Phal root rot?

[milkygato]

Thanks Roberta, just took all of my phals out of the pot, removed the velamin, gave them a thorough rinsing to get rid of the bugs. They all had the same problem of tiny white bugs and mushy roots towards the bottom of the pot. I’m wondering where I went wrong. Could be too frequent watering ( I usually water when the top two inches of bark feels dry and I don’t see any condensation on the bottom), not enough air flow in my apartment etc. wondering if it would help if I try to place all of the roots against the pot when repotting so that they get more air?

[milkygato]

Thanks Roberta, just took all of my phals out of the pot, removed the mushy velamin, gave it a thorough rinsing. They all had the same problem of tiny white bugs and mushy roots towards the bottom of the pot. I’m wondering where I went wrong. Could be too frequent watering ( I usually water when the top two inches of bark feels dry and I don’t see any condensation on the bottom), not enough air flow in my apartment etc. wondering if it would help if I try to place all of the roots against the pot when repotting so that they get more air.

[Roberta]

If you want to "track" the water evaporation rate in the pot, consider using weight as the indicator... If you have a postal scale or kitchen scale, weigh the pot right after you have watered and let the pot drain. Check it again in a few days. As the water evaporates, the pot gets lighter - when it is getting close to dryness, the rate of change of the weight will become smaller. Then you'll know when the plant needs water again. When you water, do it so that the water runs through the pot - that flushes out "crud" and also pulls air into the root zone. As the water evaporates, more air is pulled into the root zone. The goal is "humid air", not "wet".

[aliceinwl]

The little bugs sound like springtails. They’re harmless but tend to occur in broken down media indicating that a repot is needed.

If you position the roots against the side of a clear pot, it’s easy to water based on color: when they’re green don’t water, when they start to turn silver it’s time to water. Be careful not to underwater. The roots and plants have been trying to adapt to an excessively wet environment so won’t adjust well to suddenly being kept too dry. New media also tends to dry out very quickly at first.

Even if the outer part is rotten the core of the root can still provide some hydration: this is why the roots can be pretty bad but the leaves still look okay.

[milkygato]

I freaked out after discovering the springtails so threw away the bark mix, went to Home Depot and got a new bag of bark mix only to find out and they had springtails as well =( after reading through posts on orchid board and like you said, they seem to be harmless so I’ll going t o be more careful with the watering from now on and see how it goes.

Question about the roots - will new velamin form on the stringy roots or are those roots pretty much dead?

[Roberta]

The stringy roots won't grow new velamin. However, they can still hydrate the plant and keep it going until it grows some new roots.

[beachgirl]

My two cents:
when you see black areas near the base, touch it to see if it is soft and rotting. I would spray it with hydrogen peroxide and sprinkle cinnamon after peeling away the dried areas of the old leaves that have fallen, and you might put some rooting hormone powder around that base to encourage new roots.

[Roberta]

It's really important to keep peroxide off the roots - it damages the delicate surface structures. Also cinnamon is deadly for roots. So both can be used on the top part of the pant, the treatment for roots is just to wash them off and put them into an environment that is more amenable to them. I have never used a rooting hormone, and I don't know any other orchid growers who use it. A lot of people on the board (myself included) use Kelpmax, which gently encourages root growth. If given the culture they want, Phals are quite good at producing new roots on their own, too.

[beachgirl]

Originally Posted by Roberta

It's really important to keep peroxide off the roots - it damages the delicate surface structures. Also cinnamon is deadly for roots. So both can be used on the top part of the pant, the treatment for roots is just to wash them off and put them into an environment that is more amenable to them. I have never used a rooting hormone, and I don't know any other orchid growers who use it. A lot of people on the board (myself included) use Kelpmax, which gently encourages root growth. If given the culture they want, Phals are quite good at producing new roots on their own, too.

Yeah I meant that base area that was black. If it is actually rotting, when you touch it, then you have to do something or it's a goner for sure. I don't put cinnamon on roots but I have used peroxide on roots without an issue when I needed to stop rot. But not if the vellum is gone. I've used rooting hormone powder on that base area and it really helps to get nubs started, especially when the old roots are dying because of change of media or some other issue and the plant will die if it doesnt get roots going. Of course we all have our methods that work for us and are repulsive to others lol. Take my advice with a grain of salt.
If OP is interested, here is a tutorial on using the peroxide and cinnamon on the stem.

[aliceinwl]

Maybe if you apply peroxide with a q-tip to a small area of the root you could get away with it? Otherwise, from what I’ve seen: if the Phalaenopsis actually has a healthy root system they can sometimes survive a peroxide “treatment”. If root health is poor to start with, a peroxide treatment usually results in complete death of the roots in short order. Peroxide is not selective: it kills all tissue it comes in contact with.