I wonder about all this spraying and fiddling with dead roots.
Perhaps it is all a waste of time and you might be better off just removing any obviously dead roots and just repotting.

Take the case of your Tolumnia which you divided prematurely. If you leave the plant grow for a while it will have some live fans followed by dead stumps with dead roots. The plant copes with this situation.

I cut the dead stumps off and repot when I go around doing a tidy up. No dusting the cut with cinnamon, spraying with HP etc.

Of course, you have to keep your plants tidy and repot or pot on as necessary but I think there is too much needless fiddling about.

Yeah- I was mainly thinking about Phaleonopsis though. They usually come with all their roots crammed into moss. Still- you are right in that they weren't all rotten. I just thought they needed to spread out and get some air but it kind of backfired on me.

I agree with Arthur. Too much fussing.

Years ago I read about Peroxide and decided to try it on a Phal. The plant died. I believe the Peroxide burned the roots.

Now I only use it as a disinfectant for tools or pots.

Jane

That's what I was wondering - if would burn the roots. But if you buy a healthy plant that has it's roots packed into a really small pot with moss is it okay to leave it that way? Or do the roots need to get air and more space?

If the roots are cramped, you can repot in early Spring. When I have a Phal in moss, I repot in a mix of smaller bark mixed with some moss torn in pieces.

When I grew in NY, I used plastic pots with some slits to avoid a stagnant situation. In Florida, they do better in clay pots.

If the plant is healthy now and the roots are intact, just leave the plant alone until spring. Don't mess with roots now, they will not be making roots until spring comes around. The plant will be fine.

Jane

@Jane- What kind of dilution was the Hydrogen Peroxide at that you used?

tj

It was a long time ago. I think I poured some in a cup 1/3 and water. The Phal had some bad roots which I cut off and poured the mix over it. Next day it looked bad and over the next few weeks the healthy roots died. I'm sured it burned. Maybe too strong.

I have learned over the years of growing orchids, less is more. Fiddling with their roots is not a good idea. They are very strong plants with good reserves. I have repotted plants with really bad roots and they actually branched and grew new healthy ones.

With good growing conditions, plants will turn around.

I spent most of my orchid growing in NY in zone 5-6. It takes a long time to grow different orchids well. Each has to be looked at individually. Best to focus on a few varieties and get those under control. Don't spread yourself too thin, you'll lose plants and money. Learn the varieties which do well under your growing conditions. As you learn more, add new varieties. You will lose plants, but you learn.

Don't do anything now at this time of year. I can almost guarantee you will not be successful. Wait unil end of Feb/March. The daylight lengthens and orchids go into growth mode. When you see new roots growing, try anything you want. They have the grow power to overcome your mistakes.

Jane

There actually is a way to add oxygen or carbondioxide to regular potting soil with HP. I don't know how to measure it so I'm not recommending it to anybody.

When I was working, I had orchids in my office. I always had a bottle of S.Pellegrino sparkling water. At the end of the day, I always dumped the water on my orchids. Wasn't much, whatever was left in the bottle.

I discovered the plants responded to it by growing faster, leaves got greener and their overall health improved. I had a lucky bamboo sitting in a vase of water and that plant took off after getting some sparkling water.

It was an expensive way to prove that plants love extra oxygen around their roots. If you ever get a free case of Pellegrino water, try it out (maybe Perrier would work too). It was amazing and the results were almost immediate.

Not sure what went wrong with Peroxide, but I wouldn't use it again.

Jane

Jane - any thoughts on whether it was some of the mineral content found in the Pellegrino or simply the carbonation? I have a soda siphon at home so this could be done without the added cost but I wasn't sure if it would be helpful.

Carbonated water is carbon dioxide. You can get water with added oxygen too. It's a new product in the rip off healthfood section at the grocerystore.

The question asked was whether the CO 2 with the minerals caused the change in the plants. I'm not sure. I never tried plain carbonated water, only the Pellegrino which contains minerals.

If I had a soda maker, I might try it. You should see results quickly. I did.

Jane

Well for people who want distilled or reverse-osmosis then don't use Pellegrino. A lot of plants love all those minerals and stuff but maybe not some orchids. Filtering water or distilling it is basically removing a lot of that stuff. Probably not all but you're not just getting rid of the bad salts when you filter water. You'll probably end up accidentally filtering out the minerals too.

I'm not using distilled or filtered water. I use tap or collected rain/snow. If I think to spray some soda water on them next time I use it and it's watering time, I'll give it a try!

Probably a good thing. I do buy distilled water sometimes but mostly for moss. I think minerals are probably good for most orchids but I'm not sure.