Timing of cattleya repot

[BananaStand]

I have a cattelya mounted to a plastic basket that I got at an orchid show in 2020. Initially I was soaking it 2-3x per week, but for the last few years t has been pretty happy getting soaked just 1x per week. It has flowered the last two years. This fall, I saw a new flower stalk shoot up with buds, but the buds had dried out within the same week. I am thinking it might be time to unmount this from the basket and put it into a potted environment, plus it's probably going to do better if I separate the bulbs and give it more room to march along with new growth.

Here is my question: I know the general guidance for repotting is to wait until the orchid is done flowering. Can I consider this orchid ready to repot since it tried to flower but the buds dried up? Or should I wait until spring when there is more light?




First three photos are from today. Here is a photo of it in bloom from 2022 for reference.

[Louis_W]

The main question is "is the plant going to grow roots anytime soon?" Since different species do that at different time in their development it kinda matters what the plant is. Do you have a name? Is it Cattleya chocolate drop or a similar hybrid? If so, the gutatta in the background make make it a little touchy as far as repot time. I'd wait until you see active root growth

I might also reccomend not dividing it and instead just dropping the whole thing, basket and all into a pot to minimize disturbance.

[estación seca]

Once a week isn't enough for a largish plant in a tiny basket. That's why the flowers died. As Louis said, wait to repot until new roots are just beginning.

[Roberta]

I totally agree with Louis_W on this... just drop the whole thing into a pot, fill in with large bark. Timing of repot really doesn't have anything to do with bloom, it's all about doing it when new roots are just emerging (like a millimeter or so) New roots will establish in new medium. For your plant, its roots are likely very entangled with the basket, so there's no way to get it out without damaging roots. If you choose to divide it, each division needs 3-5 pseudobulbs to give the plant the strength to grow well after. But one big, strong plant is, in my opinion, better than several small weak ones.

[rbarata]

Here. It might help.

[BananaStand]

Thank you for the advice, everyone. I never would have thought to just plop the whole basket in a larger pot with growing media. Makes total sense and I will plan to do that when the time comes.

The tag on this one says "cattleya hybrids (Jairak Fire Star). Googling that tells me it's a cross between a Cattilanthe and a Brassavola. I checked for it in that list (thank you for that link, @rbarata) but did not see it there.

I will watch for new root growth to determine timing, although if I am not pulling it apart and leaving it in the basket, maybe that doesn't matter as much and I can just get it in a pot sooner rather than later. For what it's worth, the plant has flowered with 1x per week watering in that basket until now, so it must have just finally grown past the point where that is tolerable.

Again, appreciate the advice.

[Roberta]

If you are just dropping the whole thing into a larger pot, you can do that pretty much at your convenience since you won't be disturbing roots. The plant will just keep on doing what it is doing, when the new roots emerge they will grow into the new medium.