Pink and White Roots - Orchid Board

zxyqu · #1 09-03-2009, 08:47 PM

Hey OB

. Just read a question about Blue Roots, and made me wonder about some roots I've seen during my Phal repotting. For whatever reason I have some thick, firm, white roots sometimes with green ends, sometimes not, that are primary at the center of the rootball. And then some others have a pinkish/red tip.

I'll be honest I can't seem to find anything on this, as when pink and roots are in the same search I get pink plants with root questions. Hope someone can help. I can try to find one to take a picture of, but they've been repotted, and I dont really want to take all the media out to find the ones I'm talking about.

King_of_orchid_growing:) · #2 09-03-2009, 10:14 PM

The root tips of Phals are not always green. They can be green with an orange tinge or a brownish tinge. This is normal and is a result of the roots being able to perform photosynthesis quite possibly at its peak.

Now if the velamin is red or pinkish, that's from prolonged use of tap water. I'm not sure what exactly in the water causes it.

zxyqu · #3 09-03-2009, 10:18 PM

Thanks King. Quick question in terms of the prolonged tap water use. I do use Atlanta tap water, didn't think it would be too much of a problem, but should I switch to something else, or filter it in house? Thanks

King_of_orchid_growing:) · #4 09-03-2009, 10:22 PM

Many people either use distilled water or RO/DI (aka filtered water).

zxyqu · #5 09-03-2009, 10:33 PM

I have been thinking about getting a Brita, or some other filter style setup... or I may secretly sneak some purified water from lab one day... but do you think there is some harm from using the tap water. I didn't know this was the case

King_of_orchid_growing:) · #6 09-03-2009, 10:56 PM

That's a tricky question. As I'm from Southern California, and the tap water here is known to be very chemically processed and full of dissolved minerals and other unknown stuff, therefore I would severely limit the amount of tap water usage on orchids. Maybe in certain instances where there was an emergency where I was pressed for time, would I do so and only with very specific kinds of orchids.

For example, I wouldn't dare use tap water with my Disa tripetaloides. They'd die very quickly from high levels of dissolved minerals and other dissolved compounds in the water.

However, I'm not so squeamish about using tap water on my Phalaenopsis species on occasion.

Then there's also what the quality of your tap water in your area is like. If you have awesome tap water, your main concern may be chlorine. Chlorine dissipates after 24 hrs of being held in a container though, so that's an easy problem to solve. But again, if you're growing something like Disas, forget it, it doesn't matter how good you think your tap water is, it's not going to fly.

Hope this doesn't confuse you.

ardera · #7 09-03-2009, 11:08 PM

Out of curiosity, would water filtered with a Brita be ok? Or should I still use distilled water? I happen to have a Brita filter on my tap, and to be honest, it would be nice if I could just use that.

zxyqu · #8 09-03-2009, 11:11 PM

Thanks King, and it's not confusing as I followed what you were saying pretty well. I'll have to look into this further and figure out something new, maybe a Brita filter, we'll have to see.

King_of_orchid_growing:) · #9 09-03-2009, 11:17 PM

I'm not sure about the Brita brand of water filters, as I don't own one and I never have. I own a RO/DI unit that goes under the kitchen sink in a cupboard. The only way to know for sure is to have a lab that has the proper equipment to test for the concentrations of dissolved organic compounds, dissolved minerals, and volatile organic compounds.

I don't work as a scientist so I don't have access to any of this stuff.

However, if you do, then you can conduct your own tests to see.