Hi. I'm trying to identify these white rings on my phalaenopsis roots. Some of the lower roots seemed to be wrapped in fibrous-looking white rings. I did a peroxide soak & repotted, trying to keep medium less wet. The flowers just dropped & I cut the stem back. There is a new leaf sprouting. Should I remove the roots with the white rings?

Absolutely not. They're much like growth rings on trees, just a development stage.

What's a peroxide soak?!

Peroxide soaks are just what they sound like. I would not do it - its a good way to burn young tender growth and doesn't really accomplish anything a fungicide spray wouldn't.

Do NOT use peroxide around your orchids.
What you saw with your phalaenopsis roots is not common, however I have seen this before dozens of times. It is nothing to be concerned with.
Stay calm. If you are a beginner with orchids, dont get excited and do something without thinking it through. Don't over react. You can really do serious harm to the plants, even kill them.

Hello KathyBack, I would have just left it alone. It may just be salt accumulation. Never cut actively growing roots. Just leave them be, and provide as much air circulation. We all have our media growing preferences for our orchids. Personally, I am not a fan of using sphagnum moss with Phals, I grow them drier by using chunky bark mix or any other chunky media.. Those thick roots likes as much air around it.

The leaves of your Phalaenopsis appear to be a bit wilted. That may be from it being too wet previously. Be sure the top 1-2 inches of sphagnum moss feels dry when you poke your finger into it before you water again.

Agreed, no peroxide.

Bark chips and sphagnum moss are different, but equally good potting media for Orchids. Bark chips may be better if you tend to be heavy-handed with watering, but sphagnum moss is easier to determine moisture content. Your choice.

I use sphagnum moss because I tend to forget to water.

It's hard to check moisture content in sphagnum moss because its packed too tightly. Check by putting your finger on the drain hole. Feel moisture, don't water.

Thank you all for your responses. I have my 2 orchids in a sphagnum mixture because I mistakenly ordered it from repotme.com. I prefer bark but the bark mix from Home Depot was buggy. I do think I had the moss packed too tightly so the repotting should help. I should have taken a photo of the lower roots when it was unpotted. They seemed to be wrapped in white fibers so I followed directions on some orchid sites to soak the roots for a few minutes in hydrogen peroxide. I'll check them again soon & take a photo if they still look funky.

Consider running your ceiling fan or opening up a window after you water your Phals. It will like that overall good airflow.

Kathy, you are experiencing the reason that sphagnum moss is no recommended for a great many growers. If you pack it too loose, it dries out too quickly. If you jam it in there and pack it too tightly it does not drain properly or it smothers roots.
Very difficult. The best thing in can say is the pack it in firmly using very little downward pressure. But I thought that your plant and roots looked fine.

This is the same mini phalaenopsis about 2 months later. It has very few good roots. I cut off the dead ones. The bottom leaves are wrinkled but the top ones look healthy. I'm feeding weakly when dry and using just water once a month. I have another large phal in the same north window in central Florida and it's doing great. Any suggestions?

You are killing it due to a lack of water and too much fertilizer. More food does not make up for too little water.
It needs fertilizer two or three times A YEAR, not every week!!!
It should be potted up at this point in a 3" plastic pot with long fibered sphagnum moss. The moss needs to be watered well and then watered well again as it approaches dryness. No sunlight ever. It should be grown shaded.
The lower leaves are wrinkled because of water starvation.

This is the same orchid discussed above. It was packed too tightly in moss & stayed wet & got moldy. I repotted in early June & have been watering just when it's dry. I think the roots died & leaves wrinkled from too much water previously. Everything I read says to fertilize weakly weekly. My concern is lack of healthy roots.

Your problem Kathy is back when you first posted the images, it has gone down hill further. Yes I understand that it was overwatered killing the roots. So now you have gone too far in the other direction by keeping what is left, too dry.
I gave you a method above on how to reverse the trend. It will take at least 4 weeks to produce a few new roots.
Fertilizer is NOT a cure for anything. By in large, orchids are not heavy feeders.

Ok, thanks! I'm doing everything you suggested apart from the fertlilizing schedule. I'll try backing off on the feeding.

This weekly weakly treatment works for healthy mature plants, not one at "deaths door".
Please read the sticky in our Orchid Forums on Supermarket Orchids-Phalaenopsis. It will be very informative. We have other threads there as well addressing Phalaenopsis culture. I urge you to read them!

You are also in trouble in your own mind because the symptoms of overwatering look just like the symptoms of underwatering!!!! Exactly. Why? Because in both instances, the roots are in very bad shape!
Read those threads!!!

I think you also need to stop unpotting it. Just leave it alone for a while, it's had so much stress already.