2 questions for experiment

[uffe3667]

At this moment i got 2 plants in s/h as an experiment.
1 Oncidium and 1 phalaenopsis, the Oncidium seems to do really well developing a new pseudobub. The phalaenopsis is having some more trouble.
So here are my questions:
1 - It takes about 15 day's for the pot with the phalaenopsis to drain the reservoire and dry out a little bit. Should i wait for the reservoir to drain to re-water. Will the 15 day stale water hurt the plant?
2 - the phalaenopsis seems to be suffering from a significant amount of root rot. The leafs seam to be ok and it even developed some new buds on a stagnant spike.
Should i get the plant out of the pot to remove the rotted roots (additional stress) or just leave them in and hope for the rotted roots to dissolve and wash out?

Gr. Erik

[lmartiny]

Hello uffe. I do not grow in s/h so I can't help you. Many do, so someone should be along to answer your questions. Personally, I'd get that Phal out and trim the dead roots and repot in a bark mix soaked in water for a day or two. Phals like to be watered but your s/h set up sounds pretty wet and may be causing your root rot.

[Ray]

Originally Posted by uffe3667

It takes about 15 day's for the pot with the [FONT=Arial]phalaenopsis to drain the reservoire and dry out a little bit. Should i wait for the reservoir to drain to re-water.

No. In fact watering more frequently is preferred because...

Will the 15 day stale water hurt the plant?

Yes. As the plant takes up nutrients, it releases waste products into the root zone. Similarly, respiratory processes pollute the root zone, as well.

the phalaenopsis seems to be suffering from a significant amount of root rot. The leafs seam to be ok and it even developed some new buds on a stagnant spike.
Should i get the plant out of the pot to remove the rotted roots (additional stress) or just leave them in and hope for the rotted roots to dissolve and wash out?

It's a matter of degree. If there are a LOT of dead roots, removing them will be less stressful than leaving them there.

One last thing - phals really dislike cold, wet roots. You'll need to keep them particularly warm this time of year to compensate for the evaporative cooling from the medium.

[jnbradl]

Ray, what do you consider "cold" roots (temp). Thanks

[maiseymoo]

Thanks for the post, i am still toying with idea of potting into s/h, but am worried by getting root rot like what appears to be happening to yours. I will be interested to see what you do to solve this!

[Ray]

Originally Posted by jnbradl

Ray, what do you consider "cold" roots (temp). Thanks

I never let my phals see lower than 60°, prefereably 65°.

[uffe3667]

Repotted today ( 1 month after moving to s/h).
Lots of rotted roots (50%), but on the remaining ones some new growth.
Since this is an experiment i re-potted again in s/h, only a smaller pot, and i added some more clay pallets at the bottom before inserting the plant so the lowest roots are a bit more up from the reservoir.
The leafs still look OK and firm, and the new buds still developing
Lets see how it go's from here.

Gr. Erik