Phal Air Roots Question
uncle_vito
Some of the air roots make the media. Here they burrow in. For these, the
part of the root above media dries out but the part in the ground stays
green and grows deeper. I have a clear plastic pot and can see the air
roots continuing to grow in the media. The plant also has regular roots,
but these seem to not be increasing, the air roots are.
I mist the air roots occasonally. Could the plant be reverting to air roots
for nourishment at the expense of its media roots?
Phal plant is very healthy. Lots of new leaves and air roots. A flower
spike is already well on its way.
Thanks for any answers
Vito
Marios Giannakoulias
a jungle, tree branch epiphyte
uncle_vito
Vito
"Marios Giannakoulias" <the_ab...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
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Steve
Vito,
First of all "roots is roots". Your air roots are just regular roots
that happen to be in the air.
Phalaenopsis just grow upward. New leaves form at the top, old leaves
die at the bottom and the new roots emerge just above or just below the
bottom leaves.
If you leave your plant in the same pot for years and you don't repot it
so that it is lower down into the pot, you would eventually have the
entire plant, including roots, hovering above the pot on an old trunk.
Sure, the old roots in the pot will sometimes start growing again and
they can branch, they eventually die off leaving the newer roots higher
up to carry on.
One more thing. When you repot your plant lower into the pot, the roots
that developed in the air will not be acclimated to live in the pot.
They don't die instantly, or anything but they do have a short life once
moved into the medium. Repot when there are new roots just starting to grow.
Steve in the Adirondacks
Ray B
your comment that "the roots
They don't die instantly, or anything but they do have a short life once
"tailor" themselves to the environment into which they grow.
I tend to put phals into much larger pots than most - often with the pot
diameter equal to the leaf span. In those situations, I find that the
aerial roots redirect themselves down into the pot and grow just fine.
I like the aerial roots to "guy wires" on a tower. Phals are pretty
heavy and unstable on a relatively small base, so by grabbing hold
farther out from the base, the roots can stabilize the structure.
Ray Barkalow - First Rays LLC - www.firstrays.com
Orchid Plants, Supplies, Equipment, Books
Artwork, Free Services & Lots of Info!
Steve
It's just a matter of how you choose to look at it.
When the new roots emerge they are all the same. Those that find
themselves in air adapt to that. Those that find themselves under a
layer of medium adapt to that.
Sometimes people talk about "air roots" as if they are a different
structure than the other roots. Perhaps some plants, maybe trees that
live in the tropics, have air roots that actually are a different
structure than the roots in the ground. I'm not sure.
With orchids, I still look at it as "roots is roots", and then they all
adapt to what they are growing in.
I was going to end right there but... the original poster was asking why
his plant was making so many air roots. I guess the answer to that would
be "because they are growing in the air". He also made a distinction
between air roots and "regular roots". I just wanted him to know that
those air roots WOULD have been regular roots if the plant sat lower in
the potting medium.
Steve
Ray B
uncle_vito
seem to grow into the media but the part in the air then shrivels and dries
out. Still making a firm connection to its end in the media. Seems like a
good source of support. Not sure nutrients can make it up that shriveled
part, however.
Good question to see if others have this.
Vito
"Ray B" <ray...@nospam.firstrays.com> wrote in message
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Stephen Wolstenholme
<uncle_v...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>Looks exactly to be the case with me. My air roots that reach the media
>seem to grow into the media but the part in the air then shrivels and dries
>out. Still making a firm connection to its end in the media. Seems like a
>good source of support. Not sure nutrients can make it up that shriveled
>part, however.
>
I have one Phal that seems to dig its air roots into the media. The
media is too loose to provide much support. The roots that grow into
down into the media look dry but I don't think they are really dried
out.
Steve
--
Neural Planner Software Ltd www.NPSL1.com
Neural network applications, help and support.
Steve
It reminded me of "Prop Roots". Have you ever grown corn?
http://www.backyardnature.net/roottype.htm Poor picture of prop roots
but interesting otherwise. How do orchid roots fit into the categories
on that web site? ;-)
One other thought... how does the guy wire or prop root idea hold up in
nature where Phals seem to grow flopped over anyway?
Steve in the Adirondacks
PS Prop root? That's not a prop root. Now THAT'S a prop root. (Imagine
my best Crocodile Dundee voice.)
http://img7.travelblog.org/Photos/121470/417160/t/4033496-Pandanus-plant-1.jpg
Steve
trust that the nutrients are traveling past the shriveled part, because
if not, the root ends would not continue to grow.
Now, before you ask why my Phal roots don't do that now, it's because my
Phals all died of some disease. (I had a web site with pictures, back
when I was still searching for a cure. It was on GeoCities, which is now
all gone.)Back when the Phals were still thriving, my humidity got so
low in the winter that some roots would grow out about 2 inches and dry
up right there. Roots that started out in summer did much better.
Steve in the Adirondacks
Ray B
Seems to me that a guy wire or prop root is meant to stabilize the plant
in whatever direction it is growing, not necessarily up. Those big,
floppy leaves are probably pretty good "sails" in a breeze, so the guy
wires might help keep them attached to the base and rest of the root
system.
Diana Kulaga
roots. That's what I've heard them described as over time. Second, the
reason that some of them dry out is that they are not adequately watered.
They need a little extra care, since they don't have media to hold moisture.
Think of a Phal that's been mounted. All the roots will be the same, because
they all get the same amount of water.
Having said that, I'll tell you that many, many of our Phals have developed
large numbers of aerial roots over the last year. While there always have
been some, this is unprecedented. I mean, we're talking roots straight up in
the air, surrounding some of the plants. I believe it is due to a certain
amount of neglect due to *stuff* going on in our lives recently. It almost
appears that they are searching. And our Phals are in Aliflor and also have
healthy roots in the pots, so it's not rotting medium.
So we take extra care to completely saturate those soaring roots, and they
are doing fine, for the most part.
Jes' sayin'.
Diana
"Ray B" <ray...@nospam.firstrays.com> wrote in message
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uncle_vito
something more. Aren't we all....
Vito
"Diana Kulaga" <diand...@pussycatproductions.net> wrote in message
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