So, I've been watching this plant - St. Peter, repotted in S/H on 8/30/05.

It has this fibrous webby stuff growing. I thought it was just at the top of the root growth, near the base of the plant, so I physan'ed it the other day. Today, I noticed this stuff was blocking the holes in the bottom. So I unpotted. YUCKO!

What is this stuff? Clearly, I'm going to clean the plant up and get it into new mix, but what's going on? And so FAST?!

Thanks!

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y134/ahmcd33/ick1.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y134/ahmcd33/ick2.jpg

wish i could help. i have no idea. but i love when you post pics because we always get to see red freckles on a pasty arm or hand :lol:

Have a freckle fetish, do you Stan? :poke:

Seriously, it seems to be the plant, not the media (obviously) that has the issue. There is no residue on the pot. I don't see really any old organic media hanging around, and there's a lot of new active roots. So, I'm soaking it in Physan and then I guess I 'll put it in fresh Prime Agra and watch it.

Weird. The only plant that is doing this, and so I wonder if this had already started before I put it in S/H? :confused:

Heather, that looks like the same stuff I had growing on my phrag. Every morning I would look at it and it would have that webby stuff covering the top of the pot (and some other mold also accompanying it). But mine was potted in a bark mix, and even though I had a fan blowing on it, it would never dry enough in the middle of the mix so mold and this webby stuff would grow. I tried physan on mine too, but it didn't really help unless I completely flushed the pot with physan, and even then the icky stuff would be back in a few days. Maybe if you could somehow get more air circulation going around the root area? Or maybe a more thorough flush with physan? I'm just shooting in the dark here. I wouldn't expect this to happen with s/h...I repotted my phrag into diatomite and there is no more of the fungus/mold/webby stuff. I think it is because the diatomite dries out a bit in between waterings, and it is in a clay pot. My bark mix never dried out at all and all kinds of nasties grew in the mix. But the good new is that the icky stuff didn't seem to hurt my plant.

Hm, thanks Teresa, very helpful.
I'm thinking it could be Pythium? http://www.slipperorchidforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1536&highlight=

Since I don't mind playing with this plant a little, I'll continue to try the S/H method, but with diatomite instead of Prime Agra, and see how it does. Saves me boiling a new batch of Prime Agra today (I *just* cleaned up from the last!)

I know what you mean about the boiling! My husband was like...what the hell are you cooking? Kind of a mess but much better than soaking. :poke:

I am not sure if it was pythium or not. I did not see any damage to my roots or my plant, and it was in the icky mix for a month or so. Maybe that was not long enough for the pythium to develop, or maybe my plant was strong enough to fight it off. Dousing in physan probably hindered the pythium development if that is what it was. I think it was just an assortment of mold and fungus that may or may not have been affecting my plant. All I know is that it was nasty looking! One time I put snail pellets in all my plants to prevent snail infestation and after I watered, the pellets grew this icky green mold that sort of infiltrated my pots. I posted about it on another forum a while back and people told me it was harmless and that I should ignore it. But it was so disgusting looking I couldn't stand it and I repotted everything! :cheeky:

I'm not sure either, but whatever it was, grossed me out. While my plant wasn't looking extrememly happy, the roots are! And it could be that old growths are just dying off normally, and this is a besseae hybrid so they're getting ratty looking anyway, w/ two fresh new starts growing fine.
I'm going to try the diatomite since it may dry out a little faster.

Was/is it potted in a clear pot ?

It's mold that forms because of residual organic matter from the old medium. That's why it's important to wash out all of the old medium.

check out ray's forum, there are several posts regarding this.

Yes, clear pot.

Lien, thanks, read, and it answered my fertilizer question. :)

FWIW, the plant was pretty darn clean, but something certainly was causing it.
At any rate, hopefully it will be fine, and quit producing the mold.

Try repotting in an opaque pot or use a cache pot to eliminate light.
Some of my Phrags have been in s/h for a year & 1/2 & no mold/fungus
but i stopped using clear pots because of the excessive algae.
Now with opaque pots & Ph below 6 there is little or no algae & the plants
grow exceptionally quick.

Watch the Physan.
Most people are not aware that it is a growth retardent and will effect the growth of the plant.
I learned that one a few years ago when I was working for a botanical garden greenhouse.
The poinsetta for the city didnt look none too healthy that year..........lol!
A wide spectrum systemic fungicide like Benomyl might be better.
You can water with a small amount of apple cider viegar or even sprinkling cinamon in the pot might do the trick.

Thanks for the warning.
I tend to use Physan at about 3/4 strength cause using anything like this makes me anxious.
Then again that's probably the reason I am still having the problem, despite two treatments and repotting into straight diatomite.

At this point, I'm just going to agree with the plant that it is unhappy in S/H and move it back into my other CHC/diatomite based mix.

I find it interesting that this is the only plant I'm having the trouble with. All the other Paphs and Phrags I put in S/H seem to be holding their own and many of the smaller plants (Phrags especially) are putting out fat new roots (I'm amazed at how quickly!) The Paphs seem a little slower to put new roots out, but I am not having this fungus issue w/ anything else. The thought crossed my mind that it might be due to being such a large plant, large pot = longer to dry out. Then again, the two Paphs I have that are comparable in size seem fine.

Interesting, and fun to check and watch what is happening. :)

Heather, I would venture a guess that it's not the plant itself that doesn't like the S/H, but the mold that likes the conditions your plant is providing. I think Lien is right about old organic matter. I had the same problem with one of my paphs, so I basically unpotted it again and gave it another good cleaning. I found more crap where the old leaves decayed around the top roots. Haven't havd the mold problem since. I also gave the area a dose of vinegar for good measure.

yes the fungus really doesnt like the acidity of the vinegar

Thanks, I'll try the vinegar also.
Honestly, I've now upotted it twice and find no organic matter (I am super careful about this as I know the problems that can occur in general, but even more so the second time,) but there must be something I'm not seeing.