Drying out moss?

[camille1585]

If the moss is not drying out, you really should repot to bark, especially since the roots might still be in relatively good shape. I've repotted phals (and others) in bloom before, with limited side effects. The worst that happened was the oldest of the blooms wilting, but the rest stayed nice, and the buds grew normally. And like Rabbit says, the thing to avoid is bashing the spikes into something while you repot.
Think of is this way as well: would you rather enjoy the blooms now and possibly lose the plant, or save the plant (with a slight risk of losing blooms) but get to enjoy lots of spikes in the future?

[AThoele]

I have a little update. I went ahead and repotted the orchid today and I'm really glad I did. There were quite a few rotted roots, which I removed. It still has a good amount of healthy roots though, so I think it will recover well. I also soaked the roots in some root hormone before repotting it. The last bud is beginning to open so hopefully I will have another bloom in the next couple of days! I ended up buying two more orchids today and repotted them as soon as I got home, hoping to keep this from happening again! Thanks for all your advice!

[WhiteRabbit]

Awesome!
Yes I learned my lesson about not immediately repotting phals potted in packed sphag - I would tell myself - oh I'll be careful with watering HA
they always died after awhile - so the last one got repotted within a couple of days and I am happy to say only one bloom withered and looks like all the buds are gonna be ok too

[cirillonb]

Anecdotes do not represent science...that being said, the first orchid I ever potted was in bloom. There were about 30% roots that were dead and removed. I repotted in someone's medium bark mix and it continues to bloom, non-stop, until today. That was almost 2 years ago.
If you need to save the orchid. With Phals I would repot anytime.
Nick

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Visual evidence of Phalaenopsis roots attached on trees virtually free of moss (scroll down). Research the climate of the area described in the link, and you'll understand what's happening.

Google Image Result for http://www.ibanorum.netfirms.com/Hanguana190207.jpg

This is completely different from the visual evidence in in situ pics of Masdevallias where they are growing amongst tree branches, lower tree trunks, and fallen tree trunks covered with moss. Which explains why we can culture Masdevallias and Draculas in moss.

Google Image Result for http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3583/3465016087_80b4c977e7.jpg?v=0

Google Image Result for http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3520/3465022637_6abd13586a.jpg?v=0

[AThoele]

I took a couple of pictures of the orchid we've been talking about and I thought I'd share them since it seems to be adapting really well to its new home. The final bud opened up and it doesn't look like any of the older ones are going anywhere just yet!

Also, its tag says "Phal. Little Gem Stripes x Dtps. Sweet Strawberry." I assume these are the two plants bred together to create this hybrid? I'm sure that's a silly question, but neither of my previous orchids had such a tag. One of the ones I bought yesterday did and the other didn't. How do you know what kind of hybrid you have if it doesn't come with a tag?

[Judi]

I agree that repotting is a good idea. I always repot all my newly purchased chids because more often than not chids are mass produced with the intent of selling them while in bloom; they aren't necessarily grown with concern for the long term health of the plant. Additionally, you have no idea how the chid was cared for before you got it, it could very easiy have been routinely overwatered by well meaning people who have no idea on how to care for orchids. So, many chids are already stressed when purchased and root rot is extremely likely with tightly packed moss. I have never seen any ill effects from repotting chids in bloom but I have lost chids that I didn't repot immediately to root rot.