should I repot this now or later? - Orchid Board

VickiC · #1 07-01-2013, 03:57 PM

Yam Queen Adelia 'Kiilani--in a 4" pot.

I planned last year to repot it this last Spring, but it had no new growths and was also spiking then later bloomed....so I haven't. It has bloomed at each blooming cycle the last approx. 3-4 yrs. since I've had it.

My question to you is...should I repot it now, wait until it finishes it's blooming decline or wait another year?

I would appreciate your advice,
Vicki

Brooke · #2 07-01-2013, 04:22 PM

Repot it when you get new root growth which usually comes with new growths. It is easier to repot if you do it before the growth goes over the edge of the pot.

Brooke

VickiC · #3 07-02-2013, 06:26 PM

Thank you, Brooke!
Vicki

Quote:

Originally Posted by brooke

Repot it when you get new root growth which usually comes with new growths. It is easier to repot if you do it before the growth goes over the edge of the pot.

Brooke

james mickelso · #4 07-07-2013, 02:56 AM

Weeeelllll.....yes and no. It should have been repotted two years ago for best culture. Now it is going to be a real task....or not. This will be your choice. You can wait until it has finished flowering or just drop it into another larger pot now....... pot and all. If you wait until it finishes flowering, you will still face the destruction of this ungainly root system. If you can, as soon as the flowers start to wilt, cut off the flower spike, take this out of the pot, and carefully, very carefully tease out the old media from the bottom of the root mass. You do not have to get it all out. Just as much as is reasonable. Then pot it in a slightly larger pot. That will be your best bet. A shallow pot will be best. Something like a good round or oval clay bonsai pot. Just be sure you glue some wires onto the bottom of the pot to help stabilize the plant. Or you can repot this in the normal fashion and hope....hope it will flower next year. This is a good lesson for all those who procrastinate repotting. Your choice. Nice flowers by the way. And then there is also the possibility of just letting it stay in this pot and treat it as a mounted orchid. It doesn't have to be potted. Nothing in the books say it must be potted. And if given the proper care, it will grow like this for years and bloom nicely. Your choice.

tucker85 · #5 07-07-2013, 09:56 AM

Orchids that bloom in the summer are always a challenge when it comes to repotting, because we want to let it bloom first. Your safest choice is to wait until you see new roots starting to grow and carefully repot it, trying not to damage the new roots. But you could also repot after the blooms finish if you're careful not to disturb the orchid too much. Don't try to divide the plant. That usually stresses the orchid and sets it back. Break the pot with a hammer, if necessary, and put the entire rootball into a slightly larger pot, like James said, and fill in some media around the edges. I've done that with a minimum of stress on the plant and the plant barely knows it's been repotted. Luckily you live in the South and have a long summer. That gives the plant more time to grow some more if you repot it now. Good luck.

Orchidflowerchild · #6 07-07-2013, 12:20 PM

this is why I like clay pots for cattleyas. If you use a relatively inert media (I like to rough chop a little sphagnum with some pearlite and charcoal and granite chips/pea gravel, to give weight) you can just slip the whole pot into the next size up. If you keep light on the sphagnum it decaying is no issue, as it doesn't ever glop up into an anaerobic mess. The extra weight of the pot and the rock in the mix keep even the sloppiest growing cattleyas (and incidentally, tall dendrobiums) from being all top-heavy. I learned that from Ervin Granier. His specimen cattleyas were TO DIE FOR back in the 90's. He mostly grew in straight gravel or pearlite/charcoal, half-filled with styro peanuts. He'd show up at judging and all the judges had to start figuring out how to count all the flowers on these these giant plants in 30" pots, all of which nested down to a 4" pot lol.

-Ceci

james mickelso · #7 07-07-2013, 12:25 PM

Yes. The longer you can leave a plant potted and not disturb the roots, the larger/faster it grows and the more flowers it will put on. Any time you mess with the roots you injure them and the plant then spends it's energy trying to heal the wounds. It's why you seldom see young three or four pbulb plants putting on 5-7 flower spikes. Best just to use a media that when it does degrade it simply disappears and you can just keep dropping into larger and larger pots. 4 or 5 years down the road and it's a giant.

Orchidflowerchild · #8 07-07-2013, 12:29 PM

oooooooh emmm geee Ervin's C. Bactia 'Grape Wax' when he got that insane CCM... The plant was in a 24" bulb pan I think, and was 5.5' (that's FEET) tall, and had some insane number of flowers on it.

I heart specimen plants.

-Ceci

james mickelso · #9 07-07-2013, 04:18 PM

I do too. But they come with an eventual price tag. The centers usually degrade after a few years and dividing becomes necessary. And you end up with so many pots full of the same orchid that you have no room for more. But then again you can trade. But sheesh it's fun to watch the expressions on the other members of your club when you bring in a 30 pbulb plant with 100 flowers on it.

VickiC · #10 07-07-2013, 05:11 PM

Thank you, James...
I need to repot it rather than hang it because I have so little hanging space. I cut off the fading flower spikes then tried to remove as much of the old media as I could without creating much root disturbance. My "far from very good" camera has been used a lot and is coming close to seeing it's day end, so I wasn't able to get a good shot of the center since it was so dark in there. I don't have any clay bonsai pots, but I have a picture of the ones I do have. I have the traditional one with oblong holes around the bottom (5") and one with round holes (5 1/2") . I have a 6", but I bet you would say that's too large ?? Also, do you think it would be a good or bad idea to put a small plastic inverted pot in the middle (2") I'm not clear about glueing wires to the bottom of the pot, so would you mind explaining that again, please? I was browsing other threads recently and ran across a post by you displaying a picture of the bottom of a clay pot you made. I was impressed, but wondered how you did it exactly...how on earth did you remove most of the clay pot bottom without breaking the pot? I have included a picture of the one I am referring to.

I would appreciate if you would let me know your thoughts.
Vicki

Quote:

Originally Posted by james mickelso

Weeeelllll.....yes and no. It should have been repotted two years ago for best culture. Now it is going to be a real task....or not. This will be your choice. You can wait until it has finished flowering or just drop it into another larger pot now....... pot and all. If you wait until it finishes flowering, you will still face the destruction of this ungainly root system. If you can, as soon as the flowers start to wilt, cut off the flower spike, take this out of the pot, and carefully, very carefully tease out the old media from the bottom of the root mass. You do not have to get it all out. Just as much as is reasonable. Then pot it in a slightly larger pot. That will be your best bet. A shallow pot will be best. Something like a good round or oval clay bonsai pot. Just be sure you glue some wires onto the bottom of the pot to help stabilize the plant. Or you can repot this in the normal fashion and hope....hope it will flower next year. This is a good lesson for all those who procrastinate repotting. Your choice. Nice flowers by the way. And then there is also the possibility of just letting it stay in this pot and treat it as a mounted orchid. It doesn't have to be potted. Nothing in the books say it must be potted. And if given the proper care, it will grow like this for years and bloom nicely. Your choice.