I'm eager to repot, is it too soon?
 

When I buy a new plant the first thing I want to do is rip it out of the pot, wash all the clay off the roots to see how healthy they are, and repot it in a better soil mix.

Now that I have bought some orchids I'm eager to rip them out of their pots, see what the roots are like and repot.

But most of my orchids are in flower at the moment. The one that isn't flowering is one that I have had for a while and has been miss treated for most of that time.

So do I have to wait for them to stop flowering? Is it better to wait for a cooler time of year?

And by the way, the orchids I have are Vandas and Dendrobiums.

Thanks for your help.

I know a lot of people on OB always repot straight away. If you are talking about Phals, then I know the advice is to do it whether they are flowering or not.

Personally I tend to wait until they are not flowering BUT I feel that my action is a risk... if I don't know what the roots are like I can't correct any problems with them.

So I would actually advice repotting straight away.

Not sure what the situation is with non-phals so hopefully someone else can pipe in about Vandas and Dendrobiums.

I agree, I usually repost Phals asap because of how sensitive their root systems are.
Sacrificing a few flowers to know the plant's root system is okay and in fresh media seems like a fair deal to me.
I will wait on Catts to bloom if they are in bud otherwise I repot those right away too.
I am inpatient and too often in the past a victim of waiting too long.

i know dendrobiums can be picky about repotting. i have a new den and it is about to open its buds. i was advised by other members here, to wait until its dont flowering to repot. but then again, i got it wehn it started to spike for a second time (this second time not being forced) so it was obviously happy.

as for vandas, ive never had one so i dont know.

i also repot upon receiving a phal

I think as far as the dendrobiums you should wait until flowering is done. I have plenty of Vandas but I have them growing in wooden slat baskets with no media.

What are the Vandas potted in and what kind of media are they currently in? I think with that info you can get better help on whether to repot or not.

Actually it dawned on me this morning that the Vandas are growing in small pots with no media. The obviously don't need re-potting. But the Dens could do with it. The one that I have had for a while I will re-pot this weekend. It's already had quite a bit of abuse, so if re-potting hurts it, I don't really care.

As for the bigger Den I have, I will try potting up the Kiekes that are growing on it before I tackle the rest of it.

wait till the keikis on the den, have roots! the roots should be around 1-2 inches each, and have 2 or 3 roots on each keiki

Well, I usually buy plants that aren't in bloom anyway (it's rare for me to buy something that is blooming) so I repot immediately when I purchase something.

I think it's saved me some headaches. :)