Root Problem?

[flowerchild29]

Hi everyone,

My phal orchid has been growing some serious aerial roots lately. I'd say it's in the process of growing 7 aerial roots (when it's never grown aerial roots before), and I have no clue how many other roots it's growing from the base.

Today is watering day for my plants (Monday and Friday schedule), and I noticed that a few of said Phal's visible (though not aerial) roots were darker (kind of dead looking?) than I'd noticed before. I started to freak out because this plant is my favorite. So, I overreacted... and I began moving the bark to get a better look.

The aerial roots are green, but the roots that are underneath the bark are white. Some are yellow. Of course, a few were brown/dead. But a lot of them weren't pretty green. The majority of them are white. Now, I know this plant isn't under-watered. In fact, the bark medium was very damp! I was shocked that it was so damp since the pot that it's in has so many holes. I tried googling some things, but most people point to dehydration.

The white roots aren't stringy, but they aren't beautiful. They aren't paper thin by any means, but they aren't as plump as the rest of the new growing roots. Some of the "dead" looking roots even have green roots branching off of them now.

What do you think the case could be? This plant looks like the perfect image of health on the outside! I'm very worried. I replaced the potting media (it's been almost a year since I repotted), I made sure not to pack the plant in as tightly, I punched a few more holes into the plastic pot, and I'm praying I didn't do more harm than good.

Any advice/thoughts would be appreciated.

P.S. When I water on Monday AND Friday, I basically spritz Monday and pour some water on Friday. I make sure all of the water drains through the pot. I don't let it sit in the tray. I even jiggle the pot gently to get the remaining water out. I'm worried that it was being suffocated, or that the potting media may have just deteriated?

[Leafmite]

To see if the roots are healthy, soak the orchid's root zone for a few hours and see if any of the roots become plump or green.

[flowerchild29]

Would this hurt the plant if the roots are already over-watered?

[JScott]

Roots which have been growing in the medium will often be white rather than green, because if no sunlight reaches them, they won't have much chlorophyll.

[flowerchild29]

JScott, I wondered this! I left a white root out of the media. It was trying to be aerial, but it got stuck in the potting media. I'm going to keep checking to see if anything happens to its color. I was really concerned that I've suffocated it, or that I've ruined a bunch of the roots by somehow over-watering.