Should I repot this?

[rcamp]

Hello,

Two weeks ago I bought this orchid from a grocery store. It's generally healthy, but I noticed some roots seem rotten. You can see a few in the middle two photos. The aerial roots look a little odd to me, but maybe they are fine. There were some rotten roots coming out of the bottom of the pot, too. These I trimmed away.

The roots were pretty green when I bought it, so I've been watering sparingly. Should I re-pot because of the rotten roots or just ignore them?

[rbarata]

I would keep it like that, at least one more year.
I have one in the same condition and I won't repot it this year.

[jcec1]

Originally Posted by rbarata

I would keep it like that, at least one more year.
I have one in the same condition and I won't repot it this year.

I agree, it looks generally good. I would wait until the roots have turned silvery, usually about a week from the last watering, give it a drench or a soak and wait until they turn silvery again, rather than watering lightly but frequently.
I tend not to chop off rotten roots as they can still wick water into the plant.

[Ray]

I agree on the "wait" suggestion, but I think the best advice is to repot when new roots are emerging from the base of the plant, whenever that may be.

By the way, I see no aerial roots at all on that plant. Aerial roots are those that extend out into the air and don't enter the potting medium.

[rbarata]

The criteria I use to decide repoting, in this case, is the size of the voids in between the bark pieces. They are large so they provide the air flow roots need.
One thing that I suspect might happen with this plant is that the roots will never turn silver, even when dry. It happens with mine, maybe because they have colonies of microscopic algae living on them.
By looking it's possible to know if the medium is dry. In doubt, smash gently the post. If it's dry you'll notice right away by the "pop-up" sounds comming from inside the pot. That's the sound of a dry medium breaking and roots sticked to the pot walls getting loose.

[rcamp]

I see: I meant the roots breaking the surface. Indeed there are algae in this pot, which might make it tricky to know when to water. On my last orchid I watered based on the root color. I'll try the poking method too.

[dounoharm]

generally, orchids don't respond well to 'watering sparingly'....you must remember that orchids come from tropical jungles mostly, where it rains A LOT! water them over the sink and let the water run thru for at least the count of 4....then let them drain...do not let them sit in water, not even a bit! I put them on a plate of small gravel when they are in the house...or in a pot with no drainage, I sit them on a couple inches of corks....
you will need to water ONLY WHEN DRY! so at least a week to 10 days between watering....
do not water with softened water, the salts will kill your orchid. my water in texas is POISON to orchids, so I have a reverse osmosis system for my orchids, or use bottled water....good luck!

[rcamp]

That's more or less what I did with my last orchid. Often I'd water every 2 or 3 weeks and left it soaking for 10 minutes before allowing all the water to drain. It did pretty well and flowered a couple of times before I had to give it away. Once I even messed up and left it soaking over the weekend. It was fine (surprisingly). I guess the roots were in really good condition and so coped.

[No-Pro-mwa]

You've been given good advice so I'll just say welcome to the board.

[jcec1]

Originally Posted by dounoharm

generally, orchids don't respond well to 'watering sparingly'....you must remember that orchids come from tropical jungles mostly, where it rains A LOT! water them over the sink and let the water run thru for at least the count of 4....then let them drain...do not let them sit in water, not even a bit! I put them on a plate of small gravel when they are in the house...or in a pot with no drainage, I sit them on a couple inches of corks....
you will need to water ONLY WHEN DRY! so at least a week to 10 days between watering....
do not water with softened water, the salts will kill your orchid. my water in texas is POISON to orchids, so I have a reverse osmosis system for my orchids, or use bottled water....good luck!

Thankfully, if the OP is in the UK as the flag shows then tap water is fine - even in London. We don't have really hard or mineral laden water here, but everything else I agree with.