Vanda orchid cracked roots
 

Hey there all! Greetings from Lithuania! I’m newbie in Growing Vandas and And yestarday I purchased this very beutifull Vanda “Blueberry Smoothie) but I noticed that it has cracks on it’s roots. The crack appeears only on outer layer and inner “thread” is still intact and not damaged. Will my vanda be okey? Also the mother plant is dying and huge keiki is blooming, can i saparate it from the mother plant after bloom? It has 5 very thick roots all about 30cm long.
All help will be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Welcome to Orchidboard!!

Orchid roots are a bit different from roots of ‘normal’ plants. The inner thread that you mention is in fact the actual root. But since epiphytic orchids live a life up in the trees in the wild, they can’t draw on water from the ground when it’s not raining. Instead, orchid roots have evolved a a thick outer layer called the velamen, and which essentially functions as a sponge. The velamen frequently cracks since it’s not very flexible, but that doesn’t stop it from doing it’s job correctly. That’s why people often soak the roots in water before repotting, it makes them more flexible and less likely to crack. So in very short, cracked roots are absolutely not a problem!

What do you mean by the mother plant is dying? Do you mean that the flowers have wilted?

As to removing the keiki, I don’t know much about Vanda since I don’t grow any myself, so hopefully other people will give you an answer.

Oh, that calmed me down :) Thank you for your reply and all the information you gave me, as it let’s me to be just a little better at orchids :) No, the mother plant has like 5 leaves and main orchid (keiki) is sprouted from it. It is blooming with two spikes. But I would like to remove keiki from mother plant when keiki is finished blooming. I will attach a photo of the entire plant so it woulb be more clear what I’m talking about :)

And if I understood correctly if the inner actual root is not broken, velamen can be cracked and died a couple millimeters around the crack but root still functions normaly?

That plant looks nice!! Does the keiki seem to have it's own roots? For any orchid keiki, that's the main criteria for being able to remove it from the mother plant. You can also leave it attached to the mother plant, a lot of people like the look of a full plant. And you get a larger flower display! :)

Yes.

It can also happen that a whole section of velamen dies/rots but the section after that is still green. The root is still functioning though. It's not a very good quality root anymore, but for plants that have otherwise very few good roots, it still contributes to feeding the plant.

Yeah, thank you so much. I also noticed that there are eyes growing new roots below the cracked section so it definitely means it’s alive. I would like to keep th mother plant with keiki but mother plant compeletely stoped growing and even top two leaves was wilted and dead when I purchased, so i assume orchid puts all the energy now into keiki. Thanks once again!

I am not certain what parts of the root that "inner thread" consists of - is it just the pith or does it also have the vascular tissue - but it is not the "actual root"; the whole thing is.

http://firstrays.com/Pictures/Orchid_root.jpg

http://cdn.biologydiscussion.com/wp-...mage003-25.jpg

Welcome to the Orchid Board!

Vanda pieces without roots seldom make roots. Be sure anything you separate has a good root system.

You didn't really ask this, but your plant would be beautiful if you left the keiki attached. You will get more bloom if both parts make spikes at the same time. I would give the mother plant a chance to grow again if it can.

Thank You alll for the answers! I will give mother plant a chanceto regrow :) Also, I’m risking to make my self a fool but is it normal for newly opened flowers to be paler than flowers opened way before?