Trimming stem on phalaenopsis

[stripey-novice]

A friend has rehomed two phals to me today that he no longer wanted. I've made start on repotting the first one tonight.

It looks pretty healthy. There is a small flower spike, it doesn't feel dried out, not sure if it's newish or old. There also looks to be a basal keiki (I've never had a plant with a keiki before, so this is exciting to me!)

I've spent the evening freeing it from the old pot and media (it was pretty bound in). I've been soaking it, trimming back dead roots, dried off bits of old leaves etc. Would you trim the stem too? It looks pretty black and the roots coming from that part of the stem seemed pretty dead. Is there anything else I need to think about/do before I pot it back up into new bark?

[camille1585]

You can safely cut off that old bit of stem, I'll usually do that as well when repotting older Phals.

As to things to think about, do soak the bark for a couple hours prior to potting up, it helps the pores in the bark open up and absorb water better. New bark is rather hydrophobic at first, and soaking it helps it get past that phase. You can also skip the soaking, but you can expect to water much more frequently in the first months after repotting.

[stripey-novice]

Thank you for the reassurance! I’ve trimmed it back and it’s looking much cleaner.
Will get her all potted up shortly ready to join the others on the shelf!
One down, one to go!