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need a [lot] of orchid help here. had the bright idea to move my… | The Orchid Oasis | Comunità di Planta

Sydnei

need a [lot] of orchid help here. had the bright idea to move my orchid from bark to water (after the blooms fell and i saw what i think are fungus gnats). immediately in the water, the bottom leaves turned yellow and i realized it need to transition. i’ve been doing water on and off but when it sits in water, it gets a little moldy so i clean with peroxide mixture and dry. leaves haven’t turned yellow in abt two weeks but should i just go back to bark/or let this one go? sharing roots dry and then in water. (there weren’t many bc of that little sponge thing nurseries use) any help appreciated. thanks!

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1 mi piace 21 commenti

21 commenti

  1. MeasomerPi

    All but one section of the roots look dead to me. I would remove the dead tissue. I don’t have experience with water culture and orchids so I would pot it in 50/50 sphagnum/bark in a 3” ventilated orchid pot.

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    • Sydnei

      thank you! may be a trivial question but do you think the roots will grow back like other indoor plants? this is my first orchid.

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    • Jen

      These roots won’t grow back, once they are dead, they are dead. Cut them away at the base of the stem. But your orchid will grow new roots from the stem as soon as it gets strong enough. Keep us posted, we love to cheer on other people’s recovering plants. ❤️

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    • Sydnei

      well, yes new roots. haha thank you for your support!

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  2. Jen

    I don’t understand water culture for orchids AT ALL. They don’t grow like that in nature. Even terrestrial orchids, which like to stay much more moist than epiphytic ones, still need to dry out and have some air around their roots. So. Clearly, take the following advice with a grain of salt, because I have and would never use water culture. Your leaves don’t seem too dehydrated, so there’s obviously hope here. These roots look pretty questionable though. How do they feel? Are they soft and mushy? Or sort of papery? Those are dead and should be cut away. If they are firm, you still have some healthy roots. I would recommend stopping the water culture- you’ve said you’re already getting mold, if you continue, you’re going to end up rotting your roots. You can’t keep spraying them with peroxide indefinitely either- it’s fine for a few treatments, but repeated use can damage the roots, and these are already really stressed. If you transition to a pot, I’d go with sphagnum near the roots and a mix of bark and sphagnum in the pot since it’s used to such extreme moisture. But definitely let the roots dry between waterings. It shouldn’t stay soaked all the time.

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    • Sydnei

      thank you! the roots and leaves are firm so it’s weird but the little mold makes me leery so i sought out help. i truly appreciate your thoughtful response! the roots turn green (like opposite of the silver when in bark) when wet. but i’ll take everyone’s advice on ditching the hydrolife. *sigh* idk why but im terrified of using sphagnum incorrectly.

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    • Jen

      What’s funny is that most people who are afraid of moss are afraid to water log their roots, and water culture would be worse for that. Just keep the moss to bark ratio pretty even and keep the moss light and fluffy, not packed solid in the pot. You’ll be golden.

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    • nepenthomancer

      If you’re getting mold you might need to up the air circulation in the area or apply a spritz of hydrogen peroxide/fungicide. (I feel like I’m always pushing fungicide in the orchid chats 😂 but seriously my orchid rescue experience would be so bad without it in my experience they’re just fungus-prone when stressed)

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    • Sydnei

      yes that’s it! i feel like with my other indoor plants, i change the water to prevent rot/water log so it was “safe”. do you recommend a brand of moss?

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    • Sydnei

      i usually do and figured since it’s in a nice airy jar/near a window it was strange. but back to home (bark) and being nursed to health. love a great project! 🤞🏽

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    • 2 altre risposte nell'app
  3. Plant Daddy

    Definitely needs to not live in water. Orchids need to completely dry out between waterings. Once you get an orchid soil mix, for watering let the pot soak in water for 20 minutes and then let completely dry before doing again. Green roots means it’s not thirsty. Silver roots mean it’s time to soak and water again.

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    • Sydnei

      thank you! i had no issues in bark but went a little far with the orchid in water experiment 🫣

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  4. SueB

    Most people experience problems with sphagnum because they pack it. Leave it loose in a 50/50 mix with bark and it’s great.

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    • Sydnei

      thank you!! any recs on an inexpensive brand you like?

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  5. SueB

    I try to get New Zealand spagnum it seems to be in longer lengths. But honestly I’m working thru a bunch of compressed plates that I found in The Pit, others might know it as a garage…🤣

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    • Sydnei

      😂😂😅

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  6. SueB

    Just add warm water to the 1/4 inch disk and presto

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  7. SueB

    The thing I had to learn was not to pack it but keep it loose

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    • Sydnei

      coming back here 🫣 i put the plant in a 50/50 bark moss mix and placed in a window. i moved the moss aside to check on the roots a little and there’s mold or webbing. i don’t have pests so im assuming its mold. any recommendations?

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