Repot

[wrighty.uk.gorl]

Is it time? And when the best time to do it if it is



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[tucker85]

I think it's a good time to repot. Generally right after the last flowers have died is a good time to repot. That way the orchid has the whole season to establish itself before blooming again.

[wrighty.uk.gorl]

It is now senind up a flower spike so should I let it flower before reporting it?

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[tucker85]

If it's spiking you can wait until it finishes blooming. Orchids like to be root bound in the pot.

[wrighty.uk.gorl]

OK thanks that's fantastic

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[james mickelso]

When you do repot this, just take a razor knife or razor blade and cut around the bottom of the pot it is in. Then cut vertically up the side of the pot. Carefully. Try not to cut the roots. A sharp pair of scissors can also do the trick. Leave the roots alone that are growing through the very bottom of the pot. just plant bottom and all in new pot.

[OhioBob]

James,
Interesting thought on repotting. I just repotted a phal with roots just like Wrighty's plant. After removing media and detangling the roots I wasn't able to put it back into the first choice pot and had to find a different pot. The process took much longer than your suggestion.
How much bigger of a pot do you suggest?

[james mickelso]

Oh. You didn't need to detangle the roots. It's not paramount. When you take an orchid out of the pot and remove the media, it's not that important to remove all the old media. As much as you can without hurting the roots is my moto. I use a wooden skewer and large tweezers to pick out the media that doesn't fall right out. What stays attached to the roots I leave alone. What I try to get out is the center most media which is the most deteriorated. Then I just slip it into the next larger pot. Going from 4 inch to 6 inch is ok. For phals I try to keep it in the same pot I took it out of although that is not always possible. For phals which don't put out new leads on a rizome it doesn't need a larger pot. All you are doing is providing a place where you can confine the roots and provide moisture to them. You don't need to surround th roots with media touching them all over. Just a place to confine the roots where moisture can be provided which is what S/H is I guess.

[RosieC]

I always used to try and get it all out, but I've found that if there are large pieces stuck to the roots then they can be left just as James says. The stuff to get out is the broken down stuff, after picking out most of it, I also wash the root ball to free a lot more of the small broken down stuff, that's the stuff that would cause proplems anyway.

You do want to remove as much as you can, but sometimes you do more damage to the roots by untangling them and trying to remove it all. As I said I used to always untangle but I'm now starting to try and leave the root mass less disturbed if possible.

[got ants]

This is a tricky subject, as the advice given above cannot be spread out to all genera of orchids.

Some like to be repotted after blooming, others after new growth. My personal opinion is this....

New plants, repotted immediately. Even if it has a flower on it. We have a problem with heat down here, and medium can brake down rather quickly, or having the wrong media can lead to other problems if not removed.

That being said, I would offer the advice on knowing WHEN to repot. It goes like this....
There are two times when an orchid needs to be repotted. WHEN you WANT TO, or WHEN you HAVE TO.

When you want to for me is when I see new roots growing (mostly catts) and just as they are about 1.5-2" long, I repot.

When you have to is when something doesn't look right, even though there is no growth, you suspect it needs a change (rot, wrong media, wrong pot, etc,,,).

Others can pick up on this, as they may know more than I, but some oprchids HATE to be repotted.... %#$*^ psychopsis papilio