Feeling guilty -repotting and over-pruning mania

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

I'm not trying to make anyone feel bad by saying this, but I feel it is worth mentioning as this topic has been brought up before, and quite recently.

I usually don't recommend cutting living, healthy roots to make the orchid fit in a pot for the reason you're talking about.

The cut roots die back. Not all the time, and not all of them, but there will be a good number of them that will.

When that happens, it sets the orchid back. Sometimes, it will set it back a great deal and you will see the effects of the plant suffering.

No matter how overgrown the roots are, I usually try to find a pot or make a pot that will fit all the roots in there as best as I can.

I do not make the plant conform to a standard pot size. Especially with something like a Phalaenopsis.

With that said, your orchid will bounce back over time. And it has a good shot at it.

In the future, I advise not to make the Phal conform to a standard pot size. Pot up.

[LadySoren]

Vapyle- do you use bark or moss or other?
If bark, how do you suggest making it more packed together?

Good to know I'm not alone. :P

---------- Post added at 12:06 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:02 PM ----------

My situation in particular, I had just been cutting what my inexperienced eyes thought were dead/dying roots and it was left with, well, not much poor dear.

It is currently in a pot with serval inches below where the roots reach. Is it going to harm the plant o have extra room down there or can I keep it in there? (I just repotted using same original pot it has always had yesterday)

I will attempt to pack more bark in there. We shall see.
Best to do when wet or dry?

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

You are not alone.

I myself have done this to some extent in the very beginning.

It took me several years to finally understand the effects of cutting roots or doing severe root damage whether intentionally or unintentionally.

In fact, the orchids that helped me understand this the best were orchids in the genus Disa.

Growing Disas were the first time I fully understood the true ramifications of root damage on an orchid.

Most epiphytes are slow to show the effects of root damage, or they tend to recover far easier from it than Disas do.

This is why I try not to cut living roots at all and I recommend this to other orchid growers.

---------- Post added at 09:12 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:09 AM ----------

Originally Posted by LadySoren

My situation in particular, I had just been cutting what my inexperienced eyes thought were dead/dying roots and it was left with, well, not much poor dear.

Done that too. Just did it recently.

Wet the roots to find out which are still alive and which are dead. Wet roots make it a bit easier to tell. You'll still make a mistake every-now-and-then, but it should be far less than at the beginning.

It takes time, patience, and a bit of learning.

Originally Posted by LadySoren

It is currently in a pot with serval inches below where the roots reach. Is it going to harm the plant o have extra room down there or can I keep it in there? (I just repotted using same original pot it has always had yesterday)

No it won't, as long as it's not more than 1/2" or 1" more, you're fine.

Put packing peanuts or broken terra-cotta pot pieces in the spaces where the orchid roots don't reach.

Originally Posted by LadySoren

I will attempt to pack more bark in there. We shall see.
Best to do when wet or dry?

Wet. Roots are less prone to snapping and other kinds of damage. They are also more pliable.

---------- Post added at 09:22 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:12 AM ----------

When you put packing peanuts inside the bottom of the pots where the roots don't reach, it doesn't matter if you use recycled or newly produced packing peanuts. I've used both and I really don't see a noticeable difference in the level of degradation over time.

I'd go ahead and use recycled peanuts if you're buying them. If you have some that you collected from when you ordered orchids, then use whatever they used.

[Paphman910]

What are your condition like? Temperature(Day and night), humidity level, air circulation, and light(exposure).

I find that if the leaves are droopy and wrinkled, you must increase the humidity so the plants doesn't dehydrate from lack of roots.

If you are experiencing crown rot, it is likely that your condition have poor air movement and temperature is too cool during the night with water in the crown or leaf axil.

IF you are using medium bark in low humidity, you will need to water more often as the mix drys out easily after 1-2 days. I suggest you mix the bark with about 10% sphagnum moss and 10% large perlite to see if the mix stay moist longer.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Originally Posted by Paphman910

I find that if the leaves are droopy and wrinkled, you must increase the humidity so the plants doesn't dehydrate from lack of roots.

I agree.

Originally Posted by Paphman910

IF you are using medium bark in low humidity, you will need to water more often as the mix drys out easily after 1-2 days. I suggest you mix the bark with about 10% sphagnum moss and 10% large perlite to see if the mix stay moist longer.

Or you can use a thin top layer of moss. Does the same thing. Easier to remove during repotting when they get crusty.

[RandomGemini]

This is a great thread! Lots of useful info here! I just repotted two of my 'chids and the bark is loose in the pots. I think I can press it down with the larger phal and won't have too many problems with it, but I have a mini phal that I repotted in bark and the bark pieces are just huge for this little thing. I picked through the bag to find smaller pieces of the mix that would fit in the pot with the roots, but even then, I just know there's not enough media in there.

I was thinking I would try to break up the bark pieces for the mini phal. About what size should the bark pieces be? I don't want to make them too small. To give you an idea of size, my mini is potted in a pudding cup.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Originally Posted by RandomGemini

This is a great thread! Lots of useful info here! I just repotted two of my 'chids and the bark is loose in the pots. I think I can press it down with the larger phal and won't have too many problems with it, but I have a mini phal that I repotted in bark and the bark pieces are just huge for this little thing. I picked through the bag to find smaller pieces of the mix that would fit in the pot with the roots, but even then, I just know there's not enough media in there.

I was thinking I would try to break up the bark pieces for the mini phal. About what size should the bark pieces be? I don't want to make them too small. To give you an idea of size, my mini is potted in a pudding cup.

About 1/2" is fine.

[vapyle]

LadySoren, sorry for the slow reply. I grow in moss but useessentially the same technique as described by fishmom. I often place a loose clump of moss at the center of the root ball before putting it in the pot, because my orchids' roots seem to have grown in a cage like form in their pots. Perhaps the same might work with bark if you have a similar issue?

Also, potted plants do much better outside, once they're not "houseplants" anymore...

Best of luck!
Tori

[LadySoren]

K, so I have been out of town for a week and left my phals in my husband's care. He has been lightly misting when he feels they need it (daily ish).

I just took the skewers out and they were SLIGHTLY damp still, but also growing green stuff....
Is that normal? They're just BBQ skewers, not treated or anything.
Am I doing the wrong thing by leaving them in the bark? Should I just stick them in like a thermometer and pull them out a min later to see if its wet?
There are like 2 packing peanuts in one of the pots (per suggestion) and those aren't green (was thinking maybe they started molding).

The bark seems pretty dry besides the fact that the skewer was damp ish. I guess I'll wait to water for a couple days.

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[WhiteRabbit]

It's probably algae. Tho I don't usually get any on the skewers. But I do sometimes get some on the styro, even in the center.
Are these in clear pots? How near the edge of the pots are the skewers?