White growth on the roots

[anagha]

Hi,
I bought my first orchid, a white Phal about a month ago. After a couple of weeks the last two flowers started to wither and the petals drop off. One unopened bud droped off too. I thought that it was not getting enough light and moved it next to a window. The remaining flowers look good.
I water it about once in 5-8 days and have not repotted it since I got it since it was in bloom when I bought it. I place the pot on a plate with pebbles in it and leave some water on the plate too.
Yesterday I noticed a whitish fungus looking growth on the roots and bought a bad of potting bark to change it. Should I wait till the blooms fall off before doing it ? Will the blooms be able to survive a repotting ? Or will I do too much damage to the plant if I don't cut off the affected roots and repot it now ?
The leaves look quite healthy so far though they are a deep green probably because of the lack of proper sunlight.

Thanks for any advice ..

Anagha

[edwardwang]

If you want to repot, suggest to cut off all the blooms.
This way can make your plant stronger, at the same time,
clean/asepticize the roots and change the moss or other material you use.

[Chubidubi]

:iagree: it could have some sort of fungus. Try to post a so we can see what's going on.

[anagha]

Here are some pics ... The roots look really bad .... I hope I can save the plant.
Please help !!!

[mehitabel]

Hi, anagha. I can't see from your pictures what the white stuff on the roots is, but I'm going to guess.

My guess is that it's a white mold, which does form sometimes on roots in bark mixes. This stuff is easy to get rid of by just pouring thru a dilute solution of physan or of some mild fungicide. I've gotten it on different orchids from time to time, and it's not a big deal.

Your plant looks healthy to me, so I wouldn't worry. Just deal with the mold with a fungicide, and then repot when you're ready. I don't think it's necessary to cut the spikes.

About repotting-- you probably need to fairly soon. If you are new, you may want to wait a month or two to gather some nerve for it-- it's daunting the first time. I've found I lose a few flowers if I repot a plant in spike, but I wouldn't cut the spike off .

Just concentrate on enjoying the blooms, giving it the best care you have in the meantime, and it should thrive.

Good luck

[anagha]

hello mehitabel,
Thank You for your reply and sorry for the delay in responding. There was a family thing and it we were all so crazily busy ...
Heartens me to know that I have not (yet ) killed the orchid ....
Can I wait for the flowers to drop off before I do anything ? They look so pretty that I dont want to upset them with any tough love right now !
When I touch the root that has the growth however, it feels squishy and not firm like the others .. Besides the growth is on the part of the root very close to the stalk so it might be harder to cut it off ...
Also, will I be able to get physan in any store that sells plants ?

Thank You so much for your reply
Anagha

[priz_m]

I am with mehitabel, Anagha your phal looks healthy overall. when you repot try to cut that root off as close to the base as possible, it is rotten, but that is not terrible. As long as you don't end up cutting 90%+ of the root system you don't have to cut the spike. and phals usually handle repotting while in bloom better than other orchids so your blooms may not be affected by it.

As for the physan I am not sure, I usually use hydroperoxide water on rotted roots, rinse and dust with cinnammon and so far, so good.


Just as reference for the repotting part

Easy Orchids - Re Potting A Phalaenopsis

[JennS]

You can still enjoy the blooms and wait to repot until they are all gone. Follow Mehitabel's advice and get the Physan and treat the plant with that. You should be able to find it online if you can't find it in a plant store or nursery. Just google it. When you do repot the plant, go ahead and cut off the infected root (the mushy one) with sterile clippers. I use rubbing alcohol to steralize mine, even when cutting dead spikes. Just wait for it to dry then cut the bad roots off. You can use cinnamon to treat the area where you cut the root off. Just dab a bit of the cinnamon on the cut spot. After that just keep a close eye on it and make sure no new mold growth appears.

[anagha]

thanks guys for all the help ! It's a relief that I don't have to repot right away I'll get the solution and hope for the best ... Also, I keep the pot in a tray of water with pebbles. I read in another post that when air circulation is poor it could cause fungus growth especially with the additional moisture. Am I doing something wrong here ?

[Ross]

Originally Posted by anagha

thanks guys for all the help ! It's a relief that I don't have to repot right away I'll get the solution and hope for the best ... Also, I keep the pot in a tray of water with pebbles. I read in another post that when air circulation is poor it could cause fungus growth especially with the additional moisture. Am I doing something wrong here ?

Sorry to join this thread late, but the pebbles and water regimen doesn't do anything good. Too much chance of keeping the potting medium real wet and rotting the roots. There is no appreciable humidity gain from this. You can use a drip tray to catch water however. That is a valid reason for a tray, but ditch the pebbles. They just harbor mold. Is there any way to get a sharper picture of the roots? I really can't tell for sure, but they mostly look normal to me. Phal roots will have a white coating - it called Velamen. It's function is to quickly absorb all the water/nutrients it can during a brief rainstorm and feed those to the root in the center (out of site.) Even a brown, mushy "root" could have a viable root in the center - it might just be the velamen that is rotten. I use clear pots so I can check on status of the roots and potting mix. This leads to green roots because they are capable of photosynthesis. When the roots turn from green to white, I water. Really simple. No guess work, no rot.