Roots dead plant great.

[thakshila smith]

roots of my some Oncidium plants are dead I suppose ,Due to moisture I think. leaves are okay. ..
New shoots are coming up too. But will it start to grow again .I mean will new roots come up. ..
I give plenty of light.

[cb977]

Hi thakshila

I wish I had an answer for you but the Oncidiums seem to be my problem 'chids

I'm sure somebody who knows what they're doing can help ya

[Gin]

Hi , the new growth should grow new roots , I would reduce the light until they start to make them , to avoid dehydrating the plant . Beware of heat at this point , and overwatering . Hope this helps .. Gin

[Erin Raven Skye]

I'm not sure if this will help as it is a different kind of orchid, but when I first got my phal and attempted to re-pot it, I discovered it didn't have any live roots. The leaves and blooms looked healthy though, so I wrapped the base in some of the sphagnum moss that came with the plant, and supported it with some river rocks (so the plant wouldn't tip over and uproot itself). After that, I left it alone, and just made sure I watered/fertilized regularly. I just took a look the other night and found some plump healthy roots growing.

So basically, what I'm trying to say is if it's looking good and growing new shoots, don't fret too much, just give it time...and like previous advice, don't overwater

[thakshila smith]

Thank you all for the advices .now here its night time .Therefore I have to leave the Forums . Bye. I understood this is the forum time busy . !!

[Randy]

Howdy!

You need to remove any of the dead roots. After you do thoroughly powder the area with cinnamon. It's a great antifungal agent.

Next put it into the smallest pot you can squeeze it into. Use clear plastic if possible so you can watch the root growth. The older growths won't grow any new roots, but they will continue to give any new growths nutrients while they grow the new roots. IMHO Do Not Use Aussie Gold for this!!! It holds too much moisture and will continue to kill your plant! I put anything I am trying to grow new roots on into a very shallow clear pot with sphagnum. The sphagnum at least seems to dry out. I don't know what it is about the aussie gold but it never seems to dry. Whenever I've gotten a plant in it I repot it right away flowers or not. It has always saved the plant.

If you can get some KLN by Dyna Grow. Mix it extremely dilluted (1/8 tsp/gallon) and spray at the base of the new growth daily, especially after new root growth starts. Your older psuedobulbs will shrivel up because they are supplying the energy for the new growth. However, once new roots start, you need to nurture them carefully. I have brought back plants for myself and for many friends. Once in a while I will loose one that is too far gone.

[Ray]

Water, per se, does not cause the loss of roots.

If the potting medium is too old, decomposed, or compressed too tightly, it can suffocate the root system, and THAT leads to death and rot.

If the compacted medium is watered heavily, it is held in the few remaining airway paths, and exacerbates the sitruation.

Air management at the roots is the key to all orchid growing.

[Erin Raven Skye]

That makes a lot of sense Ray, and could also explain why my roots looked the way they do.

When I first got my plant the roots were fused to the potting medium with what looked like expanding foam. I picked out what I could, but a big clump of it was compacted really tight, and I couldn't risk removing it without damaging the roots, so I left it. It was doing good (before it got sunburned) but not only did the leaves start falling off (which Dorothy and Ross assured me is fine) but now it seems to have jumped pot. Since it seems both attempting to repot it or wrapping the roots in sphagnum are both shocks to the system, I've not done anything to it, and now the roots are just exposed to the air...which I'm not sure is the right thing either. :sigh: I think pretty soon I may be labeled an orchid killer

[Randy]

Quite true Ray, thanks for bringing that up. I have a friend who was, until she met me, cutting the roots off her phal that were growing out of the pot. She has the thing in regular soil!!! I explained to her that the roots kept growing out of the pot because the plant was trying to survive. The roots need AIR!

She brought me in one of her phals that wasn't doing very well. It was in a very deep 8" pot with regular pottting soil. All the roots were dead. It had one root that was just starting to grow and it was growing straight up. That one root was too small to support it and I couldn't save it. Maybe in a different season, but not summer. It was just too far gone.

Blessings,
Randy

[thakshila smith]

Thanks Randy ,Erin an all reply me... I put some cinnamon too.