my first orchid (repotting)

[I. C. Unicorns]

Hi all, first post here.

I received a white Phalenopsis as a gift and I love it! I am completely fascinated by orchids now (help) This came in a clay orchid pot with a plastic pot insert and in full bloom with two spikes (one with a forked spike). I have read about the potting mix here and I discovered that the bark was black and just like a squishy sponge. Curiosity got the best of me and I decided to take off the plastic pot even though it is blooming. Around the edge I found some dirt, rocks, squishy wood chips and in the middle I found a big clump of moss. Two of the roots were about a foot long, most were 3" long, this is in a 4" pot. Most of the roots were green, except the ones in the center, but about halfway down many of the long roots were black soft spots, even though the bottom half was green! I think that the roots were dead and I cut it off at the black point. Hope I was right. I broke off a couple roots accidentally. I cleaned out all the material and put it back into the clay pot with a mix of large redwood bark and perlite, which I forgot to prewet. I pushed new bark into the root ball once it was in the pot, is there a better way? I notice that this clay pot gets very cool from evaporation, is this okay? My house stays around 70F. Anyway, just looking for advice on the next time I have to do this.

[janet_a]

if you didn't prewet or presoak, and particularly since you went from a plastic pot into clay, just watch it like a hawk for the next few months to make sure you're giving it enough water. and they often sell plants that have basically been potted on over their seedling plugs for years, resulting in a big blob of black goop in the middle.

what to pot orchids in depends pretty much on your house conditions. i have virtually all my orchids in sphag in plastic pots because it's so dry in my house. but a guy i buy plants from has moved most of his phals into pea gravel in clay pots, because he has a greenhouse and can keep ideal humidity and air movement. a plant in that medium in my house would shrivel up and die in a week.

just watch your current plant and see how it reacts to the new conditions. you may find you have to either put it back in plastic, or add some sphag if it turns out it's too dry in your house, or as next winter approaches.

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

How large is 'large' bark? The larger you go, the more often you will have to water. 3/4" is a good size, plus or minus a little. Redwood is not the usual type if bark to use, probably a bit to acid. Well, maybe it will work, or maybe not. The best thing to do is get bark labled for orchids. It has been treated in some way (steaming?) to eliminate future problems and is preferably from fir trees, not pines. About roots with bad spots in the middle. I have a few plants with sections of roots that are just like wires, no vellum, and the sections beyond are alive and well, and the plants have been that way for many years. I guess the real question is how much root were you left with when you were done trimming. If the flowers hold in there, you probably left enough. I think here is a case where misting several times a days, but not late in the day would probably do the plant some good as some moisture may be absorbed thru the skin. Or it might help to shroud the plant loosely in plastic wrap for a while. This only if the root system was insufficient when you were done prunning. You might want to save this treatment until you see some flowers starting to droop. Not prewetting the bark is not so bad. It will give the broken roots a chance to heal. Cynthia, Prescott, AZ

[I. C. Unicorns]

Okay, thanks for the input. It is actually fir bark and perlite and the chunks are around 3/4". It is Gubler orchid mix to be exact. One flower has since drooped and shrivelled, out of eleven, so I may be okay. It was about a month old at least. The pot is unglazed so it evaporates the water quickly and I think my house is not very humid. Misting doesn't last more than 10 minutes on my plant. This is northern California and it has been raining a lot so I may be completely wrong about the humidity.

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

Sounds like you are in good shape. Gubler seems to get some very good bark, much better than the average. If you have some question about the rate at which the mix is drying, try a skewer in the pot. I wrote a bit about that in another post here just now. Cynthia, Prescott, AZ

[jerrymeola]

I repot about 50 phals a month, that I have purchased elsewhere and about every one is just as Unicorns described.

This results from how the plants are marketed. Phals flower as little as 18 months old and almost always in 24 months. They will have been forced in plug trays then 3 inch pots then 4 and then 6 for marketing. The plants are treated roughly at every step. Most are grown like a production line by the 10s of thousands, being repotted by minimum wage employees in the shortest time possible. Big box stores like home depot and WalMarts consider live orchids to be the equivalent to cut flowers hoping you buy another when the flower dies. If the flower lives a couple of weeks until sold it is good enough.

Phals are almost always potted up one size before selling. The thick root on a phal is easily broken. That is why part is dead and part black. It is not unusual to see a root healty at the beginning - go black in the middle - and be healty on the end.

I cut off all the black when I repot, as well as any dried out and crushed roots. They will only die and rot in the pot. I also clean out the middle. This is common in all orchids that the plant discards its baby roots in the middle and they rot off. Since it is natural it normally is not sufficient to harm the plant.

What you have done is fine. Now you need to determine if bark for phals suits your growing conditions. All potting mediums work but not in all conditions. Bark dries faster than sphagnum and slower that hdroponic pebbles. You chose the best for your watering methods and envirnment.