Repotting Psychopsis HELP!

[Syrinth]

Hello everyone, so I have a Psychopsis Papillio that I bought at our orchid show last April that desperately needs to be repotted.

It's extremely rootbound, and has one pseudobulb that is hanging outside of the pot. Additionally, the thin plastic pot is starting to break near where the pseudobulb is hanging out.

I know it needs repotting, but I've been putting it off. Now, however, another pseudobulb is forming and I think this needs to be done ASAP.

How do I do this without killing the plant? I've heard Psychopsis are hard to repot. It's currently in flower if that matters.

[nikkik]

My Psychopsis is potted in a cedar basket. As soon as it was repotted it really took off for me. I literally have roots around the entire basket and it shot out a new growth and spike. I wouldn't worry about it being in bloom because as long as the spike isn't dry you'll get another bloom in no time. Good luck.

[CTB]

I've heard they didn't like to be repotted! Would love to have someone comment

[Orchidgirl83]

I heard they did not like being repotted too, but mine needed it so badly that I just bit the bullet and did it. It did not sulk at all, infact, it shot out two new growths, and lots of roots. I put it in better grow bark mix.

[RandomGemini]

They don't like to be repotted, but sometimes, you gotta do it. I've repotted a couple of oncidiums now. They sulk afterwards, but then they perk up again. Just be careful not to break any roots when you repot it. I would soak it in water for 30 minutes to an hour first, to give the roots some flexibility when you remove it from the pot, then I would rinse off as much of the old media under a running faucet as you can. Then carefully pluck out the remainder with your fingertips.

Then... pot the plant along the outside edge of a pot that's just a half inch or so larger than the roots or your plant, set the older pbulbs along the outside edge of the pot, with the new growth toward the center, over the fresh media so that it can put its roots down into it when those decide to grow for you.

[nikkik]

Originally Posted by CTB

I've heard they didn't like to be repotted! Would love to have someone comment

I guess someone better tell our plants they should be sulking. Lol! I've heard a lot about certain plants, but the fact is it's not all correct. My plant was on death's door with a spike that never gave me a flower. After I repotted it I was rewarded with a second spike and now both bloom constantly. This plant has flourished after being repotted, I'm happy I didn't listen to "they say" whoever that may be. I can't speak for other's experience with this plant only my own.

[Syrinth]

I believe the current media my Psychopsis is planted in is sphagnum moss. Should I use a mix or just pure sphag?

Should I do the standard root trimming or just go in and out and leave it alone?

Based on what you can see, am I correct in that it should be repotted? I assume so since one of the pbulbs is hanging out and the pot is starting to break but...

[RandomGemini]

I would repot it simply because I prefer to grow my oncidium alliance in bark and not in moss. Moss seems to invite rot problems for me. I have not had good success with it.

[Syrinth]

Interesting, right now the one that is doing really well is in sphag, but I have another one that has never bloomed and has no cane that I bought two years ago that is in bark and just hasn't really done anything but make a small pseudobulb...

How do you water your psychopsis?

[Bud]

This kind of plant have very thin fine roots that if you happen to break majority of it, then it will sulk. I have mine originally in moss=so when I repotted it I have to soak it for 5 min to loosen the whole base and was able to remove it from the pot. I put it under the sink and let the full throttle faucet run on the base and dislodge the old dead moss and the old dead roots. I prepared a medium sized mix to put at the bottom of the pot then as I placed what remained of the base of the plant I added the small sized orchid mix all over the base up til half of the bulbs are buried. I used a rubber wire to anchor the whole plant so not to wobble and make it move. The tall spike might be top heavy so I used a strong robust heavy cache pot to place inside the plastic net pot.... make sure the plastic pot is two inches buried under the heavier cache pot so the leaves will grow upwards instead of spreading all around.