sandra wrote:
Hello Everyone,
Some of my phals have recently showed some signs of root shriveling, a
few are in bloom.
I think I over fertilized because the humidity is around 75 percent in
my growing room
I used half the strenght of the suggested dose and flushed them before
I fertilize, but still, root shrivel.
It's only a few roots luckily, but I want to keep them in good health.
A few are in spike, I was just wondering if it would be okay to cut off
the spikes to direct energy to root and leaf growth.
The plants look healthy, but I don't want to risk them using too much
energy on the buds and flowers.
As well, can anyone recomend some sort of product that will help
initiate root growth, and a more gentile fertilizer?
-Sandra


I'm not sure anything is wrong, actually. You've unpotted the plants,
looked at the roots, and a few of them are looking a little rough? From
your description, I don't think you are doing anything wrong. Roots
senesce just like leaves. The oldest roots will eventually die, just
like the lower leaves turn yellow and fall. The trick, of course, is to
replace the old roots with an equal or greater number of healthy new roots.

You could cut the spikes, but I don't think you need to. If the plant
doesn't look stressed, it will be fine. Perhaps you would want to cut
the spikes all the way back when they are done blooming, rather than
trying for a secondary inflorescence.

Don't know what kind of fertilizer you use. MSU Magic is pretty gentle
and quite good. I think Ray (firstrays.com) sells it in manageable
quantities. There are various tonics sold for enhancing your roots, but
I'm not sure any of them are really worth the money. A lot of people
use a little superthrive. Too much superthrive (the amount recommended
on the label, no doubt) may cause problems.


--
Rob's Rules: http://littlefrogfarm.com
1) There is always room for one more orchid
2) There is always room for two more orchids
2a) See rule 1
3) When one has insufficient credit to obtain more
orchids, obtain more credit