Hi RaT: I'll hazard some guesses, but as Diana said, they are just guesses
without a lot more info.

My first guess is that you have either a Phalaenopsis or a Dendrobium. If
it has long, low leaves with the inflorescence standing much higher, it's
probably a Phal.; if it has several more-or-less upright growths, each of
which have (or had) multiple leaves, it's more likely a Dendrobium. If
it's a Den, please take a close look and make sure the roots you're seeing
originated "up high" rather than travelling up one of the growths and then
branching out from there.

Either way, if all you have so far is roots coming from high up on either
the flower stem of a Phal or one of the growths of a Den, there's nothing
you should do for now besides making sure they get wet when you water the
main plant. And, ideally, sprayed with fertilizer when you feed the main
plant. With luck, you'll see little leaves/growths coming from the source
of these roots.

If it is in fact either a Phal, with roots eminating from a flower spike, or
a Den. with roots forming way above the pot, then my second guess is that
your plant is probably making what we call a keiki (Hawaiian for "baby").
If and when you have a couple-three growths or leaves, to go with those
roots, you may remove and pot it separately if you wish. However, we find
(esp. with the Phals) that these keikis will mature and bloom faster when
left attached to the mother plant.

Hope this helps, Kenni


"RaT" wrote in message
...
Hi all
I'm not very knowledgeable about orchids so I thought I would ask the
'experts' here! I was given an orchid plant about 2 1/2 years ago, it has
done fairly well with several new flowers over that time, The stems have
been cut back when they were obviously dead. My question is, the plant has
now produced 2 long grey shoots and one short grey shoot from halfway up
one of the stems. I am assuming these are roots? One goes up, pointing
into the air! the other long one is heading downwards and is now level
with the bottom of the pot. There is no sign of roots trying to get out
of the pot itself! What do I do with these roots? It has been suggested I
put the end of one of these roots into another pot, just like you would a
strawberry plant 'runner'. Is this correct? I do apologies but I don't
know what type of orchid, but it was purchased from a standard DIY store,
not an orchid specialist. It has the standard looking pink/mauve flowers.