Can I repot orchid in bloom?

[glittermom]

Wow, you all have helped me so much. I have taken a few orchids out of the pots and placed them, moss and all in a slightly larger clay pot with a ceiling fan running. They are drying out a bit. I will decide tomorrow whether or not to repot or just leave them loosely tucked in the clay pots so the moss can have a chance to dry out between waterings. It is sort of a compromise between totally repotting or letting them be. Thank you all for your advice.

[Miggity]

I always repot my new orchids when I get them home. I want to really know what is going on with the roots when they have been on a store shelf. I have personally not had issues with losing blooms from repotting but it is always a possibility. I think the orchids I get are just glad to get some real TLC.

[The Orchid Kid]

The main culprits I found are
1. ball of spag moss in the centre too wet and congealed, killing the centre of the root system
2. pot too big and the outer mixture staying wet and rotting the outermost roots and new growing tips.

Unhappy feet = unhappy plant

Having good results using coconut husk. I think the softer nature of it when wet makes it arguably less likely to damage roots compared to bark, when you firm it inbetween Is an option to consider.

[tarev]

I have learned to repot right away. It will allow the roots to breathe. The Phal may drop some buds, but it often does when it perceives any change in its environment, like from store to the house. Besides that sphag moss it comes with is often too tightly packed. It is good if you have no time to water it to keep the moisture in, but if it is taking way too long to dry out, the roots suffer and eventually the overall plant health.

[NYCorchidman]

I don't like to repot anything unless it is absolutely necessary.
With that said, I have repotted phals in bloom with mixed results.
One. as someone mentioned, it can be tough as the flowers on a long arching spike can easily be ruined in the process.
Two, because the plant roots had been accustomed to constant moisture provided by the moss, sudden change into drier and open mix tend to upset the plant and buds are lost (but never all of them for me).
So I no longer repot but just wait until the moss dry out, then mist heavily (watering and waiting to dry can be risky but heavy misting (not the leaves but the top of mix until sufficiently moist but not soggy is the key I found!). I eventually repot into more open mix whenever I feel like.

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