Should I repot this phal ASAP??

[pinky]

Hello!! I was wondering if anyone could offer me any advice..(pics below) I have many questions concerning the same orchid, so here we go...

I received a new phal on Valentine's Day. It is in a 4 inch plastic pot. It is in sphag moss. As soon as I got it, I immediately put a skewer in so I could see when it should be watered. I checked the skewer every couple of days for like a week and a half. It stayed wet. After about almost 2 weeks, it seemed dry..so I watered it. I noticed that it did not drain very quickly. The next day, I checked the phal and it was still Sopping wet....the pot was much heavier than when I got it. I examined the moss through the pot and it seems to be slightly moldy. The plant is spiking and has 4 flowers. You can see some green roots, but the plant seems to have lots of room in the pot for more roots.

So my first question is-should I immediately repot this since it seems like a ball of compressed sphag moss inside there?(which must be why it is staying sooo wet)

Secondly, it seems as though sphag is not the greatest medium for beginners, so I went to Lowe's and got a bag of Better Grow Phal mix. It contains raw fir bark, hardwood charcoal, chunky peat moss, and course perlite. The bag does not say to soak the mixture, but I have heard many people say to soak it for 24-48 hrs... Should I do this before repotting even though it doesn't say to on the bag? And should I add any sphag moss to the mix at all, or am I better off completely without it??

Also, the pot seems very small for the height of the plant(see pics) but it seems like there are not loads of roots filling the space in the pot. If I do repot, should I increase the size of the pot from the one it is in now, or keep it in the same one??

Finally, I have noticed that the leaves seem slightly softer than when I first got it..they are loosing their firmness. Could this be due to the state of the medium and the effect of the soaking wet moss?

Thanks for reading my post, and sorry it is on the long side.

[orchidea]

You are so right, sphag is not a very good medium for starters. It is a great medium for Phals ( I have learned finally) specially if your conditions are dry, but it has to be fluffed up, not pressed tight.
You got yourself a pretty good mix. I would add some good sphag (cut into smaller pieces) to it if your conditions are dry and the plant was growing in sphad before. But a lot of people here probably would say "no" to it.
Yes, I would soak it for at least 24 hours. The bag doesn't say it, probably because Better-Gro knows that the most common mistake people do is overwatering..........
I wouldn't repot right now, most likely. I would just take the plant out and inspect the roots. I would repot if I see a lot of rot there. Don't forget to cut-off all bad roots.

[mehitabel]

Originally Posted by pinky

the pot seems very small for the height of the plant(see pics) but it seems like there are not loads of roots filling the space in the pot. If I do repot, should I increase the size of the pot from the one it is in now, or keep it in the same one??

Finally, I have noticed that the leaves seem slightly softer than when I first got it..they are loosing their firmness. Could this be due to the state of the medium and the effect of the soaking wet moss?

Leaves that lose their firmness are usually caused by poor roots. So, yes, this could be the effect of the soaking wet moss.

You have gotten good advice from Orchidea-- check the roots, see how they are.

About the pot you think is too small for the plant-- the pot has to match the size of the roots, not the leaf part of the phal. If your roots are compromised, as the wilty leaves suggest, you would definitely not use a larger pot, and you might actually use a smaller pot. Use a pot that just fits the good roots your plant has.

[Irene]

Once you have it potted up, you can slip the pot into a nice heavy ceramic pot, to keep the plant from tipping over.

[pinky]

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions. I will inspect the roots in a little bit and see if they are rotted.

Hey you guys wanna hear something sooo silly & kind of funny.?? :let me start by saying that I HATE bugs!!!! The first time I ever bought an orchid, I noticed what appeared to be fruit flies(fungus gnats) so I repotted asap, and there were some bugs in the medium(not a lot of bugs, and not particularly scary bugs) But since I am such a wimp, I always get slightly nervous about repotting plants(not just orchids, but any plants) I guess my fear is that when I take the plant out of the pot, millions of little bugs will come flying out. LOL and if that did ever happen, I promise you that I wouls go FLYING out of the room. hahaa isnt that the silliest thing?

[fred]

no not silly
thats a good way to kill bugs when they fly toward you and you are running they will fly into the wall because they will die laughing

I could not help myself sorry pinky

[pinky]

lol.. thats quite alright!! I think you are right. My father always makes fun of me-he is like....you are scared of something that is 1000x smaller than you!!

But my mother once had a "wondering jew" plant and she said she was looking at it...and the material on the lamp next to it looked as if it were moving around, so she went over to it and there were 1000s of bugs all over the plant and escaping onto the furniture. This story is probably where the fear I have actually came from originally.


Oh and back to the subject of my orchid in question-did I mention that I have seen fungus gnats in the medium since I have aqcuired it...? Isnt this due to decomposing medium? I made some of BrookN's everything killer and I gave the orchid a couple of sprays of that.

[pinky]

Originally Posted by Irene

Once you have it potted up, you can slip the pot into a nice heavy ceramic pot, to keep the plant from tipping over.

It actually came with a clay pot (i assume for that reason) I just took it out of the clay pot for the pics so you guys could see the medium/roots.

But that is a great idea, because without it I would be scared that my dogs or cats would easily knock it right over!!

[pinky]

With the help of my father, we managed to get the phal out of the pot to inspect the roots(it didnt want to come out of the pot at first) One root was dead and fell right off. From what I can see, there are lots of good roots. However, the bottom looks moldy/fungusey or something... I have taken a pic so you guys can see. I personally guess that I should repot like today or tommorw(after I soak my new medium) but you can tell me what you think. Do I have to cut off the roots that look moldy even though they are still nice and green?? or should I bathe them in Brooken's recipe (cinnamon extract, dish soap, water)

ps-note the MILLIONS of bugs trying to eat me alive in the picture!! haha J/K-there was nothing in there

[-k-]

I would remove all the old medium to get a better look at the roots you have there. You will certainly want to remove any dead, brown, mushy roots, a good soak and repot in fresh medium! If you haven't potted it up yet take a photo of the roots without the old medium packed in there, that will help the folks here better comment on the conditions of the roots!

[pinky]

Originally Posted by -K-

If you haven't potted it up yet take a photo of the roots without the old medium packed in there, that will help the folks here better comment on the conditions of the roots!

Will do!-However it wont be for few hours b/c I am soaking the fresh medium in some hot water w/ dish soap as Brookn states to do on her "how to repot" thread. But when I do, I will definitely post some pics of the phal roots without all that packed in medium. I am also going to run to the store to grab some Hydrogen Peroxide incase I need it.

[mattyj198]

I never thought about bugs in new orchids before. Yikes that scares me! I will keep my eye open.

[pinky]

Ok..I managed to repot the phal today, and I was glad that I did. I cant believe how much sphag was jampacked into that little plastic pot!! Look at the pic below of the bottle of apple juice-all that sphag is from this one phal!! Some roots seemed very mushy so I got rid of them. I was going to put it in a smaller pot, but I unfortunately could not find one that would do. I hope it is ok in its original pot. Pics are posted below-please let me know if I did anything wrong!!

also, if I have 2 other orchids from the same place, do you think they should be repotted also??(b/c they might be all stuffed in with sphag)

[Irene]

Honestly pinky, I pull every plant I get out of the pot, to have a look. The only one's I haven't repotted have been from a local nursery that does a very good job with keeping up their orchids.

[-k-]

The pot looks a bit big imho, It could be the photo playing tricks on me... What size pot is it in?

[pinky]

its in a 4 inch pot. I had no smaller pots...only bigger. The only other thing I could do would be construct one out of like a poland springs bottle..but that is like 2.5 inches in diameter. I luckily just found out about the repot me website, so I will be ordering some clear pots in all different sizes soon!

[pinky]

Originally Posted by Irene

Honestly pinky, I pull every plant I get out of the pot, to have a look. The only one's I haven't repotted have been from a local nursery that does a very good job with keeping up their orchids.

It doesnt sound like a bad idea...I have always heard people say to wait until it is done flowering, but I am realizing now that by that time it could be too late. Today I am going to pull the other two out of their pots and have a look. I already know I am positively going to repot 1 of them, because the water drains MUCH too slow.

[flowerpower]

If you want to put it back into the same pot after you have trimmed the roots but you feel it's got some extra room, then you can add chunks of styrofoam. I just break styrofoam pieces from the packaging I got with my rice cooker. The styrofoam is inert, does not absorb water and serves to "reduce" the extra space in the pot. Be sure to avoid the ones that are made of corn starch. Alternatively, you could put a small seedling pot upside down inside the larger pot

I think yours will be OK if you're conservative, as it's in a bark mix

[-k-]

ok, photo was deceiving..., pot size should be ok
Good luck...