old pal Phal potting

[CathyD]

OK, I'm sorry. I let my Phal get VERY overgrown. However, he has flowered for me every year for, oh, I don't know, maybe 10-15 years. I believe I may have repotted him long ago but can't recall. In any event, how do I do the repotting now? I am SO scared to cut him way down! I really appreciate your advice!!

[Daethen]

That plant is amazing!!! I would try to find a pot that would maybe contain all those lovely roots, only cut the hollow or mushy ones off, get rid of the old medium and pot her up. You are doing something right.

[CathyD]

thank you! but the plant is just so tall and wobbly that I would need a very deep pot. I thought I would have to take off a lot of the bottom of the plant to make it shorter and more stable.

[Carpe Diem]

Rose pots are very deep. It would be a shame to chop up that lovely plant.

[calypsoB]

OMG! Your plant is amazing!!

---------- Post added at 06:04 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:02 PM ----------

Could you mount it?

[tucker85]

That's an incredible phalaenopsis. I would be a little intimidated to tackle that repot.

[Merlyn]

Put it in a clay or ceramic orchid pot (with holes) so you can use the stakes that clip solidly to the side of the pot and stake it with 1 or 2 of them. It's too healthy and beautiful to hack it down !

AND to our forum !!!

Just happened to have one of what I was talking about, see pix. That stake clips solidly on the side of clay pots and is 24" long.
.

[CathyD]

I will look for deep enough pot or one that I can stake. Thanks for the support. It'll be a week or two but I'll send a photo.

[Gage]

That is an amazing Phal! Good job keeping it happy for so many years. As far as repotting, I always like to have several sized pots ready because you never know what you will end up with once you get it out of the old pot, remove old media and dead roots. Sometimes I need something bigger than the old pot, sometimes something smaller. Don't worry about the pot being too small to keep it stable. It's more important to put the roots in the smallest pot they will fit in. You can always place that pot down in something larger or heavier.

[camille1585]

WOW! What's so amazing is that it just grew and grew without shedding lower leaves!

I agree, it would be a huge huge shame to cut it down. I would simply repot (though at this point I bet the air roots are doing most of the work) into a pot that fits (so may even be the same pot) and use advice given before to try to keep it stable. Propping it up in a large clay pot should give it enough support.