Something Different...?

[William]

I tend to overpot as well............I think. I'm new to some of this and I still have the habits of regular soil grown flowers. I buy an orchid and I repot as soon as I'm home. They seem so cramped! Anyone have a rule of thumb or is it different for different plants? What is the downside of overpotting?

[Ross]

All my Angraecoids are mounted (well a couple aren't) so I can't judge pot size, but each has it's own silly little wants. If yours seems to sulk a while, just be patient. Mine have taken nearly a year in a couple instances to respond to their new home. Even if roots seem to stop growing, don't despair. I had one, Amesiella moniticola, stall on root growth and appear like it wasn't going to make it. Several months later it decided "I may as well grow and live" and now has regrown the original roots, matured a new leaf and has a substantial flower spike. My message with Angraecoids is "Be patient!"

[Ross]

Originally Posted by William

I tend to overpot as well............I think. I'm new to some of this and I still have the habits of regular soil grown flowers. I buy an orchid and I repot as soon as I'm home. They seem so cramped! Anyone have a rule of thumb or is it different for different plants? What is the downside of overpotting?

Lots of folks here do just that. General rule of thumb on repotting (size of pots) is dependent on species. Most don't like major shift larger pot, however, some don't take well to root disturbance so need pretty large pot to make disturbance infrequent. Best way to tell is to search the references and ask questions based on specific plants. For instance, I pot my Brassia/Oncidium intergenerics way over size, but I use waterlily baskets to assure all the medium dries out quickly. I find they tend to ramble over the mix and not take too kindly to disturbance. Paphs get pretty tightly potted (repotted) as they need frequent water/dry cycles.

[Jo Ann]

Thanks Ross for more very needed information…you guys all have some great tips and advise… my orchids really appreciate you helping me, less stress for them to have to endure by my trial and error I put them through…