Beginner repot of a repot after a fungus outbreak
 

I'm hoping I can post my repot photos here, since I couldn't add them to my thread in the forum of Pests & Diseases.
In short, I received two mini phals as gifts about 6 months ago and everything was going great. They probably needed to be repotted two months ago but I have been recovering from surgery and pushed my luck. I'm a beginner and I saw these spots appear, after a lot of reading online etc. I think I had maybe mites that caused bacteria to grow under the leaves. Someone on the board in 2008 had pictures just like mine wondering what it was. I heard about neem oil and cinnamon and have now learned the way I used them was not helpful to me. After repotting 2 weeks ago I saw big long fungus grow quickly. This time I repotted by only washing in pure water, cutting off soft roots with a sterilized pair of cuticle scissors. And placing them in the smallest orchid cups I could find online 2x2 clear plastic bottom slatted ones and used the tiniest pieces of bark. When I got them they came in sphagnum moss in a 2 inch wide, 3 inch long container. When I repotted two weeks ago they had so many long roots I repotted into a 2 3/4 x 3 inch tall clear slatted pot that I put inside a decorative pot. This time I went even smaller than ever since I lost so many of the roots so fast. Praying for a great outcome and that the darker one's spike makes it to bloom! Thank you everyone for your continued support! I'm open if anyone thinks of anything else. :)

Hi, Lisa.

I would say - based upon those images - that those plants appear to be in pretty good shape.

I might have gone with a larger pot, but that's not critical at the moment, and they definitely need to be watered, but other than that...lookin' good!

Good luck!
I agree that it should be fine. Good luck!

You can recycle a lot of food containers into plant supplies. I use yogurt containers for a lot of things that don't need to get sunlight, which quickly breaks down the plastic. It's easy to make more holes in the with a knife, drill bit, heated nail or soldering iron.

Hi Ray,

When you say water them, do you mean now?
I have been advised by some, especially the "Orchid Whisperer", not to water the bark or the plant for a few days. It has been 8 hours since I repotted it and one root is starting to shrivel up a bit. It was a orange colored one, but it was firm so I didn't trim it. But it wasn't bright green because it was in the moss. It was probably on it's way out. On some of the black parts of other roots I'm not sure if I see the fungus growing back too!! So I'm thinking the advice of no water for a few days might be best. The darker one is drooping more too though, looking like it needs water.
It seems once you get in the swing of raising orchids you really don't get mold, fungus or bugs. I thought you would have to treat it with something. Fungus seems to grow in the little parts of the plant you can't see or reach I would think. When you do see fungus do you just wipe it off and it disappears? What does everyone think if the plant is drooping and a root is shriveling, is that the intention of this step? I thought it was.

I love mini phals, and I always repot them asap, as I know what I will find. Roots amputated to force them into a tiny pot, rather like the Chinese foot binders.

I would be more emphatic than Ray, in that I think these deserve much bigger and shallower pots. I usually start them in pots some 6 inches in diameter and two inches deep. I also use a fine bark, with coir if I can get it. The reason I don't use the larger bark is that it will dry out too fast in such a small volume.

One of mine has been potted up to a 9 inch diam, 3 inch deep pot because its roots grew so large. It has flowerd continuously this year, and just as I thought it had finished, it threw another spike. This week I noticed that there are two new spikes coming on it..

I can't help but think that the closer you can keep them to how they would grow in the wild, the better.

Hi Lisa

The repot looks great, and the plant will be fine until this Sunday without water. The drying period is to keep mold from coming back, and also to encourage the plant to make more roots. The leaves look nice and firm, so the plant should make a fine recovery.

Lisa, OW and I simply have differing opinions and experience. I cannot recall the last time I potted a plant with dry medium. I always presoak mine.

High humidity is best for the plant, and in my opinion, favors root growth more than does a dry environment.

Orchid Whisperer,
The bottom leaves are not as turgid as the should be, especially the darker one with the spike. But they look ok to the eye. The darker one looks a little sad. Is there a warning sign that I'm taking it too far to wait until Sunday morning to water it?

Hi Lisa

Ray is right when he indicates that we are viewing this with different opinions and experiences. Regarding using dry bark vs wet, Ray is not wrong and I think he would agree that I'm not wrong either. I nearly always repot with dry bark because I find it easier to work with and the plants don't seem to mind at all. Ray and I just have different ways of accomplishing similar tasks. In your case, IMO, withholding on watering is a way to help manage moisture and keep the fungus at bay.

From your photos, I don't see anything that suggests that you can't wait until Sunday to water. In the end, you have to decide what you are comfortable with, and what works best for you. When you water is really up to you. Either way, best of luck to you, and good growing!

Added later: Oh, BTW, if the fungus does stay away, you can try tenting a loose plastic bag over that plant to boost the humidity. I'd give it at least a couple weeks before trying, due to the past fungal problems.