Should I repot or wait?

[Leisurely]

Consider trying this until your plant has finished blooming. Set the 3 in. potted plant into a 5 or 6 in. pot tuck and firm sphagnum moss in the space between the two pots. When you water, take the plants to the sink and soak them for five or ten minutes. If you do this, I think you will find that once a week might meet your watering needs. I grew a Slc Wendy's Valentine 'June' this way to keep the roots cool here in Florida during the summer and it worked beautifully.

[Becca]

Great idea! I will give this a try and when finished blooming I will repot!

[Leisurely]

This could be a solution for your problem until your plants finish blooming. Insert the three in pot into a five or six inch pot and firmly place sphagnum moss between the two pots. When watering, take them to the sink and soak them for about ten minutes. If you do this you will probably get by with watering about once per week. I had a Slc Wendy's Valentine 'June' that I grew this way in Florida during the summer to keep the roots cool and it worked quite well.

[kiki-do]

Something else that may help, as it has with mine, is to buy a cheap clear fish bowl (I got mine in the fish area of Walmart for $2.00) and put water in it half way. Stick your phal pot into the bowl so the lip stops it from going all the way down and doesn't touch the water. It gets air, plus added moisture. I have a Mtssa. in one. I will attach a picture that I have of some of my orchids, but check out the one in the bowl. Hopefully that will explain this better. If you need another clearer picture, let me know and I will take a better shot. kiki

[Becca]

now that's an interesting idea! It wouldn't help much for the areal roots, but it would help so things wouldn't dry-out so quckly.

[kiki-do]

You know, I've tried this with four or five plants that need moisture and are not getting enough. They have all done an about-face and started to thrive! That Mtssa was coming up crinkled with the new growths, but now it's got huge blossoms and another spike coming right behind. I swear this is what did the trick. I even have a Laelia in a smaller vase like that and it has two new sprouts since I did it. I'm always in the craft stores or Walmarts looking for sizes that will hold each size of my pots. I've even grabbed the empty plant pots for sale and taken them to the craft section to try them out.
I've also taken my rule with me. Whatever works, right??
kiki

[quiltergal]

Kiki, I wanna come sit on your porch. It looks so nice and colorful out there! That Mtssa. is fabulous BTW. It's such a gorgeous color!

[Ross]

Originally Posted by quiltergal

Kiki, I wanna come sit on your porch. It looks so nice and colorful out there! That Mtssa. is fabulous BTW. It's such a gorgeous color!

Terri, that's why I moved from KFalls to Michigan. Have been here ever since (not by choice - at least not completely by my choice).

[quiltergal]

Ross it just seems odd to me that you guys are futher north and have stuff blooming like crazy and I'm south so should theoretically have more light and my plants are just starting to bloom. In about another month I'll have 3 standard phals in bloom, 2 dens, and a paph. Of course LauraN is probably right. The more plants you have the better your odds are of having something in bloom. I only have 31 right now.

[Ross]

Originally Posted by quiltergal

Ross it just seems odd to me that you guys are futher north and have stuff blooming like crazy and I'm south so should theoretically have more light and my plants are just starting to bloom. In about another month I'll have 3 standard phals in bloom, 2 dens, and a paph. Of course LauraN is probably right. The more plants you have the better your odds are of having something in bloom. I only have 31 right now.

Terri, let me phrase it this way: Lights! That's my solution.