White lines on roots?

[reen]

Hello

I came home from work today and freaked out a little when I found white fuzz on the bottom of my phal's plastic pot and on the wooden stirrer I use for the "skewer watering method".

The fuzz was very light, like cotton wool or fairy floss. Since I couldn't find any bugs on the leaves, stem or flowers, I decided to repot just in case there were bugs hiding within the roots.

I didn't find any bugs (nothing I could see with my naked eye anyway). Not on the phal, the insides of the pot or while I was sifting through the bark.

However, while I was trimming the dead roots, I noticed that a lot of the live roots have weird lines going down the side of the roots (please see photo). They almost look like stitches. These roots were otherwise green and very firm.

1) Should I be worried about the white fuzz? I had assumed that I would be able to see the mealy bugs if they were there?

2) What are those white lines?

Thanks!

[butt0n]

I don't think its anything to worry about in terms of the lines. As long as your roots look healthy, all should be well. The white fuzz might have been mold, but we'll see what everyone else thinks. I once had a catt hybrid that started molding on top of the medium. I later repotted it and found that it was potted in regular soil mix and had fine bark on top.

[turkeytaker]

The white lines are normal. I don't know what they are, but they don't have any cause that I've seen determined and don't seem to be linked to anything harmful.

I'm with butt0n on the fuzz sounding like mold.

G'luck!

[tom499]

roots look lovely, green wth white patches are beauties

as for the fuzz, i also agree with it being mold. i get this one the surface of medium sometimes. i find i can cut down on it by keeping watering to mimimum, in respect of the orchids needs, and prefer to dunk my orchids in water so the top doesnt get wet atall.

[reen]

Thank you all!

As a newbie, I can and do get freaked very easily. Thank goodness for this forum!

[Aniko]

Reen, those white lines are part of the external tissue (epidermis), so nothing to worry about.
The 'white fuzz' is mold, is harmless but unwanted. If persists you can get rid of it pouring some hydrogen peroxide on it.
Relax and enjoy

Tom499 - Sorry, but mold can appear inside the pot as well as on the surface, so "dunking" will not help, instead will result in salt accumulation which is really harmful.To avoid salt deposition there is the usual method of soaking the whole pot in water, and washing through with tap water.

[patticake]

reen- I'm jumping on the mold bandwagon. The plant looks good.
Don't worry about over reacting, It shows that you care.

[tizzycat]

I also "dunk" my orchids, just a lazy way of saying "soak the whole pot".