Psychopsis repot?

[Nicolasdperez]

Hello, I bought this psychopsis a couple of months ago with two new growths and a spike. Since then it has bloomed; however, one of the new growths has started to soften and lose form. I know they are sensitive to reporting but is now the time? I don’t want to wait too long and have things go wrong. Thank you for your time

[Roberta]

If you are starting to see rot issues, you can go ahead and put it into fresh medium. Rinse off the old medium that comes off easily, but leave anything that is stuck on. Rather than sphagnum, small bark will still give good moisture retention, but drain better. (Other members may disagree on that one... wait for others to jump in... I do grow Psychopsis in small bark with good success)

[estación seca]

I've seen people grow them successfully in bark of all sizes, LECA, large horticultural charcoal and volcanic cinders/scoria. The advantage of non-organic media is they don't rot and force repotting. Almost anything can be grown succesfully in sphagnum if watered properly - differently from other media - but because it breaks down within a year or two, I wouldn't use it for a plant like this that doesn't respond well to repotting.

[Nicolasdperez]

Originally Posted by Roberta

If you are starting to see rot issues, you can go ahead and put it into fresh medium. Rinse off the old medium that comes off easily, but leave anything that is stuck on. Rather than sphagnum, small bark will still give good moisture retention, but drain better. (Other members may disagree on that one... wait for others to jump in... I do grow Psychopsis in small bark with good success)

Thank you once again for your help. Do you believe the leave losing its shape and getting squishy is a symptom off rot? The rest of the plant seems to be doing ok and it is in bloom.

[estación seca]

Yes, I think the growth is rotting.

Most orchids grown in sphagnum should be watered very differently from orchids grown in other media. In sphagnum wait until the top of the moss is very dry - crisp - to water again. Then quickly run water over just the top of the moss for 1-2 seconds, maximum. Do not soak the entire pot full of sphagnum. The small amount of water on the top layer will diffuse through the whole pot, making the moss just barely moist but still leaving lots of air inside.

Old sphagnum breaking down begins to compact, obliterating the air spaces. This is why most orchids in sphagnum need to be repotted every 1-2 years, rarely longer.

[Nicolasdperez]

Ok thank you again for your help. When I try to repot should I remove any of the old medium or just place it in a new pot with better medium around it?

[Roberta]

I would just shake off old medium that falls off easily, then repot into fresh. You want to minimize root disturbance

[Nicolasdperez]

Ok thank you; I’m going to repot soon. Is the damage done by the rot salvageable if I repot now?

[Roberta]

The plant looks healthy - with good medium, it will very likely do a new growth and new roots soon. Since the old medium is sphagnum, you could moisten the bottom part to see if you can get more of the old stuff, but not disturbing roots is key... just fill in with bark or inorganic medium, and let it do its thing.

[Nicolasdperez]

Just repotted In charcoal how does it look?