Maybe I was to fast

[Brittany]

My first orchid that I purchased in April, a phal that is still in bloom. I decided that although the roots looked good that the potting media was to rotten. I decided to repot it to day,

I took it out of it`s clear plastic pot and the media was like dirt as I thought, But, the roots were all good, they were green and some of them a foot long. Maybe I should have just left it alone, but thought the media was awful soft.

I did not trim the roots and put the Phal in a larger pot and put in new orchid media. I hope that I did right, this has been one lovely plant.

Charlie

[mayres]

What kind of media was your phal (?) planted in? We have a well known phal grower (NW) that plant their phals in a peat mix - which would potentially appear to be "dirt" but is really not. It might appear to be "soft" or as you say "rotten", but really be fine.
At any rate you now have it repotted in another media. Did you use a commercially available medium or coarse bark or something else? If you used bark I hope you presoaked it 24-48 hours. If not you may want to soak for a spell during each upcoming watering for awhile. By "larger pot" I trust you didn't go too much bigger than your previous pot? It is better to have a phal in a pot a little on the small side than the reverse. Just a few thoughts from your initial post.......mike

[pikevi]

What is done is done, Brittany. I don't think you have anything to worry about. I have read in this forum and elsewhere that Phals ( We assume phil is a typo ) can be potted any time.

I am not experienced but all my Phals are re-potted within a couple of days of my purchasing them , whether or not the medium is broken-down.

The worst may be that you would have caused a hiccup in its normal growth.

I think you can rest assured it will be fine, unless you had not met the criteria that mayres mentioned.

[tom499]

much better to repot too soon than too late

[robb]

it sounds like your phal is incredibly happy. i dont think changing the potting medium will affect its happiness much, as pikevi mentioned.

happy growing!

[jerrymeola]

You did right.

Orchids will grow in anything and rotted medium is common for plants that were on the nursery table too long.

You need to re-pot to match your watering habits. The nursery uses automatic watering systems and provides a consistent supply of water evenly. You will not be so consistent and the rotted medium could have developed problems.

Also many fungi can develop in that medium. A nursery may have sprayed for fungus regularly.

It is always good to re-pot your plants into a consistent medium so your care stays uniform.