Repotting advice needed

[Ian61]

I posted a week ago about my orchid Beallara Marfitch (Howard's Dream). I mentioned that it was in a cracked plastic pot and I am pretty sure that the growing medium is in poor shape by the looks of it.

Anyway, it is in flower right now and so I am going to wait until it goes dormant before repotting, but my concern is that the clay pot that I want to place it in is 6 inches wide and 6 inches deep (the pot does not taper,but goes straight down).
I was wondering if this pot is too deep for this particular orchid and if so, can I place crushed clay material in the bottom and add the growing medium on top.

Sorry, to be a pain, but I am new to growing orchids and would like to know the best proceedure.

Thanks
Ian

[Lagoon]

Hi Ian, Your not a pain, this is a discussion forum, if you need help post -- if you can give help post. Just join us anyways!

Can't really know if you chid is overpotted, until you actually unpack it from the pot itself.
How many bulbs do you have?
When you say dormant - do you meen when the blooming is done? Cos' that would be a good idea
Just curious - what's the media now?

It's best for any 'chid to be repotted while in growth, whether it be from new bulbs or just new root growth in general.
I like to kinda squeeze my orchids inside their pots, I allow about 30% of empty room. This is good for atlease 1 year and less chance for any rot to start up.

[quiltergal]

I think Ross has a few of these guys, and he says he likes to overpot them as they grow pretty fast. I doubled my pot size when I repotted. It was in a ridiculously small pot for the size plant it is.

[Ian61]

Thanks for the speedy response.

The orchid has 4 large pseudobulbs that take up the surface area of the plastic pot that it is currently in. The pot is 5 inches wide at the top and tapers. The depth is only 4 inches and the potting medium consists of large bark chips that drains very quickly. I have been watering it every second day and it has responded from being yellow and somewhat shriveled to greener and more vigorous.
I was thinking of repotting it (with finer bark) when it stopped flowering, since I made the mistake of repotting my first Phal while still in flower and lost all the flowers within days of the repotting (found out later, that this was a no-no).
I thought I read somewhere that this particular orchid prefers a shallower pot and this is why I wanted to check with the experts, so I don't do something that might be detrimental to this orchid.

Thanks
Ian

[Lagoon]

Ian,

I don't get bent over pot shapes. I fit my pots to the root mass and leave some extra room for new growth.
In my opinion the roots don't really care aslong as they have somewhere to spread out and the media is fresh.

Keep in touch

[Ross]

Originally Posted by Ian61

Thanks for the speedy response.

The orchid has 4 large pseudobulbs that take up the surface area of the plastic pot that it is currently in. The pot is 5 inches wide at the top and tapers. The depth is only 4 inches and the potting medium consists of large bark chips that drains very quickly. I have been watering it every second day and it has responded from being yellow and somewhat shriveled to greener and more vigorous.
I was thinking of repotting it (with finer bark) when it stopped flowering, since I made the mistake of repotting my first Phal while still in flower and lost all the flowers within days of the repotting (found out later, that this was a no-no).
I thought I read somewhere that this particular orchid prefers a shallower pot and this is why I wanted to check with the experts, so I don't do something that might be detrimental to this orchid.

Thanks
Ian

Sorry I didn't see this post yesterday I tend to overpot a bit because I love monster size Beallara. Mine tend to spike on newly form pbulbs, sometimes before they are fully matured. Peggy Ruth Carpenter is still in bloom on the 5th spike of the second blooming period of 2007. Mine is in a 12" waterlily "basket" that is fairly deep. I would recommend going to a larger pot and use fairly large bark. The roots aren't real thick but there tend to be lots of them. If you want a really specimen sized plant you should consider getting some KLN rooting solution and soaking the bark for 24 hours before you use it. Then water in the plant with the same solution (then discard it, of course). This should encourage a new flush of roots on the pbulb(s) that just finished and lead to hopefully multple new growths. If this happens, you'll be glad yo used a larger pot

[Ian61]

Thank you Gloria and Ross for your expertise. It is most appreciated and I feel confident repotting my orchid now.

Ian