Help needed from a total newbie!

[early]

Originally Posted by Brian1212

Hi Newgirl,
welcome to the forum. I don't like this forum very much as it just has a lot of trolls that will all want to give you their opinion without seeming to own many orchids themselves.

This offends me. I have never seen any TROLLS here, just experts that have been growing and members here and or administrator/moderators for many years, several since the site started.

Yes there are different opinions, and strong ones frequently, for we all live in different parts of World, Europe, Australia and USA primarily.

I am in dry New Mexico, mid west US, the humid and hot south, with moderate winters usually, very wet Florida, California with many different climates,
Spain, with Islands that have sand storms from Africa, New England and northern Midwest with the hot summers and very cold winters. One grower that also provides some wonderful products for sale and live on an Island off the east coast.
That is just a few of the long time and newbees like me and even I have strong openions and preferences in mediums.
Before You start calling all the members here trools, maybe you should have Trooled a while longer and posted more than a couple of dozen times, as an expert, and not be so critical of the members here.

This is a time of crisis in our world, perhaps we all should be kinder even on the Web.

[WaterWitchin]

Okay, Let's not highjack Newgirl's thread. Mods are everywhere.

Newgirl, I really hate to see you cut off that many viable roots. When you say it's been in "regular soil" do you mean an orchid bark mix, or potting soil?

Do you have a wider pot that you could put it in more horizontally instead of vertically? From what I can tell in the pictures, it doesn't appear you have tons of useless roots. At the bottom portion of the plant, is the main "stem" dried out? Not the roots, the "stem" part which forms as the old leaves shed. And I see a spike?

Perhaps yet another picture of the whole overall plant?

[AnonYMouse]

Originally Posted by Brian1212

Hi Newgirl,
welcome to the forum. I don't like this forum very much as it just has a lot of trolls that will all want to give you their opinion without seeming to own many orchids themselves. I hardly see any orchid pictures on here but that being said there is also a ton of wealth to be found on here and just as much false information as there is on youtube.

[DirtyCoconuts]

Hiya and welcome.

I think your orchid is looking great and i would follow WaterWitchin's advice.

I suspect that if this orchid was growing terrestrially (in regular soil) then going to a more airy and epyphite mix should be okay but, as was advised above, take it slow, change will shock the plant.

I would not cut anything on this plant, she looks lovely and tall and great. i personally enjoy a tall phal

if you could describe the pot you got, size and shape, that will be a good place to start with advising about the repot too.

if it were me ( i live in south Florida and grow almost exclusively outdoors) i would put that beaut into a wooden basket about 8-12', id lay the orchid on a slight angle, so the crown is not pointing up (i have to do this since it rains a lot here ) i would line the bottom of the basket in coir and then fill it with an open orchid mix of bark, charcoal, perlite, lava rock etc.

the roots that were in the soil will either dry up a bit and adapt or they will die and be replaced by new roots adapted to the new conditions.

I have seen roots that were grown moist do okay when moved to a drier condition (like you are doing) it is the other way where they usually die and get replaced.

Cheers and good growing

[rbarata]

Don't cut any dry and dead roots. They will give support to the plant when repotted.

[SouthPark]

Originally Posted by Newgirl

Thanks! And how far do i cut it then? And is it no problem i lose all those (probably viable) roots? It has been buried with the whole stem for years in regular soil..?

NG ----- if the roots are still 'good' - right down at the base of the stem, then just embed those lower/bottom-most roots into the new media (media of your choice - I recommend a very airy/coarse media - could for example choose 15 to 20 mm scoria pieces or even larger than that).

From the colour of the stem seen in your photos, it doesn't appear that the stem was originally buried in soil. Or at least not the bulk of that stem.

For the new pot and new media, just insert the bottom-most roots into the media. There appear to be enough roots to anchor the plant into the new pot. And - if needed, could use a long wooden stake to keep the plant supported at the angle you want. Needing a stake is unlikely with all those roots.