Hi, I’ve been hearing everyone say water it when the roots become “silver” but in the videos where people say the roots look silver, they look like a dull green to me. Here are my orchid’s roots: does she need a water right now or should I wait? And if I need to wait, how long do you think?
by balconyswing
15 Comments
How often do you water now?
It’s time to water. But also, about an hour after watering, look at the roots again to see how the color changes to a bright green. Then when the roots stop looking bright green and more like the dull green here, that’s when you can water again.
I’d say water now but I think cost you should repot this into something that will actually drain and dry out in a reasonable amount of time. Like a terracotta pot
The roots are dry and it needs a good soak currently.
Get it out of the death cup, in my experience they don’t breathe well in this type of planter they come in…
This needs not just a water but a soak like sitting in water for a good 30 minutes
Also get the plant up out of the pot. Phaels don’t like to have their leaves and crown watered.
Now. Yes, you are right; sometimes they don’t go full silver and instead appear to be a very dull green. Aerial roots are more likely to appear silver, as the velamen is adapted to air. Roots in a pot like this will sometimes only become light green. Roots lacking chlorophyll, whether from lack of sun or variegation genetics, can also be yellow instead of green. And some orchids with heavy purple pigment can have reddish tipped roots as well. So it’s really best to get a feel for good they look when thirsty. You can’t always go off color. After a while you’ll develop an eye for it and be able to tell. If they feel plump and moist they don’t need water. If they are starting to look slightly shriveled or deflated and are dry to the touch, they definitely need water. Shriveled and wet can be a sign of rot though, as can brown and black coloring.
When the roots turn grey. I water every two weeks. I soak them for 30 minutes every other Saturday. Sometimes I add orchid food.
This needs to be watered yesterday, the leaves look limp
As others have said, this orchid is ready to be watered.
When it comes to orchids, “silver” roots aren’t literally silver, but silvery compared to the bright green of a just watered orchid. Not meant to be understood as literally “silver”, dull green is probably more accurate description (though sometimes the air roots of a dry orchid look more silvery than dull green).
I’m seeing some light browning/beginning of rot on your roots – if i had to guess it is that those roots are pressed up against that plastic which is constricting the airflow and putting them at risk of rotting. I would absolutely repot this in a proper orchid pot (plastic is fine but it needs air slits for air flow). Orchid roots need airflow around them to breath.
Your bark medium looks to be sized quite large – some large bark is ok, but you want some smaller peices of bark to fill in better around the roots.
I water every one to two weeks, soak the roots for 30 minutes and let the liner drain for a few hours and put it back in the pot
Now
I’ve had mostly minis and orchids in sphagnum it I have one in full bark and I’m noticing he likes to be watered once a week, at least that’s pretty much how long it’s been taking for the roots to be silver and the pot to be light again
Ppl already gave you some good advice (repotting, pot with slits, water when silver) but i would just like to point out that your roots dry out so fast bc the mix it is in is too chunky and too loose. When you pot, the mix should get soaked well and keep the moisture in so the orchid can slowly soak what it needs for the next week or so. I think your orchid only gets a ‘drink’ while youre watering, but not over the next few days bc its not in good contact with the mix, and thats why its dry so fast.
I have an orchid which just doesnt want to stay in its pot no matter what i do, so the mix gets loose really quickly, and the roots dry out very fast compared to my other orchids. Bc it cant get enough water from the mix, when watering i keep it soaking for longer than my other orchids, so like 30 mins to an hr