new psychopsis: water does not drain!

[Kim in CT]

I treated myself and bought my first psychopsis (Mariposa 'Green Valley'). It has two flower stalks, one is in bud. I got it home and placed it in a larger container of water to soak for a few minutes, and when I lifted the pot THE WATER DID NOT DRAIN even though there are holes in the bottom of the plastic pot. I had to decant the water from the top of the pot. The newer pseudobulbs and new growths are jammed against the edge of the pot, as are the roots. See pictures.

Advice? I'm guessing a repot is in order but I'm nervous.
I've read that psychopsis do not like to have their roots disturbed and I would hate to lose those flowers... How should I proceed? My ultimate goal would be to have it in S/H and I think I do see a new root forming between clumps...

[Leafmite]

These have a reputation in our orchid society for not surviving being repotted. I have only ever bought tiny ones for that reason and they weren't too difficult to put into lava rock/basket pot. I just made certain I put the roots between holes in the rock and potted when there was new growth. I have never moved a mature one. Hopefully someone else has successfully done this and can give you advice.

[SouthPark]

Originally Posted by Kim in CT

I've read that psychopsis do not like to have their roots disturbed and I would hate to lose those flowers... How should I proceed? My ultimate goal would be to have it in S/H and I think I do see a new root forming between clumps...

I can definitely understand that the need to decant water (that didn't drain) is a potential issue.

In the tropics here, I've been growing one psychopsis in scoria for a few years now. It has been growing nicely in that medium, which certainly drains nicely.

In your case - maybe the media is/was fine, as the orchid was already growing nicely in that media. Maybe it was the watering approach (ie. soaking) that might not have been suitable in this case.

In your case - it might even be necessary to unpot ----- just to make sure that the roots aren't currently getting suffocated in the depths of the media (due to water logging).

When I first bought my psychopsis, I repotted it when I got home into scoria. I didn't encounter any issue with root disturbance. I only have 1 psychopsis though. It's my first and only psychopsis. I will later take a pic of it and show how I water it. All I had been doing was to just get my water sprayer nozzle, and spray water into a gap in between the leaves (on one side of the pot), and then I spray some water into a different gap on the other side of the pot - into the scoria. And that's what I had been doing - each morning usually.

[estación seca]

The plant is probably so root-bound the water drains very slowly. You could also water by putting it into a sink, bowl or bucket filled with water and leaving it for a while.

[SouthPark]

Hi there Kim. Back again!

I took a pic ----- uploaded 2 pics --- it's the same pic, but the second upload has 'digital brush' edits.

The scoria that I use provides good drainage. And I marked in 'blue' colour (the second image) ----- two circled regions. I just use my water sprayer nozzle to spray water roughly into those regions, each morning. That's all I do. The water will spread out a bit as it makes it way down into the depths of the pot. The media will mostly be moist and doesn't get super wet for relatively long periods of time.

My tropical region usually has good humidity too, and this watering method has been just fine for growing this psychopsis here.

In your case - maybe all you needed to do was to add a suitable amount of water ----- adding to the top of your pot at the media surface, and the water would work its way down.

[Kim in CT]

Well, the bud dropped this afternoon as a mushy blob. Darn it. That was fast.

Thank you for your replies. I'd still love to hear success stories for repotting a mature psychopsis.