Is my orchid healthy?

[Sanya246]

I got gifted this dendrobium orchid a few months back, since then all flowers have fallen off and new canes have grown with leaves. ( sorry I don’t know the correct terminology)


So, it initially came in a plastic small pot but everyone had advised to put it in a bigger pot. I did that but now 2 people have said the medium looks too dense and because of the wrinkles on the older canes, it appears to have a root problem?

Please help me, currently it is in the potting medium which it came with from the store and I added a few bark pieces and fertiliser.

I also have new white spikes at the bottom of the plant which I think are new roots? So does this not mean that my plant is healthy ?

I have attached pictures

[Roberta]

First, Welcome!

Those are new roots, so this is a good time to repot. (Try not to touch those new roots, the tips are very fragile. So just be gentle - when you pack the new medium with your fingers and thumbs, don't put pressure on the side where the new roots are emerging. But it is very important for the plant to be stable - use a stake if needed) Pot size looks fine. These don't have a big "footprint". I would suggest small bark. When in active growth, they do need to be kept moist.

[NatalieS]

You want to do just as Roberta has suggested, but I thought I'd add some photos for you for comparison as I too have a store-bought typical nobile dendrobium hybrid in active growth.

You can see the size bark that I've used in the medium is small bark as Roberta has suggested (I throw in some sphagnum moss on the top, but you can ignore that). You can also see the pot is around the same size as yours.

The medium your plant is in definitely does look very dense - almost like soil to my eyes. My plant also came in a quite densely packed medium which I suspected to be a fine coconut fibre, and I repotted it straight away as it was producing new growth, just like yours. Unfortunately, some mass-grown orchids are potted into this fine type of medium. Mine even still had a fibre plug in the centre of the root ball - it's a densely packed ball of fibrous medium that looks like a cylinder, used for initial seedling growth. Sometimes this is just left in the pot when they put it into a bigger pot ready for flowering and sale.

When you are repotting, gently tease away as much of the fine medium as possible, and check if one of these dense plugs may be at the centre of the roots - these can often stay very wet and cause root rot, and a dehydrated plant.

[estación seca]

Welcome!

[Blueszz]

Welcome Sanya

[Sanya246]

Thank you both of you for your help!

So basically if I remove most of the soil, and replace it with bark, it should be ok?
Is coco chip husk fine to add? Also how much of it should I buy, 500g?

---------- Post added at 04:56 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:56 PM ----------

It makes sense as I water my plant once a week, but sometimes not even that because every week the soil still feels very moist

[Roberta]

Orchids need air around their roots, so they want a medium that dries out somewhat. Bark, cocoonut chips, etc. have lots of air space. It is much better to have a medium that dries out, so that you need to water more often - that fresh water flowing through the medium pulls air behind it - which is very important. Those roots want "humid air" not soggy wet.