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How do you tell if an orchid has root rot? For reference, check out the image below. This is a dendrobium that has pretty rotten roots.

It also has a fire ant nest in the roots (see the little orange stuff bunched up near the center bottom). And I also found a flatworm curled up in its roots 🫣

Dendrobium seem to mostly prefer being up in the canopy, and I had left this one on the ground, so it got fully waterlogged, even though the stems and leaf seemed to still be green and perky.

I shook out the ants, killed the flatworm, and set it in the nook of a tree with moss covering its roots. It'll be a slow recovery, but I think it will make it.

#orchids #gardening #epiphytes #plants #hawaii #plants #tropical