Help! What's this smell?!

[PocoGigio]

All my phrags (about 10) are now in s/h with Hydroton along with most of my others. But, only the phrags are getting this very bad smell. It smells like a swamp or like to many people in a room after a bean supper! It doesn't smell continually but when I top water and flush out the reservoir is when the smell is raging. About half of them are affected. When I decanted them they look no different than the unsmelly ones. They are back in the s/h pots after I Physan 20'd the plant, the pot and the leca for about 12 hours. The smell seems to have gone away. But, what is it from? Any ideas will help stop this in the future. It may come back.

[Irene]

I had this same problem when I had my phrag in LECA and water. I ended up taking it out of the LECA and putting it in a container with just water. Now it smells like a nice clean phrag again.

Many of the roots had rotted while in the LECA. Now, in just water, it is putting out new growths and roots.

Here is a thread I started that talks a little about this:


Water Culture

[PocoGigio]

Do you think it just might be this smelly during the bark to s/h transition when old roots are rotting off? I have a smelly phrag noid I'll try in just water until all the old roots totally rot off. When the new ones are nice and long (which have started despite the rot), then back into the s/h hydroton. Maybe it won't get that rot smell. Do you think the transition back from water to s/h will be less traumatic? I'm thinking the new roots may not know the difference and won't start rotting all over again! Eeeewww! I think I have too many to go water culture ipo s/h.
Thanks for the the Water Culture thread advice. It helped!
I'll keep you posted.
Paula

[Irene]

I don't really know. I'm new to orchids and the Water Culture is experimental. However, my phrag did not have rotting roots before I put it in LECA.

I don't know this to be a fact, but, I believe there is something about the LECA or the LECA and water that the phrag just does not like. None of my other orchids in LECA had this problem. That would include Paphs and Phals.

Has anyone here had success with Phrags in LECA? It would be interesting to know.

[katrina]

Any phrag that wants to sit in a saucer of water...ie - wet feet all the time....will do perfectly fine in S/H and LECA.

What you're most likely smelling is...as you thought... some of the older roots rotting off. It can get quite smelly. If the overall appearance is fine and the other roots are good...as well as it's making new roots...the plant should be fine.

I rotted off a bunch of roots on a couple of phrags last Summer (potting mix experiment that went wrong) and the smell IS horrible.

BTW -- I believe Brooke won an award for one of her phrags in s/h last year. Hopefully she'll see this and can confirm. I would say that awarded plant is doing just fine in s/h.

[riyokotsu]

I can't say that I've had a huge success, considering I just moved my phrag. into s/h a few weeks ago, but it does seem to be happy. It's got two new growths that are growing vigorously. No stink yet, but I'll let you know if it occurs.

I'm assuming that your phrags aren't the same cultivar, so perhaps the reason that only some are showing signs of rot are due to differences in lineage? Some phrags like it more dry than others, and they might be more prone to rot in s/h.

But I am truely a newbie, so this is just a guess.

[katrina]

You are exactly right riyokotsu...some phrags are not as fond of having their feet constantly sitting in water.

[riyokotsu]

So, perhaps instead of putting the already rotted ones into water culture, you may want to look into their lineage more, and find out if your plants stem from one of these "drier" phrags. If they are, I'm not sure they would do well in the all-water environment. You may want to try a more traditional bark-based mix that would allow for more dry conditions between watering sessions. But again, I am a newbie, so a more experienced member will likely give you better advice.

[Brooke]

Sorry I can't explain why a phrag would smell in s/h. Most of my phrags have lived in s/h and most loved it but a couple hated it. The ones that hated it didn't smell, even when their roots rotted off

One of my awarded phrags spent a couple of years in s/h and did great. The other awarded one has only been in a seedling bark mix, never s/h. I took the advice of the vendor and grew it like he said

The reason I removed all but two of my phrags from s/h to the seedling mix is after they are in the pots for a period of time, I cannot get a inflorescense stake into the LECA.

If my phrags had an odor, I think I would flush the pots daily to see if I could remove the odor

Brooke

[PocoGigio]

Today I did a heavy water and flush and the phrags aren't smelling! Yay! One is a species besseae, one a NOID, one is species giganteum and one a Noirmont. Maybe the physan 20 got whatever was causing it. But, I bet you all are correct that the smell is just phrag rot smell! Even tho I cleaned out all dead and/or rotting roots before they went into s/h I'm gonna revisit them all in the next 6 mos. I'll clean out the roots that didn't adapt and subsequently rotted. I believe Ray said somewhere in this forum to expect that to happen. It's the smell that got me.

I am determined to put 99% of my chids in s/h!!!

Thank you all!

[mytwogirls]

"Oh oh that smell, can't ya smell that smell?"

(Sorry I have that song stuck in my head right now!!)

I am no help. Hope you figure it out though.