Serious lack of phal roots.....

[hannah]

Hi all, I have just repotted all my phals ( have never repotted before but have had some a couple of years and have been given some and rescued some others over the last 18 months or so and thought it was a good idea to do them all together so that i could keep track of it in future.) Unfortunately I have noticed that several of the orchids I have rescued had VERY rotton roots! The leaves on all my phals are healthy so unfortunately i didnt notice until repotting =( I cut off all the rotten roots with sterile scissors and repotted in fresh media (orchid compost from garden centre) any suggestions on how to encourage these poor plants to sprout some new roots?

[Kmac]

I think the advice you get may depend on how much healthy root is left. Can you post pictures?

[hannah]

not now i have repotted! on the 3 bad ones there are only 2 healthy roots left and 1 or 2 very manky ones that just had a tiny bit of green left.

[Daethen]

How large are the pots you put them in? They should just fit the roots even though they may seem too small for the foliage.

[hannah]

Small ones! The compost was slightly damp, do I need to water yet?
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[gabi_borza]

You must let the compost dry out before you water again. In this time the roots that are damaged or broken by the repotting process will have time to heal. For the plants with little roots left, you can try some root growth stimulator(I live in Romania, so I don't know brand names there in England), and you can try letting them dry a little bit more between waterings.

[espranch]

Hanna, just make sure that you have them in a humidity tray, and that they don't get ANY sun. Phals, as I'm sure you know, like rather low light. They also should have some air movement around them. Something to remember is that too many orchids are killed by overwatering. After re-potting, I ALWAYS wait at least a week to water any re-potted orchid. Then, I water according to pot size ( with tepid water ) a six inch diameter pot would be watered every six to seven days...and so on. Good luck with them...Betty :-)

[hannah]

thanks. no probs with the sunlight amounts, I live in england haha! I know i didnt overwater them though, the ones I have always had were perfect, its only the ones i have inherited that seem to be the problem. I hope they dont die they are so pretty... I have never killed an orchid yet!

[mujacko2002]

Mabuhay!

back then, i would put my phals in wooden baskets and charcoal so that more air could go to the roots.

just my two cents worth

[kiwiorchids]

orchid compost? i am pretty sure the phals would scream their heads off if they had mouths. most epiphytic chids can survive in a loose mix, but not phals. is this compost or bark?