Phal Air Roots Question

it means your plant is happy and well-adjusted to its natural role as a jungle, tree branch epiphyte

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

I don't agree that "roots is roots", Steve. If that was the case, then your comment that "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" wouldn't be correct, which it is, as root cells "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 -

-----Original Message----- From: Steve [mailto: snipped-for-privacy@aol.com] Posted At: Saturday, December 26, 2009 4:56 PM Posted To: rec.gardens.orchids Conversation: Phal Air Roots Question Subject: Re: Phal Air Roots Question 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

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 wrote:

What are your thoughts on my "guy wire" observation?

Ray Barkalow - First Rays LLC -

-----Original Message----- From: Steve [mailto: snipped-for-privacy@aol.com] Posted At: Saturday, December 26, 2009 5:33 PM Posted To: rec.gardens.orchids Conversation: Phal Air Roots Question Subject: Re: Phal Air Roots Question

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 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.

Good question to see if others have this.

Vito