Repotting, Trimming Roots

[whalloper]

Hello,

As I begin to switch over my orchids to S/H, Ive noticed some weird stuff as these are the first few of my repotting experiences.

One big thing Ive noticed is there will be a root with two alive sections and a mushy brown dead section between them! So what do I do with this? Sometimes the healthy section at the end of the root is quite large. Can I take out the mushy part and leave that narrow string in the middle of the root? Sorry if these are stupid questions

[orchidea]

Sounds like you are following my steps just couple of weeks behind me...
Look up my post of 08-07-2009 " Are these good or bad roots???" Geeks have some good suggestions there. But dealing with potting and repotting all the time in the past few weeks, I can tell that it's very diffficult to make a choice between keeping the bad root or cut it off. I found out for myself that the bad root doesn't turn into a good one, but I usually take the mushy part out and leave the good part hanging on the core string if I don't have many good roots left. They will hang low and be closer to the water, that's the least they can do. I hope real geeks will help you better, but I am sharing what I have here.
Best of luck!!!!!!!

[kmarch]

It's not a stupid question at all, in fact just the opposite, I think it's a fairly common question. As you're growing in S/H other members who grow this way may have other advice for you unique to that method of growing, but I'll tell you what I do in these instances: If there are lots of other healthy roots, I remove the entire root all the way to its base. If there are only a few roots, I look at the root tip and if the root tip is actively growing, I remove the mush and leave the fresh parts. If the root tip has stopped growing, that means the root is on its way out even if part of it is still fresh and I remove the root from the point where the mush starts.

[kid a]

That is good advice kevin. I usually just strip off the brown part but I think i will start doing that if the root tip is not still growing and there is plenty of other good roots !

[lmartiny]

I think if your root is dead in the middle of two healthy sections that lower section is going to die.