Before And After!
 

Well this past weekend was a really good one. I got three new orchids. All from different places. One from Lowes (Home Improvement), one from a local greenhouse, and finally one from Hawaii. I bought a Slc. hazel boyd 'Apricot Glow' (Hawaii), Dendrobium jenkinsii (local greenhouse), and (Lc. edgar van belle x C. intermedia) x Blc. magic meadow 'Green Genius' (Lowes). Anyways, lets get to the point of this post. I thought it would be cool to show everybody before and after pictures of repotting. I love repotting orchids that really need it because they look so much better afterwards. The Slc. hazel boyd was in need of repotting the most. The plant was potbound. I thought I was going to have to cut the pot off of the plant because it was stuck in there. I finally got the pot off, but then the hard part arose. Getting the old media out. I know it took me a good 15 minutes to get all of the old media pried away from the roots. It was in a 4" pot and I thought that it was going to go into a 5", but it was too small. I wound up putting the plant in a 7" pot. The Dendrobium jenkinsii was just sitting on a bench yesterday with no pot or mount. It was also the only one that the seller had. I know that if I hadn't bought it, she would have put a red tag on it. I sat it on a clay pot overnight so that the active roots didn't dry up and This morning I mounted it up. I put just a little moss under the plant so that the roots get some moisture. Lastly, the plant I got at Lowes (name is way to long) was sitting outside in the full sun in a hot plastic bag with about 5 others. I felt so sorry for it so I bought it. It was only $1.75. I would have bought the other small plant because it was pulled out of its pot, but the leaves were turning black just like all of the others. I don't see how this plant managed to survive, but it did. It also has a new growth. I had some moss left over from mounting and some bark left over from the hazel boyd, so I combined them and put this plant in it. Here are some pictures of the plants before and after repotting.

Attachment 57685
Den. jenkinsii before
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Den. jenkinsii after mounting
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Bulbo. careyanum (mounted that today as well)
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Slc. hazel boyd before
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hazel boyd coming over the side of the pot
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hazel boyd'd roots
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Slc. hazel boyd after repotting
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(Lc. edgar van belle x C. intermedia) x Blc. magic meadow 'Green Genius' (new growth)
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(Lc. edgar van belle x C. intermedia) x Blc. magic meadow 'Green Genius'

Nice job, Chris! We'll look forward to pictures of the blooms.

:)

Looking good. I love to repot as well.

I read that the Den. jenkinsii needs a winter resting period. Can anyone tell me what you do during that time? When to water, how often, how much light? That sort of thing. I appreciate any input.

Excellent!

Does someone actually enjoy repotting?? I feel really good when I've finished but I'm not having a good time while I'm doing it!! LOL

:)

I LOVE repotting. It just takes all of my stresses away. I forget about everything. Overall, if I'm in a bad mood, it will brighten my spirit.

I'm with Chris, re-potting is therapeutic for me, it has saved me untold amounts of money that would have gone to a therapist. I re-potted 100 Paphs today, got so involved didn't even noticed it was raining until I was dripping wet. Fortunately I was wearing my swim suit.

Chris - A word of advice for you. When you re-pot, it is the perfect time to really clean your plant up. All those dried sheaths on the first Cattleya are perfect hiding places for scale. I just take my hose and wet them real good, which makes it easier to peel them off.