Bought 2 mini phals in one pot, should I repot together or separate?

[Corry]

I bought a mini phal (well, two packed together in one tiny pot) at Home Depot a few weeks ago. I've been told that you shouldn't repot an orchid while it's flowering, so even though it was potted in tightly packed sphagnum moss, I figured it'd be ok for now. However, I ran into a problem when I realized that it was very difficult to tell when it needed to be watered -- it was so tightly packed, I couldn't get further than half and inch down into the medium to check. So this morning I started to pull some of it out to loosen it up a bit, and pretty quickly I hit a really wet area and mushy, rotten roots started coming out. So I decided it was ALL coming out, regardless of it's flowering state or the fact that I have nothing but old, very dry sphagnum moss on hand for repotting medium. So, I did that this morning and since then I've had it sitting very loosely in some of the original sphagnum moss (dryer stuff, not the sopping wet stuff that was in the middle). So, I soaked some of my unused moss for a bit, and now I'm letting it dry back out some, and then I'm going to repot.

However, here's my question: Since both plants have always been potted up together, should I leave them that way, or would it be healthier for them if I potted them up separately? Thanks to all of the dead stuff I cut off, they aren't entangled with one another.

[Wild Orchid]

Wow, Home Depot, eh? They are so cute!!!

You did a right thing to unpot them. Even if there was only one plant, this is always recommended.

It's also recommended to plant Phals separately. They need room to grow. Doing so also prevents sharing the infection or root rot.

Finally, it would be better to pot them up in a bark mix made specifically for orchids. Almost all garden centres have it, so does Home Depot as well. Moss gets too wet and stays wet too long, plus it decomposes rather quick.

If you don't have the mix on hand, that's perfectly fine. You could wrap the the roots in the moist tower and leave Phals for a few days till you get what you need.

Hope it helps and this is a double blessing to get those cuties!



Lilia

[Corry]

I do prefer bark, but my Home Depot no longer has it, and I live in a rural area so resources are scarce. Home Depot is the ONLY place I've found it. I found Miracle Grow orchid potting mix at Walmart, however, it's terrible. It's basically slightly chunky potting soil.

Maybe I'll try and leave it exactly as is right now and on Tuesday I should be able to order some much needed supplies online. I was just given two phals from a friend, as well, and they have DEFINITELY outgrown their pots, so I need supplies for that, too. If I do that, I can pot order clear pots at the same time, too, instead of reusing the no-drainage pot it came in.

[Vanda lover]

They should be fine in vase culture until you can get what you need. My neighbour has had a phal in vase culture for months and it's fine.

[bballr4567]

If you do use moss make sure you soak it for at least 24 hours before using it. It will rehydrate it.

[PlantTeeth]

Good luck repotting! those are really neat colored flowers!

via mobile

[Corry]

Thanks for the replies! I got anxious and repotted separately in very loosely packed soaked sphagnum. Hopefully since it's so loosely packed they'll both tolerate being repotted one more time in a week or so when my supplies come in. It's only been a day, but so far they both look fine and the flowers still look fine.