Does this need repotting?

[Imokira]

I recently reported this phal. I went from a 4" pot to a 5" but the roots are sticking out of the top. Is this bad? Do I need to buy a 6" pot and put it in that instead? It was difficult to report because there was a root that ran along the entire rim of the 4" pot.

[estación seca]

You could do it either way. How high is your humidity in the growing area?

[Imokira]

I honestly don't know. I have no idea how to measure it.

[YetAnotherOrchidNut]

Ultimately if you feel the plant isn't happy then repot it. You will be happier, and probably fuss the plant less which will make the plant will be happier. (Note this advice doesn't apply to all orchids, but it does apply to phals.) Don't overpot /too/ much, that will slow the plant down, and can lead to root rot if the media isnt good but don't worry too much about it either you want to give yourself enough room that it takes 2-3 years for the next repot. That way you dont mess with them all time and they are happier.

I have a habit of overpotting my adult phals into 15cm pots (to fit my preferred cache pot) and provided I used good quality media it has never done them any harm that I could tell. On the contrary, they seemed really pleased. Maybe a slight stall on spike production until they fill the pot a bit.



You didn't say /where/ you grow your plants. The fact you don't know the humidity of your area says you are likely somewhere relatively temperate, like in the 30-60% "comfortable" range, much below that you would know as it would lead to dry skin and the humidity would be in the news, and higher you would know because it would strongly affect the perceived temperature and again the humidity would be part of the news regularly. :-)

Your local news or weather station will have detailed data on the humidity levels in your region, and if your windows are open then that data will be correct for you. If you live in a cold region then in the winter the humidity can drop below 40% depending on the type of heaters you use. Also combined thermometer/humidity meters are cheap. :-) Ultimately however i think with phals in the living space humidity is a red-herring, if you are happy with the humidity and water your plants regularly then they are probably fine.

The image shows a large phal I have with many air roots, a spike with a keiki on it which is itself in spike and in flower, and its hard to see, but a second basal keiki also! There are a few desiccated roots visible, but that was from an unfortunate choice of insecticide treatment. That is a very happy plant IMO. The air roots mean nothing. :-)

[Imokira]

Originally Posted by YetAnotherOrchidNut

Ultimately if you feel the plant isn't happy then repot it. You will be happier, and probably fuss the plant less which will make the plant will be happier. (Note this advice doesn't apply to all orchids, but it does apply to phals.) Don't overpot /too/ much, that will slow the plant down, and can lead to root rot if the media isnt good but don't worry too much about it either you want to give yourself enough room that it takes 2-3 years for the next repot. That way you dont mess with them all time and they are happier.

I have a habit of overpotting my adult phals into 15cm pots (to fit my preferred cache pot) and provided I used good quality media it has never done them any harm that I could tell. On the contrary, they seemed really pleased. Maybe a slight stall on spike production until they fill the pot a bit.



You didn't say /where/ you grow your plants. The fact you don't know the humidity of your area says you are likely somewhere relatively temperate, like in the 30-60% "comfortable" range, much below that you would know as it would lead to dry skin and the humidity would be in the news, and higher you would know because it would strongly affect the perceived temperature and again the humidity would be part of the news regularly. :-)

Your local news or weather station will have detailed data on the humidity levels in your region, and if your windows are open then that data will be correct for you. If you live in a cold region then in the winter the humidity can drop below 40% depending on the type of heaters you use. Also combined thermometer/humidity meters are cheap. :-) Ultimately however i think with phals in the living space humidity is a red-herring, if you are happy with the humidity and water your plants regularly then they are probably fine.

The image shows a large phal I have with many air roots, a spike with a keiki on it which is itself in spike and in flower, and its hard to see, but a second basal keiki also! There are a few desiccated roots visible, but that was from an unfortunate choice of insecticide treatment. That is a very happy plant IMO. The air roots mean nothing. :-)

I live in northern California. I just looked line and it currently says the humidity is at 57%. I'll have to get a gage so I know what it is during winter. The phal so far doesn't seem unhappy. Are.you saying though that I may have to depot it sooner than 1-2 years if I leave it in this pot? Wow that's an awesome orchid! I need to learn how to produce a keikei.

[YetAnotherOrchidNut]

Bark decays over time and slowly starts to strangle the roots. The 2-3 year thing is a rule of thumb so you repot before the conditions in the pot get critical. Some folks repot more often, some wait longer.

As for keikis they aren't necessarily a good sign, the plant may produce them if it thinks it might die, on the other hand some orchids regularly do so. I have two phals and two dens that routinely produce them even though they are healthy and others that never have at all.