Roots rot on psychopsis mendenhall

Psychopsis Mendenhall 'Hildos' in spike

     Everything looks well with the Psychopsis Mendenhall on the surface.  It's leaves a large green and lush.  The pseudobulbs are full, with few wrinkles.  And its flower spike is growing.

     However, this orchid has been taking much too long (over 2 weeks) to dry out between watering.  By now, I'm learning that this is the clearest sign of trouble with my orchids.

Dead psychopsis roots

     Most of the roots that looked reasonably healthy when I first received this orchid, were now mushy and dead.  I'm not sure why.  Psychopsis are said to be really sensitive to repotting... but I did not do an actual repot when I first got the orchid (I just took the orchid out of its pot, noted the root health, and moved it to a different pot, without actually switching out the media or disturbing the roots).  I find it hard to believe that such a minimal procedure could kill off all the roots.

     Ultimately, I did a full repot this time.  I trimmed off all the dead roots (picture not taken), soaked the orchid in fungicide, and potted into a smaller 4" clear plastic pot with oncidium media.  I placed the plastic pot inside a heavier ceramic one for stability.

     I plan to get a second fungicide to use in future repottings, so that I don't foster resistance by using the same treatment repeatedly.

     The psychopsis has some new roots growing, so these will hopefully support the orchid.  I hope that the root mass can recover before it can have an impact on the flowering. 

Fungus growing in psychopsis media

Mold growing in orchid media

     I noticed fungus growing all over my psychopsis media, which is a sign that the media had been spending too much time moist and with insufficient air circulation.  I needed to immediately treat the orchid roots with some fungicide and repot into better conditions.

     The orchid had very poor root health when I first bought it.  The month since then has not improved the conditions.  When I removed the orchid from its pot, most of the roots were clearly rotten, and I aggressively trimmed off all but a very few still-firm roots.  I wanted to make sure that I wouldn't bring more decaying root material into the new pot.

Few roots left on Psychopsis Mariposa after trimming off rotten roots

    Next I wanted to treat the plant with some sort of fungicide.  I did not have any commercial chemicals on hand, so I looked online for various home recipes.  One very helpful page I found was Rays' Home Remedies, which among other things, recommended using cinnamon for its antifungal properties.  I took about a teaspoon's worth of cinnamon, mixed it with water and microwaved the mixture until near boiling.  The result was a thick mucous orange liquid, which I diluted with some more water to cool it down.  I let my orchids roots soak in that for 20-30 minutes.

Orchid soaking in cinnamon water

     After the soak, I potted the orchid into the smallest pot which would fit its roots.  In this case it was the 3" clay pot which until recently housed my soph cernua.  I used fresh coarse bark as the media.  The small pot and the coarse media mean that the roots dry out daily now, which should be a lot healthier for the orchid. 

Psychopsis Mariposa 'Mountain' growing spike in 3" pot

     Will the orchid be able to successfully flower despite the poor root health?  I hope so.  The pseudobulbs are still plump, so the plant itself is not yet dehydrated from lack of roots.  I really have no experience with the psychopsis growth habit to be able to guess how much 'reserve' it has to tide it over until new roots grow.

Three new orchids

A new batch of orchids arrived in the mail

     The orchid show peaked my temptation to once again go orchid shopping.  I made myself wait a couple of  weeks, but when I saw a few of these plants go on sale, I ordered yet another batch of orchids for my collection.  On the left is an in-spike Psychopsis Mariposa 'Mountain.'  Meanwhile, on the right are two more tolumnias: Pink Panther and Genting Orange.  

     I intended to grow the tolumnias mounted, and the psychopsis had dead-looking roots poking out from the bottom of the pot.  Consequently the first thing I did after taking this picture was soak the plants in water to loosen the roots for re-potting.

Psychopsis root health: soon to be dead

     Frankly, the state of the psychopsis roots was disappointing.  A number of the longest roots had grown right out of the pot, and I unfortunately had to cause some damage when pulling the plant out.  Meanwhile, that soggy brown-looking thing in the middle of the picture (right at the base of the leaves) looks like ancient sphagnum moss.  

     I know psychopsis don't like being re-potted, but I am glad I did change the media immediately.  The media was very old, and none of the roots looked very healthy.  I trimmed back some of the mushy dead ones, and potted the orchid in a clear plastic pot with loosely packed fresh media.

Growing psychopsis spike

     The orchid did sell 'in spike' at a very attractive discount, so I  am hoping that it will be able to grow new roots and quickly establish itself in the new media.  If not, I will nurse it until it recovers.  Fortunately, my two oncidiums looked far worse and survived, and I expect to be able to save this orchid regardless of what happens in the next few months. 

Tolumnia Pink Panther

     Next I re-potted the two tolumnias.  Tolumnia Pink Panther had the healthiest roots of the bunch.  The root ball was about as big as the leaves themselves, and most of the roots were a healthy white/green color.  To me this looked like an orchid ready for re-potting-- but not over-ready.

Tolumnia Genting Orange

     Although it was in a smaller pot, Tolumnia Genting Orange had actually longer leaves than the Pink Panther (and slightly disappointingly, both were larger than my original Tolumnia Red Berry).  Here, the orchid looks like it should have been re-potted a season ago.  The healthy thicker roots were growing outside the pot.  Meanwhile the mass of roots within the pot is a lackluster tan, and of dubious health.  

     However, I am now realizing that both these plants have far healthier roots than the Tolumnia Red Berry which I bought at the NYBG orchid show. Although that orchid hasn't lost any leaves yet, I am rather concerned about whether it now has any healthy roots at all.

Tolumnia growing spike

     As a pleasant surprise I noticed that the Tolumnia Genting Orange was in spike as well (unlike the psychopsis, the plant was not listed as 'in-spike' on the online catalog).  This means that if I get the care conditions right, I may have new orchids coming in to bloom when my Wilsonara Pacific Perspective finishes flowering.

Two orchids, one mount

     I mounted both tolumnias on a log of 'aquarium decoration wood,' using some living moss and craft wire. The orientation of the top plant is not quite perfect (I would have liked it more vertical) but I figure the leaves will adjust over time. 

     With tolumnias I feel that the pots are so tiny, that I'd have to be watering them frequently anyway (my biggest concern with mounting orchids has been the necessity for daily watering).  At least with the mounts, I'm less likely to rot the roots by accident.  Meanwhile, since I can hang the mounts off the side of the shelf, I'm not taking away space from my other orchids. I love these cheery little orchids, and hope that I won't have casualties in my process of learning to grow them.