Orchid suspected of root rot, can it be repotted in hot weather?
In May, because of things at the construction site, I had no time to care for my plants, and on top of that it's been raining far too much here in southern Fujian lately, and one of my orchids got root rot. Even though this season isn't suitable for repotting orchids or changing their soil, I figured that if I didn't save it the orchid would definitely die, so I might as well repot it with extra care.
I was worried about damaging the orchid's roots, so I just laid the pot on its side and washed all the potting soil out with tap water. With the roots fully exposed, the orchid had indeed developed root rot. My orchid's leaf tips were dried out, and the leaf veins showed many yellow leaves. So I judged that the orchid's roots had rotted. I promptly used sharp scissors to trim off the rotten roots, cut the overly long roots shorter, and created cut wounds on the roots so that more roots would grow later.
To plant the orchid as a rescue measure, I directly used decomposed pine bark mixed with granular volcanic rock, in a one-to-one ratio. Based on my experience growing orchids, when planting an orchid as a rescue measure, the soil must definitely not be fine and the nutrient content should not be too high. Also, using pine bark plus volcanic rock doesn't pack down much and easily creates gaps, which helps air circulation, so the orchid's roots can breathe more smoothly. This helps it quickly resume growth.
For the planted orchid, you can first moisten the leaves, then water thoroughly the next day. I temporarily kept the orchid in a shaded spot, and placed several shallow basins of water beside it to increase the humidity of the surrounding air. My orchid's problem appeared in early May, and now it has been rescued and has grown its first shoot, but it's a bit leggy.