How long to rebloom (or do anything) after repotting?

[james mickelso]

Well I agree but disagree too. There are questions that need answering before you can be told what you want to know. Pictures would be nice. I rescue phals all the time. I repot right away and the phals always grow new leaves and roots quickly. But that depends on what their condition was when they were repotted. Phals will bloom any time. That will depend on a few factors but generally speaking they will grow one or two new leaves and two or three new roots and then if given what they need, they will bloom. I repotted a batch of rescue phals about three months ago and they are growing leaves and roots. I expect flower spikes to initiate in about two to three more months. Most of mine lost around half their original roots so they started out with few roots and most had three leaves. I repotted into moss and if the plant had a new root, or any "aerial" roots, they went under the moss. I disagree with the adage that roots won't adapt to whatever environment they are put into. The velamen on so-called aerial roots is not as open as roots that are damp all the time. But they are the same thing. Roots. Roots initially grown under media will adapt to life out of the media and roots grown out of the media will readily adapt to life under media. Neither die back in favor of new no matter how they are subsequently grown. Give them conditions favoring whatever species they are and they will grow. I'd like to see pictures so I can help you grow some good orchids. If the roots on your phasls were compromised, I would get some of Ray's Kelpmax. The stuff works pretty well. We don't know what light you are trying to grow in and what size pot you have them in. What is the water like you are growing them with and have you fertilized them yet? Lots of questions needing answers. I would venture to guess that the roots were rather compromised when you finally repotted them. If the roots were compromised, I would say that it would have taken a month or so to start growing new roots and that is why the leaves became "leathery". They were using their stored energy budget to start new roots and a leaf. They will grow both at the same time. As that energy is used to leaves become spent looking. Wrinkled. You say the plants seem to be better anchored within the pot. That could be new roots. You can take the plant out of the pot and have a look. Then repot without any stress to the plants. Just do it carefully. I tend to tip the pot over and let the plant gently fall out into my hand. Now....media. Moss is a great media for phals. In fact it is great for most orchids. It just requires different watering schemes. Bark is great too. In fact phals love to be mounted. Most folks don't mount them because they require watering more often. So to make this long story short, send us some pics so we can better help you. Here are a couple pics to show you what I do with rescues and how quickly they can grow new roots, leaves, and ....flowers. The last plant was taken out of moss, put into bark mix, and flowered 4 months later. It just now lost the flowers. Oh, the first pic is to show you two roots. The very white one is a new root, not matured yet. It has been drenched just like the others there but isn't absorbing moisture like the others because it is immature and the velamen hasn't opened up yet. The others are mature and the velamen has opened up and absorbs water readily. Same with your roots.