I've seen several videos online of people suddenly waking up to their orchids slowly wilting and deteriorating with nothing working for the plant until they decide to check the roots and substrate to find these stupid mini baskets or plastic boxes literally strangulating the orchids roots and base. It's basically a slow death sentence for your orchid, eventually.
I noticed my most recent orchid struggling for about 3-4 weeks so I decided to check the substrate and status of the roots and found the culprit. Another of these stupid things strangling almost the totallity of it's roots. After I was done it was left with barely any healthy roots. Hoping it makes a speedy recovery!
by SchillerDuval
18 Comments
đ€Łđ€Ł chastity box
That little bit of plastic isn’t hurting anything in this case, the roots can easily go around it. Orchids can’t really get strangled by their own roots since they are monocots. The problem here is that peat based potting media which is way too dense for a Phal.
Edit: Looking closer, with all of the fibers I see that it’s probably a coco coir based media. Better than peat probably but still probably not ideal in most conditions.
I feel like Orchids and Poinsettias are the biggest scam out there, designed to die so you buy another.
The name of this group should be “newbies whose entire plant education came from social media”
Itâs not the orchidâs fault itâs a little kinky like that đ
if it didnât have it you would be slut shaming it
Thatâs how they grow the orchid from seeds
Itâs not the stores who do it itâs the growers and itâs not suppose to be permanent. Itâs a way to keep them moist and upright till they sell. Sadly many people donât know they need to repot or how to repot.
So itâs not just orchids, but really any plant mass produced with tissue culture. If your plant isnât flowering, always a good idea to investigate the roots.
The plants are probably grown in those baskets for 1-2 years or so. It would take an unreasonable amount of time for workers to repot every plant. In addition to transplant shock from damaged roots (likely leading to losses).
I absolutely loathe coir for orchids as media too. It just holds way too much moisture and inevitably causes rot. Thereâs no ârightâ way to water orchids. Just make sure they dry out before thoroughly watering them again. Ideally within 3-5 days to dry out at the *MOST*. Everyoneâs environment is different and means that you could be watering every other day; or twice a week.
Thanks for listening to my Ted talk
Another problematic plant is money plants (Pachhira aquatica). Especially the braided trunks.
Almost always thereâs rubber bands holding the trunks together. Over time this leads to girdling
My one and only orchid somehow survived a whole year in soil with one of those plastic plugs around it, even flowered again under those conditions lol. Poor thing must have been suffocating though. As I learned more about plants I figured out it needed to be repotted, and lots of the roots had to get the chop because of it, but it lived and going strong on year 3. What a champ!
But yeah, I hate these hidden plastic things. Another plant of mine (I think it was a dracaena sanderiana white stripe?) perished mysteriously and I only found out after the fact that the roots were rotting within that plastic thing, even though the plant was not young…it was sold in a bigger pot and all. Always important to check the roots just in case apparently.Â
Eh overblow.
Those little net pots really donât affect much.
That substrate is junk and retaining too much water.
Imean the stores donât do this, itâs the nursery
It’s a way for u to go buy more orchids.. it’s ridiculous. No use for that
Probably to let them get to a sellable size but not get too big
It’s the vendors
And this is why I repot all new plants as soon as I bring them home.
So this is why my orchid died?! I vowed to never get another one because I tried so hard to keep it alive and it had one of these. Knowing nothing about orchids I assumed it was normal and I was at fault. Maybe Iâll try again and remove it as soon as I get it.