To re-pot or not to re-pot?

[missgroover]

Hi there, I'm not exactly a beginner as have been keeping phaelenopsis for a few years. One of them is a very mature plant (6 yrs +) and is starting to out-grow its pot. It has very healthy leaf growth and a large number of terrestrial roots. When should I repot it, or should I not until it starts to look unhappy?
It recently flowered (14 blooms!!) but has now finished. However another query I have is that it grew half a flower stalk about 18 months ago, this never developed into anything and I have left it on. Should I cut this back to see if it will encourage it to flower?
Generally I leave them well alone as when I have tried to intervene in the past they have taken offence and died on me Any help appreciated.

[RosieC]

Hi Missgroover and welcome to Orchid Board.

The advise is generally that phalaenopsis in bark should be repotted every 2 years and those in moss should be repotted every 1 year.

If yours is 6+ years since it was repotted I would say it's best to do it soon and definately before it looks unhappy (if you leave it till it's unhappy you then have to nurse it back to heath, much beter to change the medium before that stage.

The reason for re-potting is generally NOT due to the size of the plant or even roots, but due to the fact that the medium breaks down and the roots don't like it broken down. That being the case you should pick a pot which is the right size for just fitting the roots back into, that may be bigger, the same size, or smaller than the existing one. Also make sure that you remove all/most of the existing medium, it's usual to wash the roots when repotting to get the last of it off, although if any small bits are really stuck then leave them.

Having said all that... it's cold just now and if it's coped for 6+ years in that pot then waiting till spring will not really make a difference. Repotting in spring/summer is good as new root growth helps it deal with the move. If your plant had problems in the existing medium/pot then it would be best to repot straight away but in your case wating may be best.

As for the spike, I would leave it and see if it develops eventually. Shouldn't hurt to leave it on and it may get going again one day.

[Jennyfleur]

Hi, just noticed that this was your first post so, Welcome

I agree with Rosie to leave the stalled one and see what happens, if the plant has flowered while having it, it doesn't seem to be a hinderance.

I also agree that after 6 years the medium is due for a change whether it's climbing out of the pot or not! I re-potted one of mine this weekend just past as that was getting very enthusiastic about trying to grow up the wall instead of the pot (shall post a pic when home as I don't have it in the office). With this one, I didn't need to trim off many roots as they were all in pretty good shape so I decided to upgrade into a bigger pot, but that'll be your call I think. It also had a lot of new root growth starting. So, by catching it in a growth phase, it should take to the new pot quicker.

[tucker85]

I agree with the previous posts. When you do repot cut off all the dead or rotted roots. They will just decay in the new medium.

[BobInBonita]

At some point you have to repot, but be careful. I was in a similar situation and have posted link to a gallery of shots showing the progress after repotting. The original medium was pretty much gone. The phal had a fantastic healthy root system that had adapted to the space between the plastic pot and the outer clay pot. After a good soak I was able to extricate teh roots pretty easily and without much damage. There was evidence of past root rot in the central core (where the original media had been), but the orchid had long since recoverfed from that,

The trauma of the repot was very hard on the orchid. Many of the healthy roots died or dried, I repotted in August, and the plant is still not as healthy looking as before repotting.,

Phalabuse - finally repotted after 7-8 years - Orchid Board Galleries

[Jennyfleur]

Here's the picture I mentioned. You can't really see how 'climby' the roots were getting and they were making the pot buldge in odd directions it was so full. But, like I said, because not many roots needed a chop, I went up a pot size.

[missgroover]

Thanks everyone for your advice, I was going to repot it this Spring but didn't get round to it...I will try and post a pic for you all as it is pretty much growing up the wall!
It is in bark at the moment, as I have never repotted can you suggest a good readily available brand of bark to use?

[Jennyfleur]

Well, I don't know what everyone else uses, but I just use the medium bark from Burnham:
Medium Grade Orchid Bark - Detailed item view - For everything you need to grow your orchids

[RosieC]

I use Orchid Accessories Orchid Accessories I tend to use a mixture of things from them.

Burnham is probably good too, I buy plants from them and would trust that they produce a good medium.

[RosieC]

I would add that quality medium is an important thing.

I tried 'orchid bark' from the local garden center first and nearly killed three phals because of it's poor quality. I always use stuff from orchid specialists now and have had no problems with that.