I think my Phal needs repotting - first orchid

[Wadelweiss]

Hi guys, I'm a relatively new new orchid owner, I own a odontoglossum which is looking a bit sad for itself and a happy Phal that I think needs repotting. It's finished its flowering and has grown two large new leaves. I've read that they like to be pot bound but I don't know how much is too much. It's currently in a 12cm pot, I'm thinking it could cope with a 15cm pot but don't want to upset it with it growing so well. Any advice would be really appreciated!

[jcec1]

I think it is fine just now, the media looks fresh and it's when this starts breaking down, and not allowing air to the roots is when it's time to repot.

[bil]

If you pot your phal in coarse bark that has had the fines sieved out, you cannot over pot. Mine are in 14" diam pots 6" deep, and in coarse bark you could if you wanted pot a phal in a pot a metre in diameter and a metre deep.

Until the bark rotted and collapsed you wouldn't have to worry how often you watered it as long as you kept it wet enough.

[camille1585]

I think it's still good to stay in the current pot, the bark looks pretty good (but you can judge better, having the plant in front of you!)

If you do repot, while what bil does works for him in Spain, in our damp northernly countries, large pots can be an issue, even with coarse bark. The center of the pot just doesn't dry fast enough in our climates. if you do repot, first try to get it back in the same pot, and if it's too difficult to do, move up one size (I use 14cm pots) and place a small (5cm or so) inverted net pot (or normal pot with slits cut into the sides) in the bottom. That will help the medium dry evenly throughout the pot.

[jkofferdahl]

Bil's potting methodology is a good one, though I still use smaller pots. Yours looks perfectly happy right now and so I'd leave it alone.

As it happens, though, repotting a Phal doesn't really bother it. People repot them while in bloom without losing a single flower. They're very forgiving plants.

[greenpassion]

I agree with all the answers above . I don't repot my phalaenopsis orchids until the air roots are all over the place. Yours looks very happy right now.

[bil]

Originally Posted by camille1585

I think it's still good to stay in the current pot, the bark looks pretty good (but you can judge better, having the plant in front of you!)

If you do repot, while what bil does works for him in Spain, in our damp northernly countries, large pots can be an issue, even with coarse bark. The center of the pot just doesn't dry fast enough in our climates. if you do repot, first try to get it back in the same pot, and if it's too difficult to do, move up one size (I use 14cm pots) and place a small (5cm or so) inverted net pot (or normal pot with slits cut into the sides) in the bottom. That will help the medium dry evenly throughout the pot.

Weeellll apart from the fact that your mom dresses you funny, the only thing that would change from my climate to yours would be the frequency of watering. Where I water 3 times a week with that setup, you would maybe need to water twice or once. With coarse open bark it wouldn't matter a damn if you watered three times a day. The whole point is that the openness of the sieved coarse bark. It simply CAN'T hold water.
Look, phals do well in S/H, right? As do so many other varieties. Roots don't have to dry. What they HAVE to have is adequate air, and coarse, sieved bark guarantees that.
Come winter my phals go down to once a week watering.

[camille1585]

Originally Posted by bil

Weeellll apart from the fact that your mom dresses you funny, the only thing that would change from my climate to yours would be the frequency of watering. Where I water 3 times a week with that setup, you would maybe need to water twice or once. With coarse open bark it wouldn't matter a damn if you watered three times a day. The whole point is that the openness of the sieved coarse bark. It simply CAN'T hold water.
Look, phals do well in S/H, right? As do so many other varieties. Roots don't have to dry. What they HAVE to have is adequate air, and coarse, sieved bark guarantees that.
Come winter my phals go down to once a week watering.

I never said that your method wouldn't work, but that from experience, large pots can be an issue here (note my phrasing, as in first post, I never said large pots are impossible but that they "can" be difficult). The OP can decide which method to try, there is no one correct way to do anything with orchids. I was simply proposing an alternative, from my experience in a similar climate.

I don't know what your first sentence is about, but I'm not taking that as a compliment even with the smiley and you don't know where I am from. I don't even know why felt you had to include that to make your point.