Orchid help - repotting needed?

[071W]

Hello all,

Firstly I am a total beginner with orchids but recently my mother gave me one as she has too many to take care of.

I attached some photos of it in this thread.

I think the orchid is quite old, the stem seems to be missing I am guessing my mother had it cut after the bloom.

Some of the roots seem a bit roughed up.

I want to keep it alive and take care so it can bloom again but it feels like it needs some serious taking care of?

Do I need to re-pot it in a bigger container? Should I trim off old roots? What reporting mix do you recommend? Also what is the best way to water the orchid?

Any help you could share would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you in advance.

[Shadeflower]

Hello,
welcome to OB.
That is pretty overgrown indeed but the good news is it has loads and loads of functioning roots and a few bad ones.
The roots will store the water the orchid needs, you will notice when you spray some water on the roots they will change from silvery to a green color so watering it won't be an issue at all. You could even dunk the whole orchid in water and it will be fine for 1-2 weeks without needing more. The substrate looks very airy and in good condition but it looks a bit unsightly.
You could pot it into a bigger pot. Either a tall one or a wide one. You can even use net baskets from poundstretcher or the likes for such a root mass, once you unpot it and trim some bad roots the rest can be spread out like a mat or just use a taller pot.
Keep the substrate the same or even chunkier since this phal has so many roots and can store a lot it won't need a fine mix and should grow better with good aeration but this always needs to be a judgement call. If the roots dry out too much between your preferred watering interval then you can add finer grade bark which will keep the pot wetter for longer.

Ps: If you do opt for a repot the hollow roots can be trimmed, cut away any black roots but leave any that still have some firmness to them so feel every root to judge whether they are good or not

[071W]

Originally Posted by Shadeflower

Hello,
welcome to OB.
That is pretty overgrown indeed but the good news is it has loads and loads of functioning roots and a few bad ones.
The roots will store the water the orchid needs, you will notice when you spray some water on the roots they will change from silvery to a green color so watering it won't be an issue at all. You could even dunk the whole orchid in water and it will be fine for 1-2 weeks without needing more. The substrate looks very airy and in good condition but it looks a bit unsightly.
You could pot it into a bigger pot. Either a tall one or a wide one. You can even use net baskets from poundstretcher or the likes for such a root mass, once you unpot it and trim some bad roots the rest can be spread out like a mat or just use a taller pot.
Keep the substrate the same or even chunkier since this phal has so many roots and can store a lot it won't need a fine mix and should grow better with good aeration but this always needs to be a judgement call. If the roots dry out too much between your preferred watering interval then you can add finer grade bark which will keep the pot wetter for longer.

Ps: If you do opt for a repot the hollow roots can be trimmed, cut away any black roots but leave any that still have some firmness to them so feel every root to judge whether they are good or not

Thank you for such a quick reply!

When you say "keep the substrate the same" do you mean re-use the one that's already there? When repotting into a bigger pot should I add little extra substrate?

Also when cutting away black roots, how far should I cut them? I heard somewhere you should cut it just a little into a living root?

Thank you once again!

[estación seca]

Your mother is obviously a good grower... be sure to ask her about light and temperature.

It has a great root system but needs repotting.

Take it out of that pot. You will probably need to cut the few roots pushing through the holes.

Gently remove old medium. You don't need to be meticulous; better to leave a little old medium rather than damage roots.

If there is a rootless section of stem down at the bottom, cut that off. Leave the other roots alone.

Find a pot that will just hold all the roots. A transparent pot is helpful so you can see the roots, but not necessary.

Soak the plant's roots in a bowl or bucket so they're more flexible.

Set the plant in the pot, gently rotating the roots so they fit. You might need to leave some out of the pot. This is OK. Don't cut off any that break or crack.

Backfill with the medium of your choice, perhaps medium bark. Have the medium surface where the bottom leaf joins the stem.

For the first few waterings, the medium will not take up much water. Set the pot to soak in a bowl of water for a few hours. Water when the roots you see in the pot turn from green to silver. This might be every 3-14 days depending on your temperature and humidity. Use very weak house plant fertilizer every 3rd watering.

Grow it near a window in bright shade. It never needs sun shining on its leaves.

Be sure to ask your mom too if you have questions. She knows your local growing conditions better than we do.

It likes warmth and humidity. In winter try to keep it above 65 degrees; warmer is better.

Please show us the flowers when it blooms! This type makes flower spikes in late winter.

[Roberta]

My general principle with roots is "the more the better". I am very cautious about cutting "bad" roots, because you can't always tell what is bad. If the outside is black you can remove the rotted outer coating of the root (velamin) while leaving the core (which is actually the working part of the root). Don't cut just to get it into the pot... if it doesn't fit get a larger pot. (Look up the myth of Procrustes as encountered by Theseus to get my "ewwww" reaction to cutting good roots just to make things fit) Chose your medium based on your environment and watering practice. Sphagnum holds a lot of water, needs watering less often, but if it dries completely is very hard to re-wet. Personally, I like medium bark for a plant that size - it gives lots of air space and dries rapidly. (A Phalaenopsis wants "humid air" rather than "wet") With such a mix, you need to water more often... water well, let the water run through the pot, which also pulls air into the roots zone. Then repeat in a few days. In cooler weather 'and/or high humidity that may mean once or twice a week. In summer, and when humidity is low, it may mean 3 times a week. Just observe your plant and you'll get a feel for how often works for you. One thing you can do is to water well, and weigh the plant on a postal scale or kitchen scale. Weigh again the next day. When the rate of weight loss levels off, it's time to water again.

[071W]

Hi!

Thank you all for the suggestions! Past few days I have been researching a lot about orchids! Got me a little hooked!

I repotted my orchid in a bigger plastic pot (15cm) - the previous one was 12cm. I also got some fresh new bark from Orchid Focus. There were a few really dried out roots so I had them removed and any rotting looking ones too but in general the roots looked healthy and firm just really packed together forming the shape of the previous cramped pot - I tried to loosen them a bit but i didn't want to risk damaging them so I left them as they were. Hopefully after a few weeks months they will spread out.

Posting a photo of the newly repotted orchid.

I also got some orchid focus grow fertilizer. Do I soak the orchid in the fertilizer when it needs watering every few weeks? Or would you recommend spraying it? The fertilizer I got is the one I have to add 5ml of into 2l of water.

Thanks again!

Milo

[Roberta]

I would suspect that the orchid needs watering more often than "every few weeks". Fresh medium dries out faster than the broken-down "mush" that it was probably in. When you water, let it run through the pot and drain well. That pulls air into the root zone. Then one trick to figure out how often it needs it is to weigh it on a kitchen scale or postal scale. Check each day, when the rate of decrease of weight levels off, it's time again. As far as fertilizer goes, orchids need very little. Whatever it says on the bottle, use half as much or even less. A general rule is "once weekly, weakly". Think of fertilizer as "vitamins", not "food" ... plants make their own food (carbs) by photosynthesis. They only need the minerals in fertilizer to grow new tissue, and they grow REALLY slowly so need very litle . Don't bother to spray fertilizer on leaves... all that will do is create spots on the leaves... orchid leaves have a hard "cuticle" that helps to reduce water loss, and so they absorb little or no water or fertilizer. It's all about roots - they do all the work of hydrating the plant, absorbing nutrients, etc.

[071W]

Originally Posted by Roberta

I would suspect that the orchid needs watering more often than "every few weeks". Fresh medium dries out faster than the broken-down "mush" that it was probably in. When you water, let it run through the pot and drain well. That pulls air into the root zone. Then one trick to figure out how often it needs it is to weigh it on a kitchen scale or postal scale. Check each day, when the rate of decrease of weight levels off, it's time again. As far as fertilizer goes, orchids need very little. Whatever it says on the bottle, use half as much or even less. A general rule is "once weekly, weakly". Think of fertilizer as "vitamins", not "food" ... plants make their own food (carbs) by photosynthesis. They only need the minerals in fertilizer to grow new tissue, and they grow REALLY slowly so need very litle . Don't bother to spray fertilizer on leaves... all that will do is create spots on the leaves... orchid leaves have a hard "cuticle" that helps to reduce water loss, and so they absorb little or no water or fertilizer. It's all about roots - they do all the work of hydrating the plant, absorbing nutrients, etc.

Hello Roberta,

Thank you for a quick reply! I like the scale idea, have one handy so will use it.

Should I weight it now so that I know the weight of the dry bark? That way I know once it's this weight i need to water it? I watered the orchid yesterday by the way.

As to fertilizer, how do you suggest to apply it? Spray it below the leaves or should I prepare bottle of water with some fertilizer and run that through when watering?

Thank you!

[Roberta]

Since you don't want it to ever go completely dry, I'd suggest just weigh when freshly watered and observe the rate of water loss over time. My guess is that in summer you'll be watering maybe twice a week or if really hot, even more. Those roots are really looking for "humid air", not wet but not dry either.
As for fertilizer, when you apply it, just pour through the medium (just part of the watering regimen). Of all the cultural factors, fertilizer is the least important... get watering, temperature, and light correct, then fertilizer adds that last touch.

[071W]

Hi again!

Just wanted to check in and let you all know that the orchid seems to be doing well, a lot of aerial roots and a flower spike?!