first repotting, teacup phal

[Veksa]

Originally Posted by tedro

Hi all,

Do you recommend this?
Phalaenopsis Orchid Starter Kit

– rePotme

---------- Post added at 04:05 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:02 PM ----------



Hi Veksa,
On “overwatering”: i thought that as long as it doesn’t stand in water — that all water drains out well — that it would somewhat difficult to overwater an orchid?
or, should you allow an orchid to become thoroughly dry, perhaps they like to be water starved a bit, aka dry?

Hi, Mountaneer above explained everything in great detail, all you need now is slightly larger 3" pot, some small fraction bark and some of original moss. I like to reuse a bit of moss on first repotting, because it is what the roots are used to, not to give a complete shock to the roots, because any plain bark will dry way faster than when mixed with moss, and roots that used to be permamently wet may not like it at all. I m also not a fan of that mix, seems to me way to much moss in there. As to overwatering, it is very easy to overwater (suffocate) roots in moss with little ventilation.

[tedro]

ok, got it!
Thanks Mountaineer and Veksa!

What are my options when this blooming is finished?
I mean, i’ve enjoyed the spike so much and if its still alive (green) can i NOT cut the spike back?
Maybe I should change forum?

Also, can you point me at s mix with proper bark, etc, please? I want something like this, looks like excellent medium: Repotting a Phalaenopsis Orchid - YouTube

Also, i saw one guy say to soak the bark first?

I want to give this guy the BEST treatment! )

i take it out of the vase/holder to water it; never water left in vase, always dry in vase.
btw, for now i did make some small slits in the sides of the cup. there is a wick that comes out the bottom for good drainage and it has lots of air as it sits up off the bottom a bit. but yes, the medium is getting old, i think.

[Veksa]

Soaking bark first is a common practice. Dry bark can't hold water very well. I think i saw your photo in another post, what comes out is a stick to which stem is clipped. As to cut spike or not opinions differ. I do not cut spikes untill they start drying out. Sometimes cutting one node under yellow area stops spikes from drying. I m not expert on medias, rule of thumb - the smaller the roots the smaller bark pieces should be. Look through the forum, i m sure there's been a lot of discussions.

[Mountaineer370]

Originally Posted by tedro

What are my options when this blooming is finished?
I mean, i’ve enjoyed the spike so much and if its still alive (green) can i NOT cut the spike back?
Maybe I should change forum?

Also, can you point me at s mix with proper bark, etc, please? I want something like this, looks like excellent medium: Repotting a Phalaenopsis Orchid - YouTube

Also, i saw one guy say to soak the bark first?

Regarding the potting mix, if we're talking about offerings from repotme.com, which you linked earlier in the thread, they make something called Phalaenopsis Monterey Dark Imperial Orchid Mix, which looks to be almost exactly what the person in the video is using, and I think would be fine for you if you want a mix that includes moss. It's medium Orchiata (bark), Hydroton (clay pellets), large sponge rock (Perlite), and New Zealand sphagnum moss. The other mix, the Imperial Gold, contains mostly moss (listed as the first ingredient), and also contains cork chips, not something I would use. There are also many other vendors who would offer a mix similar to what you're looking for.

Personally, I never soak my bark ahead of time, but I do rinse it good to get off any fines or dust. Pre-soaking seems to be one of those things that comes down to personal preference. I use mostly Orchiata bark, and the manufacturer specifically says not to pre-soak it. But some people do anyway, and I guess it works out.

Regarding the spike after the flowers have fallen off, again it comes down to personal preference. If an orchid is healthy, there is nothing wrong with leaving the spike on for as long as you want. Even after it turns brown, it's not hurting anything, but some people trim off anything brown just for the sake of appearance. I'm one of those people. I tend to leave green spikes alone.

[tedro]

Originally Posted by Mountaineer370

Regarding the potting mix, if we're talking about offerings from repotme.com, which you linked earlier in the thread, they make something called Phalaenopsis Monterey Dark Imperial Orchid Mix, which looks to be almost exactly what the person in the video is using, and I think would be fine for you if you want a mix that includes moss. It's medium Orchiata (bark), Hydroton (clay pellets), large sponge rock (Perlite), and New Zealand sphagnum moss. The other mix, the Imperial Gold, contains mostly moss (listed as the first ingredient), and also contains cork chips, not something I would use. There are also many other vendors who would offer a mix similar to what you're looking for.

Personally, I never soak my bark ahead of time, but I do rinse it good to get off any fines or dust. Pre-soaking seems to be one of those things that comes down to personal preference. I use mostly Orchiata bark, and the manufacturer specifically says not to pre-soak it. But some people do anyway, and I guess it works out.

Regarding the spike after the flowers have fallen off, again it comes down to personal preference. If an orchid is healthy, there is nothing wrong with leaving the spike on for as long as you want. Even after it turns brown, it's not hurting anything, but some people trim off anything brown just for the sake of appearance. I'm one of those people. I tend to leave green spikes alone.

Thank you, Mountaineer370! I had just ordered exactly that when i read your message!
Couple more questions, please?
I'm going with a 4" pot --looks about 1+" at least bigger than its current cup-- that looks heavily vented, a mesh, (attached pic), is that OK?
And, which food do you recommend?

When I repot, should I water in some special way the first time after repotting?

Thanks!

[Mountaineer370]

Originally Posted by tedro

Thank you, Mountaineer370! I had just ordered exactly that when i read your message!
Couple more questions, please?
I'm going with a 4" pot --looks about 1+" at least bigger than its current cup-- that looks heavily vented, a mesh, (attached pic), is that OK?
And, which food do you recommend?

When I repot, should I water in some special way the first time after repotting?

Thanks!

I've seen those pots on Amazon, but I don't have any personal experience with them. Still, it is a clear plastic pot with lots of ventilation holes on both the sides and the bottom, so that is the general type of pot I use and have had success with. Size-wise, I think the 4" will work for your Phal. From the looks of it in it's current pot, it will do fine one size up.

You asked about watering after repotting. I generally wait a couple of days before I water a repotted plant, the reason being if any of the roots were damaged in the process (and trust me, it's almost impossible to not cause at least a tiny bit of damage), you want to give those roots some time to dry up a bit and "heal" I guess you could say. Plus, if you did soak or rinse your media first, it's going to provide some moisture to the plant. In fact, if the roots stay bright green as they currently are, you could probably wait more than a couple of days. However, it's important to remember that your plant will be going from what I'm guessing is tightly packed sphagnum moss to a much more open and airy mix. That will be a bit of a shock for the plant, and you don't want it to go from being kept very wet most of the time to suddenly drying out too much. So, as your plant is getting adjusted to its new pot and medium, it would be okay to water it a little more frequently than what a Phal in a chunky bark mix might normally require. So maybe water just before the roots inside the pot turn totally silver. You'll get a feel for it with more practice.

On the fertilizer, I don't have a lot of experience. When I first started out with orchids, I used Schultz plant food for a while because it's what I had. Then, after learning a bit more about orchids, I switched to an orchid-specific fertilizer, in my case, the MSU formula. That doesn't mean there aren't other good orchid fertilizers, only that that's what I use, and I'm happy with it. I feed mine very lightly. Weekly, weakly, is the general advice, but I feed more like twice a month, and at about half the amount recommended. Orchids are not heavy feeders and do not need large amounts of fertilizer to do well. Fertilizer is way down on the list of important aspects of care, less critical than things like proper lighting, watering, pots and media. But if you're interested in learning more about the MSU fertilizer, here is a link to some articles:

FEED ME! MSU Orchid Fertilizer - Michigan State University Formula - rePotme.com Orchid Supply

[tedro]

Originally Posted by Mountaineer370

I've seen those pots on Amazon, but I don't have any personal experience with them. Still, it is a clear plastic pot with lots of ventilation holes on both the sides and the bottom, so that is the general type of pot I use and have had success with. Size-wise, I think the 4" will work for your Phal. From the looks of it in it's current pot, it will do fine one size up.

You asked about watering after repotting. I generally wait a couple of days before I water a repotted plant, the reason being if any of the roots were damaged in the process (and trust me, it's almost impossible to not cause at least a tiny bit of damage), you want to give those roots some time to dry up a bit and "heal" I guess you could say. Plus, if you did soak or rinse your media first, it's going to provide some moisture to the plant. In fact, if the roots stay bright green as they currently are, you could probably wait more than a couple of days. However, it's important to remember that your plant will be going from what I'm guessing is tightly packed sphagnum moss to a much more open and airy mix. That will be a bit of a shock for the plant, and you don't want it to go from being kept very wet most of the time to suddenly drying out too much. So, as your plant is getting adjusted to its new pot and medium, it would be okay to water it a little more frequently than what a Phal in a chunky bark mix might normally require. So maybe water just before the roots inside the pot turn totally silver. You'll get a feel for it with more practice.

On the fertilizer, I don't have a lot of experience. When I first started out with orchids, I used Schultz plant food for a while because it's what I had. Then, after learning a bit more about orchids, I switched to an orchid-specific fertilizer, in my case, the MSU formula. That doesn't mean there aren't other good orchid fertilizers, only that that's what I use, and I'm happy with it. I feed mine very lightly. Weekly, weakly, is the general advice, but I feed more like twice a month, and at about half the amount recommended. Orchids are not heavy feeders and do not need large amounts of fertilizer to do well. Fertilizer is way down on the list of important aspects of care, less critical than things like proper lighting, watering, pots and media. But if you're interested in learning more about the MSU fertilizer, here is a link to some articles:

FEED ME! MSU Orchid Fertilizer - Michigan State University Formula - rePotme.com Orchid Supply

You guys are awesome, thank you!

I put the orchid up inside my lamp that i got bright bulb for (maybe you saw it in my pictures --the lamp is in here somewhere Orchid 1 - Google Photos) do that from sundown to midnight. i need to get a different fixture so that: 1) the bulb is pointed at the plant, instead of away and reflected back; and 2) i won't have to carefully put it up in there and take it out everyday!

So, my orchid gets 6 extra hours of light per day.
Earlier on someone suggested this was not necessary, but seems to me the orchid is quite happy and healthy, so i'm not convinced i don't need to do this. it's a totally indoor orchid with no super bright or strong light spots. i think i picked a great one and it likes the lamp.
???
if i could make it easier on me i would, but other than getting an easier light fixture, i think this is good. idk?

[Dollythehun]

I have never been unhappy with repotme.com. For me their customer service and mixes have been superb. I use their Monterey gold mix for my phals. But sometimes when I'm out, like today, I put fir bark in my moss and soak it. I cut up wine corks and put them in there in little coins for more drainage. I always use clay pots. (And I can tell you it's not easy to cut up wine corks because I have two bandages on my thumb). As long as your mix is airy but still gives moisture to the roots You will be fine.

[DirtyCoconuts]

i am not sure what the light is exactly but that orchid does not need much light so you can probably avoid the grow light all together

[Dollythehun]

If your table is away from the window, which I'm assuming it is, then that light won't hurt. When it's done blooming, I again assume (of course we know what assumptions do) you'll be moving it back by a window. This would be how I would display my blooming plants.