New orchid. Discolored leaves
 

Hi there,

Just saw this cute orchid I couldn’t resist at the Home Depot. Is it a phalarnopsis? It has a decoloration on the leaves, where the leaves touched the clear plastic it was in. Should I be worried about that? Anything I can do? Also it’s not potted in bark chips. Last time I had an orchid potted like that it ended up with moldy roots. Should I repot it or let it be for a while? Thank you for your help.

I don't think the leaf color is a problem. What I have always done with these kinds of pot's is I take a sharp knife and cute some slits in the pot taking care not to cut a root. Cut several then water when it gets just dry. When it is done blooming re-pot.

Looks like a nice plant to take care of!

It is a Phalaenopsis.

With Phals potted in sphagnum moss (like yours) I always take the moss out, even while blooming, and re-pot into bark. The plant will keep on blooming and growing with no problem. There is always a risk if you leave it in moss, IMO.

People do grow successfully in moss, but other people keep it too wet and the roots rot. The trick is not to thoroughly soak all the moss when you water, but just run a little water over the top. The water soaks down and dampens everything. How much to do it is a matter of experience. The moss should stay just barely damp, so you can tell it's not crisp.

If you keep your home warm in winter it has a better chance of drying out if you make a mistake.

Otherwise repotting into something else is an option, as OW wrote, above. Bark or clay LECA balls work well. Others use wine corks or lava cinders. Still others mount plants on pieces of bark. You need to water every day if you mount it.

I have a number of Home Depot phals. So far I've done immediate repots on all of the ones in moss that I've purchased from them. Mine all have had a lot of broken and dead roots (rough handling?) and they seem to recover faster for me in an airier media (I use bark).

From other vendors, sometimes, I'll leave them in the moss until they're done blooming. When potted like yours, I take a sharp pencil and punch holes all over the pot (being careful not to stab roots). If I don't do this, I tend to lose roots no matter how careful I am watering.

I've also had trouble if the outer pot forms a tight seal with the inner pot. If this is happening, I'll put a small rock in the outer pot so that the inner pot is slightly elevated and there is some air space between the sides of the two pots.

Moss is not the evil it's portrayed as. I switched my phals back from bark to a high quality moss mix and clay pots. I have great air circulation and I'm not an overwaterer. My numerous phals and oncidiums are (mostly) planted the same. That being said, the moss in yours looks packed and moldy and I agree, change it. Repotting in spike wouldn't hurt the plant, it's just more akward because of the spikes.

I agree with getting it out of that moss, and the pot. It looks like it's actually just a liner. Any phal I've gotten from places like that generally are pretty tightly packed in moss, and as others here have said, this could lead to the roots being smothered and staying too wet. With a situation like yours, I get all the moss off the roots, find a pot with lots of holes and slits, and repot with a moss/bark mix that I'd presoaked the night before I do it. The amount of moss is minimal, maybe 30%, mixed with the bark. This may seem unnecessary but the reason I do this transition from straight moss to eventually straight bark (or leca or any medium that has super drainage and won't stay wet) is to reduce the 'shock' of going from one medium to a very different one. It's worked very well for me. Just my:twocents:

Thank you so much for all your advice. I ended up repotting it. A few of the roots looked broken. ive Enclosed a photo. Do they look ok?

The roots are in great shape.