Should I repot this Burr. Nelly Ister "Swiss Beauty"

[SHag42]

Hey, I got this plant yesterday and after inspecting it closer. I found that one of the inside leafs is wrinkled like an accordion. And the back pseudo bulb is very loose. The media looks like spag. And is very wet. I tried to pull it out of the pot but it would not budge. I don't want to damage it. What do you guys suggest. I can see that roots are wrapped around the outer edges of inside and a few are coming out of the bottom holes. Also what should I pot this in. I have the better grow special blend and also some lava rock and Leca. I am in North Fl. So the humidity is high and I can not use any thing that holds a lot of moisture. I have it outside on my porch which gets about 3 hours of morning sun and it stays pretty bright all day.

[SHag42]

It only let me upload one pick from my iPad here is the other one

[SHag42]

I also bought this Onc. Heaven Scent 'Redolence'.
Which I have to say smells wonderful. It is also planted in the same as the other one but seems to be in better shape.

[Leafmite]

I have my nelly isler in a basket pot with lava rock and a top layer of sphagnum moss.

[james mickelso]

Hmmmm. Spagnum moss and high humidity. Hmmmm. What does the class say about this? Planted in spag which stays wet but higher temps. What is your airflow like where the plants sit? The flower spike is uusing the water stored in the pbulb so you don't have to water as much as if it were planted in bark or leca. Until the plant drops it's flowers I would not water much. Let me know when the plant drops it's flowers and I'll show you how to proceed.

[SHag42]

Originally Posted by james mickelso

Hmmmm. Spagnum moss and high humidity. Hmmmm. What does the class say about this? Planted in spag which stays wet but higher temps. What is your airflow like where the plants sit? The flower spike is uusing the water stored in the pbulb so you don't have to water as much as if it were planted in bark or leca. Until the plant drops it's flowers I would not water much. Let me know when the plant drops it's flowers and I'll show you how to proceed.

Yes James, bad combo, that is what has me worried. I don't want it to rot before I repot it. I can not grow anything in spag. here and I have learned that the peat moss that is in some of the mixes holds to much water. I do have a skewer in it so that I will know if it gets dry, but don't intend on watering it till I have to. The air flow is good if a breeze is blowing. I thought of putting a fan out there but if I do and it rains well that would not be a good mix either. I may just bring it in under the light while I am at work that way I can leave a fan on. I will let you know when the flowers are spent. Thanks for the reply.

---------- Post added at 08:19 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:13 PM ----------

Originally Posted by Leafmite

I have my nelly isler in a basket pot with lava rock and a top layer of sphagnum moss.

Thanks for the info Leafmite. I had read on one of the other post about planting in lava rock. Wasn't sure if it would work for this orchid but sounds like a good idea. Just curious does yours have a scent? I read that they are suppose to but I can't tell that mine does. Thanks.

[SHag42]

Well folks I had to do a repot on this gal even though I wanted to wait. I checked it when I got home today and noticed that another leaf was starting to accordion. Then I pulled off the green moss that was on top and noticed that the spag. was starting to smell bad. So I figured if I had any hope of her living I was going to have to get her out of that stinking mess. And a mess it was. Took me forever to get all that moss out of the roots. Had to take little bits at a time then soak it some more and then pull out more little bits. She had a lot of root mass and some was still good. Also there was a plug in the center that took me forever to get out. It looked like it was peat moss. Yuck!
I cut off all the bad roots then soaked it in physan 20.
Let it dry a little while then potted it in a mix of the stuff I had on hand. Leca, Lava rock, perlite, charcoal, and a little bark with styro peanuts in the bottom. I hope this was the right thing to do. It was the best I could come up with. Here are some pics. that you can see the leaves in. Wish I had taken pics of the roots but I was so involved in what I was doing I forgot. I am looking for some rocks to put in the dish so that I can give it some extra humidity. I know I have some around here somewhere.

[james mickelso]

Remember to not keep it too wet. Let the roots recover. Just moist is ok but not wet. Give this plant some good air movement too if you can. And warmth.

[SHag42]

Hey James,
Thanks for the advice. I am going to keep it inside under a compact fluorescent light, and will turn a fan on for air flow while it recovers. I am so glad I got it out of the spag before it croaked. Hopefully it will be ok. I do have 2 others to repot as soon as the flowers drop and would love to see how you do it.

[Leafmite]

If it has just begun to bloom, the blooms will be fragrant in a few days. You will love the fragrance.