terminal spike+root problem

[highwar]

hello
I have a half year phalanopsis which has terminal spike.
When I first bought it it was in coco husk media and I changed it to bark sicne the roots started to rot.
it has 4 good air roots - two of them I put in the media to help the orchid. About the other roots- I have 6 roots which are good.

But as you see in the picture the lower stem is black and dry BUT not mushy (it doesnt rot)

What are those spots on the stem ? new roots ?
do you think it will make a basel keiki or not ?


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[Ray]

To me, the black bump looks to be the start of a root that has failed, likely due to some environmental "negative."

[highwar]

some black spots that look like as you said new roots could still be new roots.
how much time it takes to a phal to grow new roots from stem ?

for now I ll spray the top every 3 days to give it more moisture

[Roberta]

Spraying the top could be a really bad idea - if water sits in the "crown" of the Phalaenopsis (the little cup where the leaves emerge), crown rot (death) is very likely. What you should do is water well (like under the faucet) so that water runs out of the pot (which not only flushes salts but pulls air into the root zone) and then no more water until a wood skewer ( or pencil or similar object) comes out dry 2-3 cm down. Then repeat. Phals like a wet-dry cycle. The amount of time between waterings depends on temperature, humidity, and media so I'm not giving a "how often" recommendation. But wet-dry is the goal.

[highwar]

ok
the plastic container is 15 cm high and most of the roots are around 5 cm deep till 10 cm . so why the first 3-5 cm are the important one and not the 5-10 cm where the roots are ?

[Roberta]

Originally Posted by highwar

ok
the plastic container is 15 cm high and most of the roots are around 5 cm deep till 10 cm . so why the first 3-5 cm are the important one and not the 5-10 cm where the roots are ?

This is approximate... assuming that the container is well drained, the goal is to have humidity remain around the roots, an environment that is damp but not "wet". Especially if the drainage is not so good, you can certainly let it dry out a bit deeper. You don't want "bone dry" in the pot, though. There is a "sticky" on this forum that discusses the "skewer" test in more detail.

[bil]

Originally Posted by Roberta

Spraying the top could be a really bad idea - if water sits in the "crown" of the Phalaenopsis (the little cup where the leaves emerge), crown rot (death) is very likely.

I have quite a few phals, and I have never yet managed to get one to hold water in the crown.
Seriously, I think this is a piece of advice that tho well meaning is pointless.
What will induce crown rot is cold or heat. They should be watered in the morning to give them enough time to dry, as if they are wetted late, and they get at all chilled, the wetness might cool them enough to cause problems. Always water with water that is at the ambient temp and not too cold.

[rbarata]

I needed to, literally, give a bath to some of my phals (a precaution due to a suspicion of spider mites) during 4 weeks, and the only available time to do it was at the end of the day, sometimes at night.
I share Bil's oppinion (or a proven fact) that the issue is water in the crown + cold or water in the crown + heat (without dying).
As I was saying, the treatment I did never had any side effects, but I took some precautions: the growing room is not cold and the plant (especially the crown) was cleaned with toillet paper which absorbs most of the water.

[bil]

Originally Posted by rbarata

the plant (especially the crown) was cleaned with toillet paper which absorbs most of the water.

Meh. For a year and a half I routinely and deliberately filled every phal crown with water at every watering. I never lost one.
The only ones I lost to crown rot were three in the garage where they got too cold. Amusingly, those were carefully watered so that the crowns never got wet.

[rbarata]

Meh. For a year and a half I routinely and deliberately filled every phal crown with water at every watering. I never lost one.

Iknow, I know...too picky!!!
I only did it because at night my room gets colder (not cold) and it might take some time for the water to evaporate. When I did this treatment, in other occasions, during day time, I let them get dry by themselves.