Question on repotting new orchids

[gngrhill]

I have noticed the last few orchids I have bought have been repotted just before they shipped them and the oldest PBs are buried in the media. Is this going to be ok or will they rot and cause a problem? Should I repot ? I hate to disturb them if there is not a problem, the media looks very fresh.

[Leafmite]

It depends on the vendor, really. If it is a vendor that you know you can trust, then you probably don't need to re-pot. Some vendors, however, just top old medium with new and ship out the plants or they take the entire root ball out of a smaller pot and dump it in a larger pot and just put new medium around the old (larger pot size is usually equated with a more mature plant).
As I prefer LECA and red lava rock in a basket pot, I dump new orchids out right away. The few times I have not because I have been busy, I have really regretted it.
Concerning the burying of the bulb, I have done this many times without problem but it does depend on the medium and how wet the medium stays. If you have a medium that drains and dries quickly, it will be fine. If your medium stays wet, you are right to be concerned.

[gngrhill]

Originally Posted by Leafmite

It depends on the vendor, really. If it is a vendor that you know you can trust, then you probably don't need to re-pot. Some vendors, however, just top old medium with new and ship out the plants or they take the entire root ball out of a smaller pot and dump it in a larger pot and just put new medium around the old (larger pot size is usually equated with a more mature plant).
As I prefer LECA and red lava rock in a basket pot, I dump new orchids out right away. The few times I have not because I have been busy, I have really regretted it.
Concerning the burying of the bulb, I have done this many times without problem but it does depend on the medium and how wet the medium stays. If you have a medium that drains and dries quickly, it will be fine. If your medium stays wet, you are right to be concerned.

Thanks for your input. One bunch came from SVO and the other from Hausermann's. They are all in a medium bark mix that looks very fresh. Some are in pots and some are in net pots. they all look pretty good, I was just concerned about whether the buried PBs would rot and if that would affect the plant. They are all very free draining, so I just don't really want to disturb them unless I have to as they all appear to have been just repotted.

[Brooke]

Sometimes orchids are "climbers" and each new growth goes higher and higher. When I repot one of these I bury the older pbulbs and don't worry about them. They will eventually die but won't harm the plant.

Some of the climbers can be Phrags, Catts, Ctsm. family and others I am sure I am forgetting.

Brooke

[Leafmite]

I agree with Brooke. I think you should be fine.

[gngrhill]

Thank you both. Makes my decision easier. I will leave them as they are for now.