DONT disturb the roots - OR - Is the AOS wrong?
 

I have been looking at these guys for a bit with a little trepidation and the long read controlling wisdom is DO NOT TOUCH THE ROOTS as i have learned from the internet.


I was reading the AOC culture sheet on these guys and it says they want to be repotted EVERY YEAR?!?!?!

http://www.aos.org/orchids/orchids-a...sychopsis.aspx

and quoted here so, how can one avoid disturbing the roots while repotting annually? i will likely get one of these and grow it in lava rock mostly because i don't like to repot and with inorganic media i don't have to but i am still confused about this contrasting set of instructions

Annually? Surely they jest. Phrags, which stay wet it makes sense. But Psychopsis???? I did try growing these in pure inorganic medium, they grew slowly but not well, so I switched to bark with a fairly large amount (like maybe 1/3) inorganic and they do better. My Orchiata bark, on the large side, doesn't break down fast... with a fast-draining mix, my repotting interval is more like 5 years. Then I just shake off the old stuff and drop into new, don't try to clean off the roots. But then too, they dry out fast - which makes the bark last longer. I think they do want to dry out more than the rest of the Oncidium group. My pseudobulbs are not particularly fat, so maybe I'm running they drier than they like, but considering how many years they have survived, they must not be TOO unhappy. A couple of my oldest orchids! (Pyp. papilio, a bit over 20 years, Pyp. Kalihi about 12 years)

yeah, it seemed SO in the face of all the consensus among growers that i had to ask.

thanks!

The other interesting thing about the AOS notes is that they imply that the genus is fussy about water quality... don't tell that to MY plants, which have been living on city water (not horrid, but certainly not wonderful) for their entire lifetimes. I think that this group probably thrives on neglect even more than most.

i should resurrect that thread about inconsistent information on the web LOL

just really odd from AOS as i assumed someone with experience was doing their culture sheets

I love the Psychopsis Mendenhall 'Hildos' for the leaves and so I have a pair of them. I put mine in red lava rock/limestone/basket pots and they are doing well in the terrarium. They are very young seedlings that are probably at least five years from blooming. I keep them watered as, in the rock, they like to be watered well and frequently.

I have always taken the AOS culture sheets with a grain of salt... Actually this one is even internally inconsistent... after discussing how the plant dries out in nature, it talks about a growing environment that is icky wet. With species especially (and everything eventually goes back to its component species) the habitat conditions will tell you a lot more than any "canned how-to" notes. (I even find that the Baker culture sheets are only useful in rather general terms in the "how to grow" part... the habitat data such as elevation, temperature range, amount and timing of rainfall, and such tells me a lot more about how to grow the plant, since then I know something about what to do in MY conditions)

D.C. ------- good post. I seriously have - for pretty much every incoming orchid ------ disturbed the roots. It had to be done because I unpot, and wash away all the old medium (bark, perlite etc), and repot into scoria. That also ensures no little snails (which I had seen in incoming shipped boxes) stay in some pots. I haven't seen snails from nurseries, but have seen snails from other sellers. But ----- just in case!

Out of all those plants - paphs, phrags, onc, vanda, catt, laelia, encyclia, dend, psy, aerides, etc ........ I've never had any plant take a bad turn in health in my tropical conditions here. And when my orchids come in ------ they can come in (naturally) at any time of the year.

I believe that it'll be down to a control thing. For other regions (or any region) ------ just got to make sure the healthy growing parameters stay within desirable ranges.

terrific post, both SP and Roberta.

I tend to repot all my new orchids as well and i do believe that all the info on the net needs to be taken with a grain of salt.

its so tough to be a knowledge seeker in a world full of garbage information LOL

My Pscychopsis Mendenhall 'Hildos' is one of my favorite orchids. Its leaves are so striking and the blooms are spectacular. I bought mine in a 3" pot about 3 years ago. Last year it sent up its first spike. It has bloomed continuously from that spike ever since. As soon as one flower falls off another one forms at the same spot. It's now formed a second spike that does the same thing. It's in flower year- round. That spike on the left side is 3 feet tall!!

I repotted it for the first time, in flower, a couple of months ago.
That puts it at 3 or more years since its last repot. It was looking really tight in its 3" pot and I feared the potting medium was becoming stale. I put it in a bark mix in a 4" pot. It hasn't complained or missed a beat. It is currently forming buds on each spike. I find this to be one of my most forgiving orchids. I grow this in my house, water it once a week, and haven't killed it yet.

I say go for it!

Nice MJG!!!

Regarding recommendations such as disturb roots as little as possible. I'm definitely all-for it. Once an orchid is growing and moving along nicely, then it does make good sense to just let it do its thing.

It's only for cases when we just have to do something, like unpot/repot etc, then what needs to be done ---- must be done.

I also do support recommendations about repotting or making divisions etc during active growth periods ----- as there is a lot of sense and common sense behind it all. We just have to take in all the information, and make good or best use of it.

It doesn't mean that doing something differently than recommended by mainstream will lead to orchid troubles. But it is good to have (or build) a pretty good foundation to start with. That does help heheheheh.

Most of the relatively long time growers (here and everywhere) have enough experience to know what to expect when they do something with the orchids.

hmm... My psychopsis has been sulking since the last time I repotted it in bark mixture 5 years ago. I haven't touched it since then. Perhaps it's time be bold (with the utmost care for the roots, of course)...

When I repotted mine recently, it was so rootbound and stuck to the plastic pot that I had to cut the pot away. I ran water over the roots and very gently peeled them away from the pot. I gently picked all of the old potting medium away from the roots as I held the roots under the faucet. I was really careful to not injure the roots as I pulled the bark pieces off. I didn't do any aggressive root pruning. Fortunately the roots were in good shape. And then I put it in its new pot with a fir bark mix.

It didn't mind being repotted, but I really did very little root manipulation. Jeff214, I hope yours repotting goes well and your psychopsis decides to thrive!

I always struggled with psychopsis, but several years ago I had an opportunity for a great deal on a bunch of NBS plants for resale, so figured I’d try again.

Sold most of them pretty quickly. The one I kept seemed to be doing nothing, then basically disappeared. About 6-9 months later, I saw what looked to be a flower spike reaching up behind the bench. Apparently, I had knocked it out of its pot while watering and it fell into a semi-hydro pot full of LECA sitting on the floor. It rooted and flourished under my overhead deluge system that kept it constantly moist.

Well ray has now provided the first anecdotal evidence to suggest that they are fine with being moved around lol

That is a great story. Thank goodness they have such long spikes!!

I received a mature psychopsis that was completely rootbound grocery store phal style. Not knowing about its aversion to being disturbed I did a pretty radical cleanup and repotting. I read later in the day about its aversion to having its roots messed with and I figured I killed this beautiful plant.

It was growing two news leaves at the time of repotting, they were almost fully grown but no bulbs yet. It stopped growing and I thought it was going to fade but it just sat there for 3 months neither going uphill or downhill. After 4 months I noticed the bases of the leaves began to start fattening up. Couple weeks later roots began to emerge. A total of 7 months later I have fat purple bulbs under the leaves and new growths are starting.

So it did sulk, but it wasn't as bad as I had feared. It was on par with a bifolate catt

I grow in SH, and the one I've had for awhile seems to really like it. The new one, so far it appears to be pushing out new roots/growth since transferring a couple of months ago.

I look at growing guidelines like I look at recipes. A general place to start. And with time and experience, it's easy to look at a recipe and see one that will need fewer tweaks to be a good or great one. And some recipes that you look at and say, Well YUCK, that ain't happening.

Repotted the mature one with huge spike I recently bought into a bark mix, cleaned up the roots a lot. So many dead roots left on the plant, removed a good chunk of them, made the plant a little unstable. Plenty of new roots growing, plant still looks fine, we'll see if the spike keeps blooming!

Ordered a seedling from Hausermann, that one will be put into S/H. Trying to experiment with it in my growing conditions, might not be a great idea in the winter when it so dry/cold around here. Won't know if I don't try though!

I had a cymbidium (link) arrive and it's coming up to winter time now, and I repotted it in new media. A relatively large plant this one. Not an oncidium, but I would have done the same with any oncidium - and at pretty much any time of the year too.

I was pulling bark out from between the roots etc. No problem with the roots at all. Also checking for any signs of snails etc. All was good. Very strong and healthy and lots of roots. The width of each root was quite thick too. Potted in scoria now. Pretty much ran out of scoria after putting this plant into a fairly big pot.

Farley, I have a big healthy one that I repotted a couple of months ago. But like you I also just bought one of the little ones from Hausermann (a spare, just in case). I am going to leave mine potted as it came. I would be very interested to hear in the future how yours seedling does in S/H!

Not sure when I'll be getting mine, seems Hausermann's is pretty backed up on orders. Gives me time to plan for what I want to do. Might go with a clay pot and inorganic medium like leca or lava instead of S/H. Either way I'd like to get the new one into something I won't have to mess with for a long time!

Fyi, regarding Hausermann timing, I placed my order April 29 and received it this Tuesday, 5/19. I placed an order with them earlier in April and the wait time was similar. I guess part of the delay might have been weather-related. But for sure they are slammed while complying with the covid restrictions. Professional as always though!

i got mine last week, two inch pot, roots looked fine as i cleaned them ever so gently and repotted in a nice big pot of inorganic media, conventional wisdom be damned.

i KNOW i will kill anything potted in sphagnum, fact, so, i have to adapt them to me or they will fail for sure.....

Yeah the website says they are having 12 - 18 day delays in shipping. If I would have known that while I was looking I may not have placed an order at this time. Oh well, just have to wait a little!



---------- Post added at 06:47 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:38 PM ----------

I can probably grow in whatever here, I have most plants in bark but a decent amount of phals are in sphag. I am slowly switching out from that as I tend to let it get too dry and crispy so it's hard to rehydrate.

Bark seems to work good, I can be a little heavier with the watering and it will not hold it too long and cause issues. I'm experimenting with lava rock right now for some cattleya seedlings. A little worried about keeping up with watering them in the winter with that though.

For little babies (seedlings)/juveniles ..... sphag or small orchiata bark (or some other good quality bark) can be quite nice --- watering more toward the edges of the pot can still provide enough water or moisture for the roots to keep them going nicely. Or just suitable doses of water without watering edges is quite ok too. Whatever works nicely is ok hehehe

Updating my experience, I was watering tonight and noticed a root growing across the top of the medium. There were some surface roots that had been cut short and this had branched off of it. Also, looks like another spike is starting to form from the other pseudobulb!

But I also noticed that I may have messed up the repot and put the newest pseudobulb by the side of the pot. Are these plants flexible where new growths com from or should I do an emergency move before more roots need to be disturbed? 😆

Pics attached, first of spike! Yay! Second, leaf at top of photo is growing from the side of the leafless pseudobulb, hence I think that is the newest growth and I've got it positioned badly. 😖

Any suggestions appreciated!

I'd suggest just leaving it alone. The next growth could very well be in the direction of the developing spike (which would put it very nicely in the middle of the pot, or that could even be a new growth in just the right place) Not broken, no need to fix! Well done!

farley --- the orchid probably won't 'notice' anything if you just replant it into the middle of the pot.

Eventually the orchid will spread all around anyway, but maybe just popping the plant in the middle of the pot is like having a 'wheel balance' hahaha. Putting the plant out the side is like unbalanced wheel hehehe.

SP, sorry I need to disagree on this one. A lot of orchids (this included) tend to grow along a rhizome...so they tend to march across the pot in linear fashion. Sometimes one guesses wrong in figuring out which way it's going to go, but in this case, still early in the game. Middle of the pot is OK for one that tends to go in more than one direction. But in this case, it looks to me like the direction will take it to the middle of the pot anyway. With those already-developing roots, if it were my plant I would let it go and really see what it is going to do over the next couple of years. Then, if it needs to be moved it can be moved.

Roberta and SP, thanks for the input!

I apparently overthought things while I was repotting or I was just trying to get it out and back in with minimal damage! I'll let it ride and see what happens.

Forgot to mention, the already established spike is starting to form a bud, so that's pretty exciting as well!

True Roberta ...... but some orchids - like oncidiums - tend to grow out in all directions. Clustering or clumping types.

In this link here - when the new growth is included, the pattern is tending toward a diamond sort of formation. So for this case here - the movement doesn't appear to be along a line.

With only 2 old growths, that plant is likely to on grow in one direction, so I’ll vote with Roberta on this one. Given time and good culture, then it’ll start to spread.

Hello friends,

I am planning on purchasing a hildos off of Hausermann today. Stated to be about 2 years from blooming in the description.

I see some of you also purchased from this nursery. What was the experience, did it already come potted? Did it need to be repotted immediately? Trying to form a game plan.

Note: I am in NYC, indoor humidity around 40-50% (without a humidifer), small terrarium (~75-80F; 75-85% hum.) with some room, living room with southeastern (leaning more east) windows where I grow my other orchids.

Hausermann is a great vendor. i don't know the plant you are talking about so i cannot comment on culture but i will say that the order i got was in incredible shape and while i did repot most of the plants several i have still not repotted as they cam perfect for their current situation

Sorry, I should have been more specific with the psychopsis variety, it has to do with the psychopsis medenhall hildos. I states it comes in a 2.5 inch pot, just wanted to learn what other experiences have been. Did you repot your psychopsis from them?

This would also be my first hausermann order.

Yep. But 'which direction' is the main question here. In order to establish information about direction, or which front(s) the oncidium type plant is going to move along, you have to know roughly which direction (or directions) it's going to grow to start with. So for a plant like that, I myself would put this particular one somewhere in the middle to begin with. Or just off to one-side a little bit - as the new growth is going to form a big bulb.

Perhaps you haven't yet seen a plant go in a direction that you hadn't planned upon. I have seen it often. Since active eyes can be on either side of the rhizome and can even activate on an older pseudobulb, there can be surprises. I have also seen plants go one way, I mount them accordingly, then they go the other way. So best to just observe. Make adjustments the next time it needs repotting, in a few years, based on what it actually does. Patience.

True Roberta. Totally agree with you about the possible surprises! Know just what you mean!

Nzadro, you're asking about the psychopsis Mendenhall 'hildos' from Hausermann, right? I ordered two of the ones you plan to order. They arrived mid-May in perfect shape. They are potted and I do not feel the need to repot them this year.

Hausermann is excellent. I've bought from them for years. During this covid 19 time, their orders understandably have been taking 2-3 weeks to fulfill. Maybe that's improved as we're reopening. Their website had a statement about delays when I ordered.

I live in central/upstate NY state within growing conditions somewhat similar to yours. I grow my psychopsis in my house in a room with a northeast exposure. My humidity is like yours, 40-50% with humidifiers. I also, like you, have a terrarium. Mine stays at 70-75 degrees with 70-80% humidity. I did not put my 2 new little psychopses in my terrarium. I didn't feel like they needed it. I already have a psychopsis that I grew to maturity in my regular growing conditions. It's thrived. Also, within a couple of years these will get too big for a small terrarium.