Phal...wet medium...should I repot?

[Baby Girl]

I am worried about my orchid. I recieved it about two weeks ago from my boyfriend, so I definately don't want to kill it but the medium is still wet. Grrrrr and I haven't even watered it!

It's in bloom and I know the cardinal rule that you aren't supposed to repot when it's in bloom but...I've lost 2 leaves already and well...just look at the pictures.

Help!

[caseydoll]

I say if you are in doubt just repot! I waited until one of my phals (it was a new purchase bought in bloom) stopped blooming to repot and there were no roots left! I put it in sphag-n-bag and one by one each leaf rotted off and I was left with nothing. I was so mad at myself! It looks like you still have some good roots so it's really up to you. Given what happened to me I would probably just repot it due to it staying so wet. And lots of times the blooms stay on just fine. Good luck with whatever you decide and welcome to the board!

[Baby Girl]

Thanks! I took the whole thing out of the plastic container the other day to see if it would help in drying out but it's still wet.

I might just go ahead and repot and hope for the best.

wish me luck!

[Ross]

I'd repot. There are many nice green roots showing, so it looks OK to me. I would tease the old rotten roots (if any) away from the bark, get new mix (not in that order) and repot. I think blosssoms will be fine. Don't forget to soak the new mix in water with fertilizer before you repot.

[Neverend]

I would recommend you repot immediately, better to lose the flowers than the plant.

Trim off all the dead stuff, remove all the sphagnum moss, make sure you don't break any live roots, and pot them in an airy medium. If you don't water that much you can use water-retaining mediums like loose sphagnum moss, and if you're a watering freak then use something else like fern bark or hydroton or charcoal. Treat it with fungicide after you're done repotting, they are very susceptible to rots at this point of time.

[Baby Girl]

Originally Posted by Neverend

I would recommend you repot immediately, better to lose the flowers than the plant.

Trim off all the dead stuff, remove all the sphagnum moss, make sure you don't break any live roots, and pot them in an airy medium. If you don't water that much you can use water-retaining mediums like loose sphagnum moss, and if you're a watering freak then use something else like fern bark or hydroton or charcoal. Treat it with fungicide after you're done repotting, they are very susceptible to rots at this point of time.

Thank you, I did repot...what kind of fungicide should I use?

[orchidexpress]

I would definately repot it as I do not see any strong roots at this time. The mix has already broken down as that is why it is still set. Please do not water it.

Happy Growing!
Lee

[Neverend]

Originally Posted by Baby Girl

Thank you, I did repot...what kind of fungicide should I use?

Since your orchid should be free of rots at this time (you cut off the rotted roots right?), use protective fungicide. Here's a list of protective fungicide I copied-&-pasted from herbs2000.com:

Captan (Orthocide): a preventative fungicide effective against a wide range of fungal diseases. Can be used to drench potting media.

Mancozeb (Dithane, Manzate, Fore): another preventative fungicide effective against many diseases.

Rovral (Iprodione, Chipco): a preventative systemic fungicide with some eradicant action on established infections. Very effective against Botrytis. Unfortunately over-use will generate resistant strains of diseases and this product should not be applied more than three times in 12 months.

[cb977]

I always repot any orchid that finds it's way home whether it's in bloom or not. There have been a number of times that I've saved a chid that would have surley died without it...and I haven't lost any from doing this.
Whenever I repot (as a precaution), or see a little "something" that just doesn't look right to me, I give them a spritz of Listerine (the regular brown stuff, not the minty kind).