Repot or not? Unidentified orchid with many aerial roots

[sshoults]

Hi there,

I don't know very much about orchids but I have one I 'rescued' from a friend about 18 months ago! It arrived dyed an unnatural shade of ink blue... Now it blooms white and lovely, no issues there. Seems fairly healthy though I have no idea what type of orchid it is. Any info on that would be great. Photos linked below.

My question is about repotting. It's still in the same pot/medium that it came with from the shop, the roots are looking pretty squashed and starting to poke out of the bottom of the growing pot. We got some orchid potting mix yesterday but I'm not sure what to do about the aerial roots. Do I leave them 'aerial' or should I be trying to put them inside the new pot? See images - it definitely seems to be trying to climb out of the pot! I'm a bit worried that the roots might be starting to rot but hopefully fresh pot will help. It's just getting some new buds on the flower spikes though - should I wait for it to flower first before repotting?

Thanks!

Orchid - Google Photos

[aliceinwl]

It’s a Phalaenopsis so it can be repotted at any time just be gentle with the roots. The in pot roots look healthy so my inclination would be to leave the aerial roots out of the pot. Give the whole plant, including the air roots, a good soak before you start, to make them a bit more flexible and less apt to break. Orchids like to be root bound. Depending on how many roots there are in the pot, sometimes the best course of action is to replace the media and put it back in the original pot, if it no longer fits, try to shoot for a pot no more than an inch or two larger in diameter than the original. New media may not hold water as well as the old stuff so you may need to water more frequently for awhile.

[sshoults]

Perfect, thank you very much! I'll give it a go.

[Veksa]

It looks like a flower spike is emerging, be carefull around that area ( photo 3 ). Some root clean up may be in order. It depends what you will encounter inside. There might be a foam or moss "plug" inside, that will need to be removed.

[rbarata]

You can repot Phals anytime you want.
In this case, although the medium looks old, it seems to have enough aeration between the roots so it isn't urgent (im my oppinion).
One more thing I've noticed from the photos...I suspect you've been underwatering it. When you do, wet the aerial roots too.

One more thing...you Phal is one of those that blooms from old spikes so don't cut them.

[sshoults]

Ah yes, that's likely - it's with an aloe and I only water them both when I remember... Oops! What are the signs? Maybe I'll set a weekly reminder to water. Good tip on the flower spikes, thanks! It is currently putting out new buds from an old spike in fact. I've essentially done as little as possible since I got it, apart from watering from time to time. Luckily we have a nice indirect sunlight window that just gets a bit of evening sun, both the aloe and the orchid like it.

[rbarata]

Oops! What are the signs?

Well, just look at it. It looks dry.
When the roots inside the pot are silver, then they are dry. When wet they turn green.

[Cym Ladye]

Check out the last Sticky "The Phal Abuse Ends Here" at the beginning of this Beginner forum. Everything you need to know on repotting and care of your phal.