help I can't stop !

[Skayc1]

Today I went to BB Barns to get clear orchid pots, then home depot to look for Better-Gro phalaenopsis Orchid Mix & the Leca which was a wasted trip Home Depot didn't have them, then to Lowes to look for the same. Home depot did have the Phalaenopsis mix.
While I got zippo at Home Depot (Their website had said they had the Items I needed)
At BB Barns I couldn't resist getting an 8.50 oncidium. first three pics are it! I need advice on repotting it does it need dividing? It's flowing out of it's pot! & the last pic is another Phalaenopsis I got from Lowes Clearance rack.. $4.00- the roots were in simi good shape, dry as a bone though.
oh and the nice sales lady at BB Barns gave me some packing peanuts!

[TyronSA]

Def repot but do not split it yet.. i normally split Cymbidium and onsidium when i have 10 good looking bulbs. then you split it into 2.. Thats just my way of ensuring is some of the bulbs gets hurt or dies there is always a back up.. This was actually a tip i got on a gardening show where they show how to exactly repot a cymbidium.

---------- Post added at 06:32 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:31 PM ----------

Def repot but do not split it yet.. i normally split Cymbidium and onsidium when i have 10 good looking bulbs. then you split it into 2.. Thats just my way of ensuring if some of the bulbs gets hurt or dies there is always a back up.. This was actually a tip i got on a gardening show where they show how to exactly repot a cymbidium.

[bellini girl]

Repot the Oncidium yes, but I wouldn't necessarily divide it. As for the Phal, examining the roots to determine how healthy the plant is...always a good thing. Can't stop buying eh? I could tell you to stop going to the store but I'd be lying

[james mickelso]

Don't worry about splitting the Brassidium/Miltassia. It could be an Oncidium Sphacelatum too. Just pot it into one of those clear pots you purchased. Sift the potting mix to get out all the finer material. Anything under 1/8th inch. This plant will get tall so I wouldn't use the peanuts. Get some gravel or small 3/4 inch rock to put into the bottom of the pot. Notice how fine the roots are on this plant. That is why you need a coarser mix to pot this into. Because it has such a mass of small roots, the center of the pot will stay wet while the top and sides dries out. After awhile the center starts to get stale and fungus starts to grow. And you know what happens after that. A coarser mix will help alleviate this problem. Here's the key. All orchid roots for the most part like to be saturated (watered well) and then dry out. When the media stays too wet the roots can't dry out. These are air plants which grow on tree branches and tree trunks. They don't need to stay wet. I grow in pure lava cinder, bark, bark mix, and spag/bark mix. There is no difference in them. They are a coarse mix, and the roots get soaked and then the entire pot dries out. So be careful not to keep this "wet" all the time. Let it dry out.

[Skayc1]

i was only going to use the peanuts on two of the Phalaenopsis, the ones that had severe root damage, & have only a tiny amount of roots. I saw a video where they pre-soaked the orchid mix & am pre-soaking the mix. Should i soak the orchids as well (for 15 minutes) so the roots will be flexible? The mix will not need soaking after repotting the orchid.

[Skayc1]

i think I recall the sales lady using the words ' Brassidium/Miltassia' not sure though. Oh and the orchid mix I used along with the leca was very course, There wasn't much room in the container for alot of the mix, Even the size bigger was almost too small.

[Skayc1]

they seem happy now.- I have all the phalaenopsis on top of humidity trays, the trays have the Leca/hydronton in them to keep the water from reaching the bottom of the container...And the Mini-Phal that had the worst root damage seems to be perking up, I have a gallon size baggie over her to add extra humidity for her.

[shushu45]

How lucky are you with the mini phals??
I seem to be having a terrible time with them.

[Skayc1]

I can't tell a difference in Mini Phals & phals. So far I'm doing well. The Mini phal I have, Lowes almost killed & it seems to be slowly perking back up.

[shushu45]

Idk the difference either. They just don't seem to like my environment.