Fuzziness around the media

[mchhuang]

Found some fuzziness around the planting media. Got this orchid from Trader Joe's
Is this normal? What is it?

[rbarata]

Mold=degradated medium
Repot with fresh medium.

[Dollythehun]

I have an idea but I'm going to bump...

[estación seca]

By the time orchids go to market in flower, they've typically been in their containers for 1-2 years. They're ready for repotting.

This kind of mold grows on dead organic matter, not live orchids. It's eating the compost in the pot. I would not be alarmed at the mold, but I would repot soon. The mold is a sign the medium is breaking down.

I would wait until the flowers fade, and the plant begins growing again. In the mean time I would water such that the plant is never dry, but never soggy wet. A brief splash will do when it is time to water. Note this is not the advice for fresh medium, when it is better to thoroughly soak the medium.

This kind of medium will be very easy to wash off the roots.

[Dollythehun]

(I love it when my hunch is right). That looks to be in the Oncidium tribe. I would use fine bark or a moss mix.

[aliceinwl]

Originally Posted by estación seca

By the time orchids go to market in flower, they've typically been in their containers for 1-2 years. They're ready for repotting.

This kind of mold grows on dead organic matter, not live orchids. It's eating the compost in the pot. I would not be alarmed at the mold, but I would repot soon. The mold is a sign the medium is breaking down.

I would wait until the flowers fade, and the plant begins growing again. In the mean time I would water such that the plant is never dry, but never soggy wet. A brief splash will do when it is time to water. Note this is not the advice for fresh medium, when it is better to thoroughly soak the medium.

This kind of medium will be very easy to wash off the roots.

I pretty much follow the above, but if it's a plant I really want to have longterm I'll re-pot right away if I notice any wrinkling in the pseudobulbs even it it means the plant will blast the flowers. Using the skewer approach outlined in the beginner forum helps in terms of gauging when to water too.