What's wrong with my orchid? Black roots, "moles" near roots

[cinny]

I tried to search but no one has described the same problem. That's why I'm attaching so many pictures.

I was given an orchid. 2 bigger plants had flowered and now the 2 smaller ones started to flower. The big plants have almost died - one got very small in the middle of the 2 surviving ones, and one looked good but died when I touched it and it just fell off the roots!

Basically the roots don't look good. They look black. There are some moles on the body and I don't think this is good. At first they look like some new roots are coming out, but they just stay as moles and there are more and more of them near the roots. I had a previous slipper with this kind of mole and its leaves started to turn yellow when the moles appeared more and more - so I don't believe this is coincidence. I was scared and threw away my previous slipper with moles. But this one looks so good, with 2 nice buds waiting to bloom, so I really would do everything I can to save it...

Anyone having any idea what's happening to my plant?

1st picture: the roots
2nd picture: the overall plant
3rd picture: a leaf that is turning yellow
4th picture: another look at the root from the opposite side
5th picture: another overall look from the other side
6th picture: the "old" plant that just dropped off the roots when I touched it. And I'm so afraid the same thing will happen if I touch the current plants!

Thank you so much.

 

[Leo Schordje]

Just for clarity, I usually refer to one fan of leaves as one growth. A clump of several fans of leaves joined to a root system is the plant. A plant can have many growths. Typically each growth sprouts, slowly develops and spreads out 2 to 4 pairs of leaves, then flowers, then pushes out new growths from its base and then eventually dies from the lowest leaf up, in the end leaving the new growths behind to grow and flower. This cycle for the group of Paphs your plant belongs to, typically takes from 4 to 6 years from new shoot to complete senecense.

Those 'moles' are new roots buds, that if they were in contact with or burried a little under the potting mix would develop into new roots. They turn black if they are exposed to the air too long, once black they will not grow into new roots. The fresh green, yellow green or silver-ish white buds are viable and ready to grow into roots. You may gently pull off a pair or two of the lowest leaves on the growth to expose these new root buds when you repot your plant. Be gentle, they break easily.

In the photos your potting mix looks very broken down, I am guessing this plant has not been repotted in more than 2 years.

Your plant otherwise looks healthy, I don't see bug problems in the photos. Congradulations on your growing skills. As the potting mix ages it changes in its ability to hold water. That your plant is healthy looking, this means you know how to tell when your plant needs water. You have been adjusting your watering schedule to meet the needs of the plant as the properties of the potting mix have changed over time. Good skills to have, you will be an excellent grower in the futue. (one sure way to kill and orchid is to water it only on a fixed schedule, like only on Tuesdays)

My suggestion would be to repot your plant immediately (within a week or two). Use new fresh potting mix, gently knock off old mix from the roots and remove most of the soft, dead roots. You don't have to get all the old mix off. It is better to not damage a healthy root than to break the healthy root trying to remove old mix.

Since the photo shows that it had been potted in a bark based mix, and your plant looks healthy and did bloom more than once for you, I suggest you try to purchase a similar bark based mix to repot your plant into. You obviously know how to grow in bark mixes, so you should stick to bark mixes for a while. Don't try something you have never used before until you have more experience.

Repot the plant, holding it so that all the growths have the base of the fans of leaves burried just deep enough that the new, fresh root buds (moles) are at least 1/4 inch below the top of the potting mix.

In no time the root buds will develop into new roots and the plant will take off and grow well for you. Next year or two you will have an even better blooming. For mature plants, that have already bloomed at least once, I try to fit the plant back into the same pot it had been in. It is a good idea to wind the roots gently around into the new pot so you can use as small a pot as necessary to grow your plant in. Pot size is determined by the size of the actual living root system, not by the size of the plant. Paphs prefer to be a little on the pot bound side compared to houseplants in general.

Most potting mixes need to be replaced with fresh mix every one to two years. Many growers recommend repotting every year.

The only mixes that last significantly longer are the synthetic material based mixes used for hydroponic and semi-hydroponic (abbreviated as hydro, semi-hydro and SH) growing techniques. Hydro & S/H are more advanced techniques that you could look into once you know your way around the orchids a little better. I wouldn't worry about that right now. Personally after 25+ years of growing orchids, I still prefer a bark based potting mix for the vast majority of my orchids.

If you repot your plant, I am sure it will respond, put out roots and grow to bloom again for you.

 

[SlipperKing]

What Leo said!

 

[SlipperFan]

Leo is very thorough. My only concern is the black on an otherwise healthy-looking root shown in the first photo. Its a little hard to see, but I hope it isn't a mold or fungus.

And welcome to Slippertalk!

 

[cinny]

I thought those "moles" were roots, really. But the last paph I had, those moles seemed to come with leaves turning yellow, and none continued to develop...

And the roots are just black, like burned roots with ash... And the fact that part of the old plant just got knocked off easily made me feel very uneasy, as if the roots aren't solid anymore and the plant is barely holding on to the root system.

I do agree that the potting mix is all broken down. I wanted to repot but I am scared that I might disturb the new flower buds.

I'm very inexperienced. I got this plant after it finished the first few bloomings from the office where I work at. It wasn't me who took care of the plant until now but I'm willing to learn and try my best.

Thanks!!

 

[Mrs. Paph]

The pairing of new root buds and old yellowing leaves you saw before isn't always a bad thing - the lower leaves that are older, even on healthy growths die back naturally as new ones are made, and in that case, the plant was also making new roots that needed to get Out of the old leaf, and probably helped push it away from the growth if it was already declining anyway. As Leo said, if the root buds are in the media enough they'll get the moisture they need to grow past buds! And if the growth that fell away already bloomed before, it doesn't mean the whole plant is dying - that old growth had to die back at some point, so nice fresh potting mix should help make sure other growths don't decline too soon. Make sure to rinse the potting mix first, then soak it overnight before repotting to let it soak up moisture - that won't guarantee that the flower buds won't get shocked and die back, but it will give them a chance, and the future growths of the plant the best chance to bloom later! I hope it does well for you and that you have many pictures of blooming plants to post here in the future!

 

[Leo Schordje]

Hi Cinny
I'll try to answer the rest of your concerns.

About when to re-pot. Paphs, particularly of the type or group of hybrids your plant belongs to (Maudiae types) generally have some root activity all year round, so you can safely re-pot them at any time. Even when in bud!
You are right in being reluctant to re-pot while the plant is in bud, but your situation requires you do it now if you want to save your plant. The black and soft roots of the roots in contact with the mix are a sure sign that the potting mix is so broken down that the potting mix is becoming 'toxic' to the roots. The black on roots in the potting mix means your roots are dying right now. If you delay re-potting for another couple months in order to not disturb the flower buds, you will loose all the roots. Your plant is in a "emergency" situation, you really should re-pot right now. But remember, unlike humans, level one trauma for a plant means if you get to it within the next week or two it will be as effective as the 12 minute response time from an EMT unit. Don't panic, you can do this. Don't worry about the flower buds, if all the roots die, the flower buds will abort, turn brown & die. So re-potting now is your best shot at saving the flower buds that are there now.

To add to the excellent response of "Mrs Paph", the bottom couple pairs of shorter leaves on a growth are sheath leaves, their purpose is to protect new root buds until they begin to develop. Then the new roots punch through the sheath leaves and grow, when this happens the sheath leaf yellows and dies. You are seeing a normal loss of sheath leaves in the case of the short, lower sheath leaves dying. The yellowing and dying of the older leaves on the old previously bloomed growths is a separate process, and is also a natural part of the plant aging. At the moment this is all in the natural order of Paph plant habit. Sometimes in the lower humidity found in homes, the new roots have trouble punching through the sheath leaves. That is why when we see the root buds developing under the sheath leaf, we often will gently pull off that leaf.

One other thing to note, if/when you see the leaf tips of younger leaves start browning, this means the plant is having trouble. Not a good sign, but it is an 'early warning' in most cases. It is often a symptom of root loss, which is very likely in your case. It also can be a symptom of letting the potting mix get too dry between watering, which is not the likely problem here, but if it continues after you re-pot, you might look at watering your plant a little more often because the new potting mix will definitely be on a different wet to dry cycle than the old broken down mix.

If this all seems too intimidating, you might consider asking the person who was caring for the plant at the office if they know how to re-pot the orchid, and could you come over with yours and have them show you how to do it yourself. If the office friend is not an orchid grower, but just a good intuitive plant waterer, then consider dropping in at your local orchid society or botanic garden. But don't let them re-pot the plant for you, have them supervise you doing it yourself. They only way to learn is to dive in and do it, so don't let somebody do it for you.

You might post what city and state you live in, and perhaps if there is a forum member nearby, ask them if they would show you how. Or Private Message (PM) a member who's profile shows they live within an hours drive of you and ask them to show you how to re-pot.

More than once I have had a new beginner orchid grower come over and help me re-pot my plants. You really learn how to re-pot when you get to try re-potting 200 plants in an afternoon. (and that would only be a part of my collection :evil

Hope this helps
Leo

 

[Mrs. Paph]

[Quote/]
More than once I have had a new beginner orchid grower come over and help me re-pot my plants. You really learn how to re-pot when you get to try re-potting 200 plants in an afternoon. (and that would only be a part of my collection :evil
[/QUOTE]
Leo, where were you 10yrs ago when I was given my first orchid, a dendrobium that I couldn't figure out if it was dying or dormant :rollhappy: You may have had a hard time getting me to leave after repotting your plants though, so maybe it's good I wasn't in the area! I remember my parents had Just gotten dialup internet at the house, so I spent LOTS of time on Antec's website reading their info and waiting for the pictures to download (the 1st thing I learned was that Paphs are prettier & probably easier to grow in homes than Den.)! Finding information, and connection for learning beyond the computer happens much faster now! I also highly recommend societies - if you can't find a profile here of someone in your area that would know, google every combination of words you can think of to try to find out if you have a society in your area!

 

[SlipperFan]

Or you can go to the AOS website and see if there is a society near you:
http://www.aos.org/AM/Template.cfm?..._&Template=/CM/HTMLDisplay.cfm&ContentID=7513