Can Trimming Hydrogen Peroxide make root rot WORSE?!!

[neworchidlover]

Hello Everyone!!

Well I am sure that some of you might know that my orchid is the one who survived the terrible razor blade accident, had her first new leaf grow in the wrong direction, and NOW, ah faces a not so good looking root rot.

I trimmed the part of the roots off that seemed dried up and brown, and I poured hydrogen perioxide on the parts of the roots that did not seem well. HOWEVER, I did not pour hydrogen peroxide on ALL of the roots.

I after the trimming and hyrodgen peroxide, the root rot really spread quickly I would say half of the roots have it at least on some part of the root. Some are only a little impacted, but they might have it at their tips and its spreading! Others, eekkk, and almost entirely infected by it.

The roots now are are a dark grey or gray and are very soft . They really didn't look like that before. In the beg. the roots impacted were just black and kind of dried up and these were more towards the bottom. Should I try hydrogen peroxide again, or a different substance Pheyer 27 (not sure how that is spelled). Also how do I know if it is viral or bacterial?

The other thing is that one of the leaves, looks like it is being nibbled at towards the tip of the leaf. Something is def. gnawing away over there. And the part under the tip of the leaf has something soft brown growing under it. Beyond that the deformed leaf still hasn't grown at all

Thanks again everyone for your help! I will try and post some pictures soon too!! But wanted to see if there is anything I would be able to do right away.

~Dorothy

[zuri]

Have you been sterilizing your scissors (or changing straight razors) between cuts? You need to get rid of all of the rotting roots and be sure that in doing so you aren't spreading the rot to the healthy part of the existing roots. I've heard that hydrogen peroxide doesn't harm plants and that giving them a good dousing can only help. And you might try to the cinnamon spray/solution that's going around on the website. I know that this has worked well for a lot of people.

[neworchidlover]

Well I think that's exactly what happened, I somehow spread the root rot to the other parts of the roots. But I don't know how?!! I used scissors that were right out of the package and had never been used before. And I only cut the roots that were rotting. So I'm not sure how you can spread root rot on roots that are already having root rot.

I put alot of cinnamon on her yesterday which should give it a breather. But I'm sure that I need to buy some sort of chemical to rid it for good.

I just need to figure out if its baterial or viral and what to buy for either. I'm going to try and give it a good peroxide soat, but how long should I let it soak. I assume I should let the entire bottom of the root soak this time?

Also do I HAVE to trim the dead roots. Some of them are only partially dead....so in that case case I just cut off the black part? Because that is what I was doing.

[fred]

I use a powder called SulpherD after making any cuts on my orchids
that works well for me I sprinkle the powder over each cut
I hope this helps

[zuri]

I've heard that sterilizing your tool with a mixture of water and bleach (6:1) (or using alcohol and a propane flame) between cuts can cut down on the transfer of bacterial or fungus from one plant--or one root--to the next.

[articuno75]

I use alcohol to dip the tools. I have also used Physan-20. You can also use TriSodium Phosphate solution for a dip.

[fred]

for sterilizing my tools I use bleach mixed with alcohol.

[neworchidlover]

Hello, I read somewhere that Phyton 27 is good for killing diseases that are relatively established.

When you say alcohol, just plain rubbing alcohol correct?

When I trim the roots can I just trim the parts that are brown/mushy?Or do I have to cut off the entire thing if there is still a good chunk of the root that is still green and healthy? Do I have to trim the roots?

Oh Fred, I googled Sulpher (Sulphur?) D and I couldn't find it on the web, would you know where to get it?

Lastly, what should I just to get rid of the rot? Should I just stick to the hydrogen peroxide? Or use more complicated mesaures. I also read somewhere that if you have root rot along with black spots on the leaves that it is an indication the infection is viral and not bacterial.

So many things to think about and details. It's easy to miss an important step with orchids!

[fred]

the alcohol I use for my orchids I buy from a chemist ( drug store )
as for the SulpherD you should be able to buy that from any good garden nursery

what you can also do if you have some roots that are partly dead you don't have to cut the whole roots off the plant you can just cut the dead bits off to healthy tissue and dip the root in ( sulpherD or Cinnamon ) as the root will more than likely continue to shoot to form another root and continue to grow.

[jerrymeola]

You start by saying you have root rot and the roots were dry and brown. Rot (Pythium fungus) makes roots soft and black.

Cattleya roots can be 80% dry and brown and not harm the plant at all.

If it was rot, it would have gotten into the plant itself and the pseudo-bulbs. At that point peroxide would not do anything. Phyton 27 is systemic and may work. Once rot enters it is extremely hard to eliminate. All these treatment are best as a preventive rather than a cure.

But do not jump to conclusions. You may not have had a problem at all.

Peroxide is an oxidizing agent and can burn root tips, especially if applied directly to the roots. It is best used as a leaf wipe for external problems.

[neworchidlover]

Hi Jerry, at first yup the roots were dark, dark and just shriveled. And then after I cut all of the roots and did the hydrogen peroxide treatment, the parts of roots that used to be green for most of their length (i trimmed off only the dark parts) got very soft and gray.

I think I spread the root rot, by using the same scissors the whole time to trim all the different roots without sterilizing it. Or just maybe it’s a coincidence, the medium doesn’t seem so good and seems like it might be falling apart. So maybe I’ve just been leaving too much water in the sphag. and the root rot is just festering in the medium. I was recommended a repot quite some time ago though I was a bit scared to try out of fear I would do it wrong : /

I guess the only thing I can do is cut the roots and do a repot..and try and order the Phyton 27. Whenever I see something that doesn't look right, I just put cinnamon on her. So pretty much she has cinnamon all over her like all of the time!

Does anyone have any success stories with root rot??

I will post some pictures on Thursday when I get back from California, hopefully I am describing everything the right way.

Jerry from your post it seems like it’s very much an uphill battle....and my plant has been through so much I want to do everything I can to help!! Though there are so many details involved with orchid growing it's hard to make sure I not missing a step or method of action. Though I am certainly learning with everyone's help!