Beautiful new Phal found!

[lindasbabies]

I was in Walmart today and found this beautiful Phalaenopsis orchid. I realize the orchids I have are not named or anything special because I bought them in big box stores but I love them. I have two small phals and now this beautiful big one. Now does anyone have any suggestions as to whether or not I should repot now or wait? It is in bloom but it is potted in a pot with holes only in the bottom, none in the sides. I haven’t even watered it because in was sitting in a decorative pot with standing water in the bottom. Let me know what you think I should do. I have some 5 inch slotted pots and some nice media waiting if you think I should go ahead and repot it. Thanks in advance for any input! I appreciate it!

[Carebear2]

hi linda,
this question should be your personal preference and depends on the condition of the plant and the substrate. Sometimes you are lucky and the substrate will be fine for a few months, other times there might be an infection already present when you buy the plant that spreads undetected in the pot.

There are things you can do to help you judge - smelling the pot is a good thing to do, get your nose real close to the bark and smell it - it should have a wet bark smell, no weird smells - it's hard to describe but that is a good place to start, make sure it doesn't smell bad.

Next if you can with a tooth pick try to dislodge any loose bark on the surface of the pot to get a closer look at the roots on the surface, see if you can spot what is in the center of the pot, a lot of times there will be a really firm spagnum moss ball in the middle of the pot which causes most problems on a newly bought orchid.

If it has a moss ball I would transplant it but if you spray the outside and try to keep the moss dry and check by smelling it then you could risk leaving it till the plant has finished blooming.

the risk of transplanting is damaging the roots and causing the flowers to drop early.

the risk of not repotting is that the media could be going bad which will lead to the plant losing some roots.

Hope that helps you decide.

[lindasbabies]

Thank you Carebear. I can see some of the roots around the inside of the clear pot and they look good but when I looked at the bottom of the pot it had a couple roots that are rotten just at the tips because there was about a half inch or so standing water in the bottom of the decorative pot. I took it out of the decorative pot and left it just in the clear pot for now.

[aliceinwl]

If you can see the roots through the pot, I think you’re safe waiting if they look mostly healthy. Wait to water again until they start to turn silver and watch for any worsening browning or blackening. If you see root health deteriorating, repot.

If you decide you want to repot anyway, as long as you’re careful with the roots, the plant shouldn’t miss a beat. Some Phals can stay in flower nearly continuously, so waiting for them to stop blooming to repot is often not the best course of action.

Nice snag and it sounds like you probably saved its roots :-)

[lindasbabies]

Thank you Aliceinwl!