Do you repot right away?

[greensinthegarden]

I am curious. Do you repot your new orchids right away when you bring them home? Or do you wait for the blooms to fall before repotting?

I had a vendor at the garden/orchid show tell me to wait until they finished blooming, but have been noticing that many folks prefer to repot right away.

If I repot right away, do I need to cut the flower spikes (this makes me cringe)? If I don't, will the blooms survive the repotting?

Thanks for your advice. Ya'll are the best! I love learning from you guys.

[Orchidgirl83]

It is really a matter of personal preference on when to repot I think.

I prefer to repot when I get a new plant home for a few reasons:
1. You never know what may be in the center of the roots ( I had a plant that I thought was in pure bark, that when I repotted it I found a nasty piece of furniture foam in the center).
2. It may be potted in a medium that you do not like, or are uncomfortable growing in.
3. The medium may be old and rotting.

I do not know what kind of plant you have, but Phalaenopsis AKA moth orchids are pretty good about being repotted in bloom. I usually look at the health of the roots to determine if I will leave the flower spike attached. If you end up cutting the flowers, you can put it in a vase with a little sugar added to make them last a bit longer.

[Bud]

If it came from a reputable grower and I have a history of clean and healthy plants with them=then I don't repot. But store bought Phals even at the height of their blooms= I repot immediately before I let them join the others on the windowsill....why would you cut the flowers? I repot even if the orchid plant is in bloom....I even repotted a flowering Miltoniopsis in S/H and it just carried on as if nothing happened.

[AnonYMouse]

Orchidgirl and Bud offer reasons why I would repot. At minimum, I un-pot and inspect the plant. Healthy spikes can handle that.

Remember, a spike full of blooms is not an indicator of health. Blooms happen on rotted roots, too.

[snowflake311]

I was repotting my orchids after a week of having them. Now I don't. I Pull them out of the pot and check the roots. If they look good I leave them alone. I am kind of doing an experiment. seeing how the ones I repotted right away do compared to the ones I am not repotting.

If the plant is in bad shape I will repot as soon as I bring it home. If the plant is Root bund I will repot.

I too have repotted in full bloom and never had any problems. As long as the plant has a healthy root system your plant will be fine to repot even in bloom.

[Fairorchids]

From a slightly different perspective:

I buy few plants in bloom, but rather groups of seedlings (so I get a selection to choose from). Those plants are commonly in 2" seedling pots, so they usually need repotting fairly quickly.

IF they are in a mix that works for me.
AND the mix is sound
AND they are OK in that pot size,
then I leave them alone.

In most cases, and in particular plants from Hawaii, they are in some mix/pot combination that does not work for me, so I usually repot right away. That way I can give them the same treatment as the rest of my plants.

[Ray]

I'm with Kim on this.

Pot/Potting media combinations should be based upon how it fits with one's own growing conditions and watering habits to meet the needs of the particular plant.

Sometimes, when I get things in for resale that are in-spike or bloom, I'll "baby" them as-is, because changing them over to something that works better in my conditions doesn't mean it's right for my customers' conditions, and why stress the plant twice?

[nikkik]

Another reason that hasn't been mentioned and what always will make me repot is if I see the orchid has arrived with travelers. I don't want pest in my collection so I repot if I see any signs of possible infestation.

[Optimist]

I repot immedietly if the orchid comes in tight fitting spaghum moss. If it comes in bark, and the bark looks good, I will wait for awhile. I have bought orchids that come in lava rock. They come from an unknown hawaiian vendor and I only buy them in one store. They never need to be repotted, they just need to be put in a bigger pot When the time comes.

So, I guess my answer is, "it depends."

[Jackie26085]

I usually do unless I like the medium and the vendor told me that the plant is recently repotted, like neofinetias in moss mount