Phalaenopsis' Gone Wild!

[cindyD]

Hi All,

I'm a newbie orchid mom and never imagined that the plants I bought at Home Depot and a grocery store would thrive but here I am. Both plants bloomed twice and then started growing leaves like crazy about 3 months ago. I think most of the tendrils I see growing are roots (I think, I tied them up so they can be seen) and I have one stem growing on each? (The dark one by my hand). My question is, am I correct that the light tendrils are roots and if so what do I do with them? Leave them exposed? Also, I think I may have to repot, the photo attached shows the root system.
I'm so glad I found this site. Also the dead stems you see were cut off from the plant, I was just using them to tie up the roots for photos.

Thanks for any advice,

Cindy

[Aniko]

Welcome Cindy,
all what you tell us mean that your phals are doing well and happy.Those "tendrils" are roots, indeed. It's their natural way of growing apparently random, caching moisture from the air and searching for new support on a tree - of course this happens in their natural habitat.
The stems will develop new flowers .
I think, is no need for re potting yet, even though phals can be re potted any time. Orchids like crowded pots. After the new blooms are gone, and if the bark is decaying, you can think of it.
Aniko.

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

From the color of the mix, it looks pretty fresh. I would not repot. Cynthia

[jerrymeola]

I usually advise to go slow with re-potting but here I may make an exception.

Your photo looks like the roots are pushing the plant over the top of the pot. If this is correct and the sphagnum moss (the medium in which your plant seems to be potted from the photo) used to be even with the top of the pot, then I would move it up to a little bigger pot.

The color of the roots is excellent and this is how they look when I get them from my best nurseries. The roots will push the plant out of the pot and the exposed roots will dry out.

When the plant is this healthy there is not much danger in anything you do.