Healthy roots are firm, mostly white, silvery in phalaenopsis and brown in paphiopcdilurns. Dead roots are soft, they may be wet or dry, and the outer covering is easily removed leaving the inner core exposed. Healthy roots can be damaged by pests or accidentally broken. Broken root tips will heal themselves and after a short time will recommence to grow from above the broken end.
Only occasionally is a single old leaf shed, their lifespan being for many years. The plant grows from a downward-creeping rhizome and the large green flower emerges from inside the base of the leaf. In cultivation the pendent habit should be retained and regular spraying essential.
Nevertheless their culture remains specialised, and their roots are all important to them. They do not take kindly to pot culture and should be accommodated on hark. Pieces of rough bark are ideal, as their extensive fine root system will take advantage of every crevice, the roots hugging the bark as well as growing freely in the air.
Once established, the roots cling very tightly to the bark and the plants should not be disturbed for many years. There is no compost to go stale or require replacing, and therefore no advantage in moving them.
The roots of epiphytic orchids serve the plant by providing the food source for the plant, and adhering to the tree or rock surface holding the plant firmly in place. Aerial roots can survive only where there is no danger of them being frozen. Terrestrial roots are protected by being under the ground.
A small group of orchids consist merely of a small crown from which bursts a mass of tangled roots. These species, among them the genus Microcoelia, have roots which produce chlorophyll.
