Trying to improve the growing conditions for my orchids.

[BrandonMD]

Hello,
I'm new to this forum and consider myself a beginner when it comes to my orchids. I love all the great advice that everyone has provided here. I was hoping to get some more specific advise or recommendations on my current setup.

I’ve had my Phalaenopsis Orchids for about 3 years now. I got one at Home Depot and the other was a gift. They were both in bloom when I received them. I repotted them into a regular pot with a drain hole in the bottom. I replaced the media with Phalaenopsis Mix by Better-Gro. They have been doing ok over the years and growing additional leaves. I would use fertilizer sparingly from time to time. They were in a low light area so the leaves were always dark green and they haven’t bloomed since.

A few weeks ago I decided to make some changes to improve the growing conditions for my orchids in hopes that one day they might bloom.

In the process of repotting I was surprised to see that they had root rot. About half the roots were brown and black. I removed the dead roots and repotted them into a pot that has air holes in the sides and a drain in the bottom.

I installed a 260 watt Hi-output (6700K) compact florescent light fixture mounted 12” above the pots. It’s on a programmable timer and they now receive 15 hours of light per day.

They appear to be doing well but I have some concerns. Due to all the recent changes I’ve noticed rapid growth in the last week as well as color changes to the leaves and some texture changes.

On both orchids the leaves have went from a dark green to more of a lighter green and dark violet color tone. They used to be very stiff but are now softer and a couple leaves are almost limp. They are room temperature to the touch. I suspect it’s due to the root loss and/or lack of moisture being in the new pots. One of the leaves on one of the orchids has some slight wrinkling.

I’m not sure on what I should do here, if anything.

• Will they require water more frequently due to the lighting increase?
• Should I be concerned with the change in leaf colors and texture?
• Do you think the current conditions will promote healthy growing and possible blooms?

Any recommendation or tips on what I should be doing differently going forward would be great. I don’t want to inadvertently harm them. Thanks in advance, would really appreciate any feedback!

Growing Environment Details
Type: Phalaenopsis Orchids
Planter Pot: Orchid Pot with air holes throughout with drain hole in the bottom.
Potting Mix: Phalaenopsis Mix by Better-Gro. Consists of bark, charcoal and perlite mix.
Fertilizer:
Orchid Plus 20-14-13 by Better-Gro. Used sparingly every watering.
Orchid Better-Bloom 11-35-15 by Better-Gro. Used sparingly once a month.
Lighting: 260 watt - 48" Hi-output compact florescent fixture hanging 12" above the pots. 15hrs of light per day.
Bulbs: 4 x 65 watt bulbs (6700K)
Room Temperature: 70F - 80F
Humidity: 30% - 50%
Watering schedule: About once a week I place the pot in a bin of water and soaked them for 30 minutes.

[Arizona Jeanie]

I'm new here, but have been nursing along a phalaenopsis that had no roots, still alive after 1 year, and gradually improving, so I will share a little of what I've learned. When you lose the roots it's very difficult for the plant to take in enough water to keep the leaves hydrated, so they get limp and will wrinkle up. Eventually the plant will die if this keeps up. So the trick is to walk the line between hydration and rot, and encourage photosynthesis without stressing the plant too much. I think I'd back off on both fertilizer and light until the roots recover. The "sphag and bag" treatment did seem to help a lot with mine--keeps the humidity up without further root rot. Good luck with it! PS, to encourage blooming, mine get a few weeks of nighttime temps down to 58F or so in the fall, seems to help.

[bil]

Personally, I don't like mixes. I use plain bark, about 2" chunks, and I sieve it to get rid of all the smaller bits as I want it nice and open. Mine are all rearing to go outside, but it's a bit cold yet with single figure nights promised. Bit of a pain because so many of them are flowering now.

Plain open bark does have a slight prblem, in that I end up in the summer having to water them almost every other day, but at least I never fear root rot.

[silken]

The lighter leaves and purple colour are a result of more light and not a problem so long as they don't burn. But as mentioned, given the fact they have few roots (especially Phal #1), it may be too much light at the moment. You may want to only mist the top of the media on that one as watering all the pot is not doing anything since there are no roots in the whole pot. I would get some seaweed and use it when you water or mist the roots. It promotes root growth. The other one has a few more roots so water well, but then let the pot nearly dry out right thru before watering again. New bark does dry out very fast and should be soaked for a few hours or overnight before using. A bamboo kebab skewer inserted into the pot can be pulled out and tested to see how wet things are deep in the pot and will help prevent root rot. One drain hole only is likely why these plants got root rot in the old pots. In nature they hang from trees so their roots are not buried and kept wet. They get rained on and then quickly dried by gentle humid breezes. So they need to get air to the roots.

You could try setting the entire pot into a small glass terrarium or even a storage tub (not snapped shut tho) to create a more humid environment until the roots grow enough to support the leaves. Too much light and fertilizer at this time will only stress them.

[Ray]

Originally Posted by BrandonMD

I installed a 260 watt Hi-output (6700K) compact florescent light fixture mounted 12” above the pots. It’s on a programmable timer and they now receive 15 hours of light per day.

If that's actual watts, as opposed to "equivalent" watts, I'd say you're giving the phals WAY too much light, and suggest you at least double the distance from the plants.

The plants might grow fine, but they will likely not bloom as well as they might with that exposure.

Fertilizer:
Orchid Plus 20-14-13 by Better-Gro. Used sparingly every watering.
Orchid Better-Bloom 11-35-15 by Better-Gro. Used sparingly once a month.

I will also have to ask what "sparingly" means in your feeding regimen - how many teaspoons per gallon?

Overfeeding is very detrimental to plants, and orchids really do not need much food.

[Nali12]

Purple color was mentioned as "optimal color for bloom" in the instructions on one of the fertilizer bags I've had. It's a good healthy color for an orchid, though as I've found they don't need to be purple to bloom. They certainly do need extra light to sustain flowers - mine are growing in the sunny state of California, and still the ones that aren't immediately hugging the window but are placed inside the room don't bloom as frequently. Orchids seem to prefer having lots of bright, indirect, scattered light, so the extra light you have now should encourage them to bloom. Too much light (in my case leaving them in direct sunlight by mistake) causes the leaves to get "sunburn": turn light green, yellow, look weakly colored or discolored, and eventually fall off.

I'm not sure if you meant that you repotted them right after purchase and had them growing in the same medium for 3 years, or if you repotted them at some time in the past 3 years. In the first case, 3 years is too long to keep orchids in same medium from what I read. I've noticed that the medium for my orchids has disintegrated within 2 years and some nurseries recommend replanting them every year. Certainly not all mediums seem to be the same.

I once visited the local botanical garden, and it became clear why root rot is such a problem with these mixes. They were growing their orchids the way they are found in the wild - their orchids were sitting on top of a piece of bark, with their roots hanging in the air, with only a little bit of moss gathered at the center. In comparison to this free-hanging setup they had in the garden, the mixes sold in stores do seem suffocating to the orchid's roots. So maybe try repotting them every 1-1.5 years to prevent the rot. After seeing this, I now try to buy mixes with large bark pieces and avoid finer ones.

[bil]

I would always put phals in pure bark, 2" chunks, sieved to remove small bits that might block air channels.

[BrandonMD]

Wow, thank you all for the feedback and great advice.


I was surprised to see all the responses in such a short time frame. Thanks for relieving my concerns with the purple coloring of the leaves. Based off the feedback it sounds like I need to back down on the lighting, stop fertilizing and increase the humidity until the roots recover and grow back.

Should I turn off the light entirely until the roots recover or just limit the light exposure to a few hours a day?

Would you recommend that I change the media again with larger chunks of bark or wait until the roots recover?

Originally Posted by silken

You could try setting the entire pot into a small glass terrarium or even a storage tub (not snapped shut tho) to create a more humid environment until the roots grow enough to support the leaves.

I like the idea of putting them in a small terrarium to create an environment with a higher humidity until the roots recover. I’ve seen some in small aquariums with a little ultrasonic humidifier. Do you have any additional advice on how to set this up properly?

Originally Posted by silken

A bamboo kebab skewer inserted into the pot can be pulled out and tested to see how wet things are deep in the pot and will help prevent root rot.

I’ve read this on other posts too. I’ll start using this method. One of the most challenging things for me has always been figuring out if they need watering or not. In the past I just stuck to a weekly soak schedule.

Originally Posted by Ray

If that's actual watts, as opposed to "equivalent" watts, I'd say you're giving the phals WAY too much light, and suggest you at least double the distance from the plants.

I will also have to ask what "sparingly" means in your feeding regimen - how many teaspoons per gallon?

That that’s the actual wattage of the fixture with the 4 x 65 watt bulbs. I placed it 12” above the pots but may increase it based off your recommendations. As for the fertilizer I would normally use about 1-2 teaspoons per gallon of water.

Originally Posted by Nali12

I'm not sure if you meant that you repotted them right after purchase and had them growing in the same medium for 3 years, or if you repotted them at some time in the past 3 years. In the first case, 3 years is too long to keep orchids in same medium from what I read. I've noticed that the medium for my orchids has disintegrated within 2 years and some nurseries recommend replanting them every year. Certainly not all mediums seem to be the same.

I repotted them shortly after I received them and they were in the same media for about 2 ½ years. After reading all the recommendations I will be changing out the media every year.

.

[silken]

I would just set the pot in the terrarium or storage tub so that it cannot absorb any moisture from the bottom. Then add a dish of water, or if the pot can be elevated in a way that the entire bottom of the container can have an inch of water without wicking into the pot. Anything to make it more humid even if it is just bowls of water. Or if you have a small mister or humidifier then having it near the plant or adding humidity to the container would help. You don't want moisture building up and collecting in the crowns of the plants tho because then crown rot can set in.

[BrandonMD]

Originally Posted by silken

I would just set the pot in the terrarium or storage tub so that it cannot absorb any moisture from the bottom. Then add a dish of water, or if the pot can be elevated in a way that the entire bottom of the container can have an inch of water without wicking into the pot. Anything to make it more humid even if it is just bowls of water. Or if you have a small mister or humidifier then having it near the plant or adding humidity to the container would help. You don't want moisture building up and collecting in the crowns of the plants tho because then crown rot can set in.

Thanks for the advice. I'll look into setting up a small glass aquarium, elevate the pots above the water level and place a small underwater sonic mister to increase the humidity while making sure no moisture builds up in the crown.