Stanhopea oculata - overpotting?

[piping plover]

Does this new wire basket seem too big to drop this Stanhopea in? I don’t want it swimming in media and adversely effecting flowers next year; but can’t find a better Upgrade basket. Seems 2” each side larger. I plan to cut the wooden basket slats to allow plant to expand.

Following Roberta’s suggestion to line basket with paper bag. Not sure i can harvest enough bark from my white paper bark birch trees but will see.

Unusually mild weather for January in RI; so good day to do this messy job outdoors. Happy New Years all! Hope it’s a great one😁

[Roberta]

I think that's fine. The spikes are really "smart" about figuring how to get out. And Stanhopeas grow fast, and also are difficult to repot without a lot of surgery. In that basket, there will be great drainage, you don't have to worry about it staying too wet. So let it do its thing.

[piping plover]

Thanks Roberta! Doing this today!

Originally Posted by Roberta

I think that's fine. The spikes are really "smart" about figuring how to get out. And Stanhopeas grow fast, and also are difficult to repot without a lot of surgery. In that basket, there will be great drainage, you don't have to worry about it staying too wet. So let it do its thing.

[piping plover]

Finally done. Removed any wooden slats that came out easily to reduce any root damage. Mainly bottom slats and few that were obstructing top bulbs. The top slats, once cut pivoted out easily to allow more room to bulbs.

[smweaver]

It looks good to me to in its new basket. Stanhopeas are not cooperative plants. They grow in inconvenient directions--not straight across the potting mix, but at sometimes-bizarre angles to the previous growth, including down into the potting mix. So the greater amount of time you can put off having to endure the frustration of repotting them (while ensuring that they aren't overpotted), the better off you'll be. Still, once those spectacular blooms appear, I forget all about their unhelpful traits and ask them to forgive me for periodically threatening to lob them over the fence to the family of goats that live on the farm across the street.

[piping plover]

Thank you for the confirmation on that; especially mentioning how uncooperative they can be. I needed to cut a slit in the liner to accommodate the new diagonal growth downward. And your comment about the goats gave me a good chuckle with my morning coffee

Originally Posted by smweaver

It looks good to me to in its new basket. Stanhopeas are not cooperative plants. They grow in inconvenient directions--not straight across the potting mix, but at sometimes-bizarre angles to the previous growth, including down into the potting mix. So the greater amount of time you can put off having to endure the frustration of repotting them (while ensuring that they aren't overpotted), the better off you'll be. Still, once those spectacular blooms appear, I forget all about their unhelpful traits and ask them to forgive me for periodically threatening to lob them over the fence to the family of goats that live on the farm across the street.