seedlings, should i repot?

[JennS]

jadeco, I would say, yes repot into a 2" or 4" pot. If you do a 4" you can add some rocks or broken clay pots to the bottom to leave some extra air room so the medium doesn't stay too wet where the roots can't reach.

Brighteyez, I would say leave the Paph (again unless the medium is broken down). You can tell if the medium is broken down in a few ways. It will take the medium much longer to dry out then usual. Also, the medium will probably be mostly blackish. If the medium is bark, as the bark decays it turns blackish and fresh bark can have red and brownish hues. Also, you can pull out a piece of the medium and feel it. Is it firm or squishy? Squishy means broken down (unless it's spaghnum then it's always squishy).

It wouldn't hurt to just check out the roots anyway and then if they look OK, you can just repot in the same pot and medium. If the roots look very vigorous and like they are too big for the same pot repot in one size up and you can go ahead with fresh medium.

[unhappykat]

Another way to tell if the medium is breaking down, only for bark, is to water the plant and watch what comes out of the bottom as water spills out, If you see clear water its fine but if you start to see what looks like particles of soil wash out of the pot it may be time to repot. With the paph be very careful with the root system if you decide to check it or repot, any damage can take months to recover. You should repot paphs every six to nine months into fresh medium for the best results, I do so every six months with lots of success but some have been able to go longer with equal results.

[Cym Ladye]

Whitley,

I will quote a rule of thumb I was given years ago: 'WHEN IN DOUBT, REPOT". More than once, when I have violated this policy because "Everything looks OK", the plant has suffered. Now, as a rule of thumb, I repot all plants coming into my collection into my preferred mix, no matter what size, within a few weeks of obtaining them. This way, I know exactly what conditions the roots are in and I know that the mix they are in is one that I am well familiar with.

Good luck with your new treasures.

[brighteyez]

Cym Ladye,
I took your advice, and decided to repot them. I think it went well. The only disappoint thing was that, even though i was being as careful as i could, my paph lost one of it's bottom leaves. i don't know what happened, but as i was putting in the bark, i noticed it was hanging off, so i cut it. oh well, the rest of it looks healthy still.
thanks for the advice everyone!!

[Cym Ladye]

Originally Posted by brighteyez

Cym Ladye,
The only disappoint thing was that, even though i was being as careful as i could, my paph lost one of it's bottom leaves. ...!!

Whitley, I normally but carefully remove old leaves on my Paphs if they are damaged or beginning to yellow. Same with my Phals. This will not harm the plant. In fact, I can be pretty agressive in leaf removal if I feel it is merited because of a weak root system. Most orchids are far hardier than we give them credit for and are, in fact, true survivors.

Cym Ladye