Greeny blue mold on Pharg mem. Dick Clements roots

[Susie11]

I have had my new mem. Dick Clements for a week and I have just found some fluffy white fungus or mold growing on the top of the rockwool cubes. Also, I have seen that there is a blue / green spotty mold growing on the roots at the bottom of the pot .

I have a bottle of hydrogen peroxide at 3% and I am wondering how I go about using it. I have read that after application it is wise to let the roots dry off but what with this being a phrag is this the right way to go about it?

I will post some pics tomorrow and I intend to repot tomorrow but which medium should I choose? I have a rockwool and perlite mix or I could use straight up sphag. I favour the sphag as it has antiseptic qualities but then the rockwool is more familiar to me.

I welcome your guidance.

[Raver]

Just use the Hydrogen Peroxide but dont let the roots dry off, it should take care of the mold and fungus but if it keeps coming back due to the wetness of the rockwool i would repot into sphagnum or a seedlin size bark mix.

[Susie11]

Thanks Raver. So just to be sure, I pour the hydro. over the root area and then repot immediately afterwards? Do I need to dilute the peroxide or just use it straight? I have a small bottle of it which I just bought the day - on a whim, so that was foruitious!

[Raver]

Use it straight, its only 3% HP the rest is water. It shouldn't harm the roots. You could also leave the roots soaking for a few minutes

[Susie11]

Oh no, I wish I'd got this before I repotted!!! I poured it on left it for about a minute and them rinsed it off and sprinkled with cinnamon. I hope it's o.k I really love the MDC!!

[Susie11]

Here is what I found when I repotted my MDC.





I also repotted my living Fire into rockwool and when I had cleaned off the roots it seperated into two plants! I have repotted them into the same pot as before as they looked too small to live independantly of each other.

[Brutal_Dreamer]

Those two phrags were two individual plants and probably would do just fine in individual pots. They both have good roots. Most likely the plants were smaller when going from compot to individual pots so the person potting them up decided to place two small orchids together (or maybe the roots were too intertangled and they got placed together in the same pot.) Either way, if you have them separated, you can grow them that way. Both will have to develop new growths before either will bloom.

cheers,
BD

[Susie11]

Those two phrags were two individual plants and probably would do just fine in individual pots. They both have good roots. Most likely the plants were smaller when going from compot to individual pots so the person potting them up decided to place two small orchids together (or maybe the roots were too intertangled and they got placed together in the same pot.) Either way, if you have them separated, you can grow them that way. Both will have to develop new growths before either will bloom.

cheers,
BD

Thanks Bruce. I have already potted them back together. I thought that they would need to have at least three leads each to be potted seperately but if I'd have know I would have kept them apart. I wonder will they will still need to develop more growths before flowering? I have also heard that Living Fire are notorious for mis-shapen flowers. Is this true?
Sue.

[Raver]

Both plants have a nice root system but since it was 2 of them potted in the same pot they seemed bigger, you might have to wait a bit longer on this one to bloom. They would need to develop new growth in order to bloom unless the old growth is still growing you might get a spike from it but its unlikely especially now that you found out it was 2 plants.

[Susie11]

Yeah I thought that the seller was behaving strangely at the time. I think he thought that if I thought it was bigger I would accept the plant since it was near to blooming but he had just put two seedlings together. Nice of him to do that - not. Anyway, like I said, once they're in my house I find it hard to send them away again. I will remember it for next time though and if it happens again, I will not keep it. I am still waiting for the Paul Eugene Conroy and I'll just say from the start that I want a blooming sized plant not a' more expensive alternative'! - which is what happened last time when I ended up with the Living Fire! I always thought that he'd fleeced me but I'll let it go as I should have demanded my money back or at least sent it back for an exchange. Fool me once shame on me fool me twice shame on you as they say but it wont happen again.