have been misting the growing medium once a day as well as providing moisture via showers (i.e. it's in the bathroom!). I am a bit wary of watering it more than that, as beanluc mentioned, this plant was severely waterlogged before now!

The growing meduim I transfered it to is a chunky-bark type mixture. Before that it was in "Aussie gold potting mix" This it did not seem to like, as most of its roots were dead (when I would touch the outer parts of the root, they would slip off exposing a thin inner thread). This orchid is actually a "rescue orchid" that I got from the local greenhouse here. Therefore, it is not flowering but has a new stalk growing that I have been told will produce a flowering stalk eventually (if I treat it right!, that's where you come in!

So, with this new medium, the plant has a tenency to "float" out of the medium, as it does not have many roots to hold it in! So, I am not sure that it would not float out of the pot if I submerged it, as in the bucket method suggested by beanluc. Any suggestions?

Any other Brassia loving members have any tips on their care? I would love to know! Thank you SOOO much for all the help everyone! I will be sure to send pictures if this guy ever decides to bloom!

beanluc · #7 02-06-2009, 01:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by daniellaroses

the plant has a tenency to "float" out of the medium, as it does not have many roots to hold it in! So, I am not sure that it would not float out of the pot if I submerged it, as in the bucket method suggested by beanluc. Any suggestions?

Sure

With loose rubber bands or with string, you can secure the plant in the medium and the medium into the pot. Also a "bag" made from a nylon stocking foot can keep loose bits of bark form floating off.

In a few days I'm going to take a division of my Miltassia and pot it in bark. I'll post pictures of what I'm doing because this plant will need the exact technique we're talking about here.

Once it grows some new roots, they should hold both the plant and the bark in the pot. A couple of months, probably. Then, the strings and/or nylon can be removed. If a few loose pieces of bark wash out at that time, it won't really matter.

Soon,
BL

daniellaroses · #8 02-06-2009, 03:11 PM

BL,

Thanks so much for all your advice. I will look forward to the pics from your repotting procedure.

Danielle

beanluc · #9 02-08-2009, 11:08 PM

As promised, here are pics of the division I took from my Miltassia.

NB: this division had tons of roots. I understand yours has few. It should still work fine.

The way to make it work is to put the rubber band between the pseudobulbs by sliding it over the leaves and bulbs. This division had 4 bulbs so I put a band over 2 bulbs on one side, then turned it and put another rubber band over 2 bulbs going the other way so it's crisscrossed right between all 4 bulbs.

I don't have the nylon stocking idea illustrated but I bet you can imagine how that works.

let_it_grow · #10 02-09-2009, 03:24 PM

Another thing you can try it to tie it to a plastic fork or knife and leave the length of the utensil to act as a stake for the plant