How often do you repot?

[Foogoo]

Straightforward question. Speaking mostly for phals and oncidiums. Do you repot only when necessary I.e.when it's outgrowing the pot or medium breaking down or do you repot annually before the growing season?

I repotted mine about a year ago and would like to try different pots and mixes, but I don't want to induce unnecessary stress.

[WaterWitchin]

Straightforward answer.

I repot only when necessary. Why repot something that doesn't need repotted? All it does is disturb a happy plant.

My definition of "necessary"...needs to be repotted because it's unhappy with its medium, outgrown its pot, medium is breaking down, or one wants to try something "different" such as S/H. And then, if a healthy plant, I attempt to repot when the plant is growing, not blooming or getting ready to bloom.

Then that is the time to also try a different type pot, if there's something you believe will suit either you or the plant in a better way.

Personally, I like planting in transparent containers so I can see the roots. If I don't care for the container, I put the clear pot inside a decorative one.

But that's only my I am faaaar from knowing tons about orchids... only how to raise happy plants. The ones that aren't happy tend to leave me.

[quiltergal]

Phals I typically repot every two years. That's about how long it takes for my media to start to break down. No sense in waiting until it is decomposed. Then you are just asking for trouble.

Oncs grew very fast for me, so they would outgrow their pots before the media decomposed.

For Paphs and Phrags I repot annually and they love it. There's no stress at all with them. They start growing like crazy after a repot.

[Leafmite]

Almost never...one of the benefits of using lava rock and net pots is that you just drop it into a larger pot with more rock.

[lily99]

I hate repotting, so with the phals I wait til the medium looks bad. I have most of my phals in a loose mix of moss and perlite chunks, so it takes a while for the medium to decompose. I try to repot the phaphs every year, but some times I just don't get around to it. They would probably look happier if I did, but I haven't lost any yet.

[WaterWitchin]

Originally Posted by Leafmite

Almost never...one of the benefits of using lava rock and net pots is that you just drop it into a larger pot with more rock.

That's where I boldly wanted to go, but didn't have the guts.

Ahem... yes, I do only S/H now. But always attempt to stay politically correct.

[peeweelovesbooks]

Hmmmm..I repot when I'm switching something over, for example, from pot to mount, or when it's necessary.

I buy a lot of seedlings, and I usually get them with really bad roots or very small. I pot those until they get good, solid roots and then I decide whether I'm gonna keep the plant in the pot or mount it.

ETA: The ONLY golden rule I have regarding orchid growing is that I repot everything that I buy. When I mean everything, I MEAN everything. I don't care if it's recently potted, recently divided, etc, I repot. Why, because 1) I grow in 100% hydroton, and chances are the plant is not in 100% hydroton. and 2) this prevents me from letting something loose in my collection. Every orchid that enters my collection goes through a repotting, cleaning, sterilizing, nipping dead roots, etc. process. I'm really picky about this.