Root rot party

[Theodoreorchidking]

For some time I have been struggling with root rot. I have tried many media's and they all seem to fail my overwatering. As of now I have gotten into more expensive paph and phrags and don't want the same to happen to them. So when do you know when to water and what is a good grow media. What I have on hand is myrical grow bark, orkiata bark, medium pumis, and semi hydro lecca. Thanks. So much

 

[Paphluvr]

Ask twelve orchid growers what growing media is the best and you're likely going to get twelve different answers. The best media is what works for you under your conditions. If you know you overwater you either need a more porous medium or, easier yet, stop watering so often. You'll also find the hobby more rewarding and less expensive if you learn how to grow the less expensive plants well before moving on to the more expensive ones. Please consider this advice from someone who's been growing for almost 50 years and had to learn the hard way, too.

 

[Ray]

Read and learn the above ^.

Water does not cause rot. If it did, every orchid from a rainforest would be extinct, as they can stay saturated for weeks, if not months at a time. The true root loss process is suffocation.

Unlike most terrestrial plants that do most of their respiratory gas exchange processes through their leaves, orchids have evolved to do much of that through their roots.

When we water, the vast majority just pours through the medium. Some is immediately absorbed by the plant and the medium, but there is an fraction that’s the culprit- the water held between particles by surface tension (surface energy). If the voids in the potting medium are too small, that surface tension is strong enough to keep them full of water. That cuts of gas exchange air flow and the roots suffocate. (That is probably the reason the myth about “orchids must dry out between waterings” originated - let the crappy medium dry out and the airflow is restored…)

Use a coarse mix having larger voids and/or a medium that absorbs and wicks well like LECA, and those issue disappear.

One more thing. If you have an issue with one medium then change to another, don’t expect an immediate improvement. As roots grow, the cell structure “tailors” itself to function optimally in that environment. Once they have grown that cell structure cannot change. Move the plant into a different root environment and you have immediately rendered the root system sub-optimal, and they will start to fail, the rate of which is determined by the degree of difference between the old and new conditions. That is why the best time to repot any plant is just as new roots are emerging. They will grow to function optimally in that environment and support the plant while the old ones fail.

 

[Ozpaph]

sound trite, but water less.

 

[TyroneGenade]

Add a little hydrogen peroxide to the water to make sure the substrate remains oxygenated?

 

[KateL]

Add a little hydrogen peroxide to the water to make sure the substrate remains oxygenated?

This is an interesting (and kind of cool) idea, Tyrone. Maybe an immediate, fleeting release of oxygen, but what makes you think it might last longer than that? (Nod to the mad scientist in you.)

 

[TyroneGenade]

I regularly add H2O2 to my aquaria at a rate of 2 mL/gallon and I will have bubbling from the H2O2 for 2 days, sometimes 3. What remains should continue to generate O2 for a long time.

 

[BrucherT]

Ask twelve orchid growers what growing media is the best and you're likely going to get twelve different answers. The best media is what works for you under your conditions. If you know you overwater you either need a more porous medium or, easier yet, stop watering so often. You'll also find the hobby more rewarding and less expensive if you learn how to grow the less expensive plants well before moving on to the more expensive ones. Please consider this advice from someone who's been growing for almost 50 years and had to learn the hard way, too.

Amen. Every good grower has a pile of dead plants in his mind.

I also recommend learning by taking on sickies and runts and flasklings. I’ve learned so much from healing compromised plants and dragging them back from the brink. Even when they fail, or I fail, as I often do, I learn. And I have some really nice stuff that was compromised and snagged for a song.

 

[merc]

I still consider myself a total noob so take my 2¢ with a grain of salt but I've battled root rot in the past and no longer have any problems with it causing decline in my collection since I added a ridiculous number of fans to keep the air circulating in my little office cubby. I believe it was Ray who kindly pointed out that it's not all the water that was causing the rot, it's the lack of air to the roots that's causing the roots to die and turn to mush.

 

[Kalyke]

Phrags love water. I grow mine like those water iris you see in ponds outside. Paphs want to be kept damp at the root zone. So yes, you can have rotted roots in both cases. But as Ray was saying, it is not water that causes root rot, it is the lack of drainage. For the phrags, keep them in a boggy situation, and change the water in the pot at least every 2 weeks or month. For the paphs, an "airy" mix, and you have to water them more often. Also, there are a bunch of types of paphs. Roths have totally different needs than brachies. Sorry, I am trying to type with a cat in my arms.

 

[Theodoreorchidking]

Phrags love water. I grow mine like those water iris you see in ponds outside. Paphs want to be kept damp at the root zone. So yes, you can have rotted roots in both cases. But as Ray was saying, it is not water that causes root rot, it is the lack of drainage. For the phrags, keep them in a boggy situation, and change the water in the pot at least every 2 weeks or month. For the paphs, an "airy" mix, and you have to water them more often. Also, there are a bunch of types of paphs. Roths have totally different needs than brachies. Sorry, I am trying to type with a cat in my arms.

Ok thank. Ha ha Funny with the cat

 

[Sky7Bear]

Each genus has a favored ratio of water and air at the roots. Increase one and or reduce the other. Usually better to increase water by changing medium or container. Many do well in clay pot
pot with holes, or a basket of some sort. These are epiphytes. Ray is correct

 

[Kalyke]

Also remember that roots go through a cycle just like leaves. They grow, they do their job and then they die. If in the spring when it is waming up you see indications of new roots starting, somewhere in that bunch of roots there will be one dying off. I would only freak out if there is no indication of new roots. At this time of year I give them some root stimulator. I have not seen any ill effects, and it is similar to useing Kelp. This is not an advertisement for Kelp-max, but it is a well known brand. Also just plain powdered (organic) kelp is cheap to find. Kelp contains cytokinins, which are the hormones in seaweed that stimulate cell division. When used on the roots, cytokinins stimulate the cell division of root cells. Plants contain auxin and cytokinin hormones and some of these root stimulators can help a plant get started. Many people want to go totally natural, and I understand that. Root stimulator is not the same thing as a fertilizer. Too much of this stuff might form weird mutant-looking flowers, so take it easy. If you actually have a dying plant, then one year without blooms, (to keep it in the hospital, so to speak) is not a bad thing.