Repotting a Dendrobium vs. a phal?

[pinky]

I just received advice from you guys about how not to kill my orchids on another thread please help me to not kill these 2 orchids :help:

I looked up all the links you all supplied me with but I am still left with a few questions.
So I managed to repot the phal last night and thankfully I did because there were a lot of mushy rotten roots.. along with some viable ones. I think it turned out nicely.
But now I am about to tackle repotting the den. Here are where the questions come in.

-Currently I do not see any roots at the surface of the den, as I do with the phal. Is this normal?

-When I repot, do I take the exact same approach as I do with the Phal? I have tried to look up repotting a den and have found no results.

-The Den is potted in a bunch of yucky sphag right now so its hard to see whats under there...What IS under there? It seems like a completely different system as far as the structure of the plant. It has the multiple "stalks" instead of the base and leaves like the phal. Is it going to be more challenging to repot because of this?

-Do dens like to be pot-bound as well? actually...do ALL orchids like to be pot-bound?

thanks
p.s.~I will post pics of the repotted phal so you guys can critique my skills haha

[janet_a]

pot bound is better for dens. personally i pot all mine up in lava rock in clay pots. that way i can water the hell out of them and not worry about the medium breaking down. (it also helps keep them from tipping over as they inevitably get top heavy.)

do it the same way you (probably) did your phal: wet it down a bit, wait a half hour or so to soften the roots, then dump/pry it out of the pot and work all the old sphag off and trim/pull off any mushy roots. figure out which direction the plant is growing in and put the *other* side of the plant closer to the wall of the pot. fill in with your potting medium, stuffing it down around the roots. you may need to put a stake in it now to tie it to later.

i wouldn't repot it in sphag; dens store water in those back canes so they don't need such moisture-retentive mix. coarse bark or LECA or lava rock should do it.

[Hummer344]

Many times, after cutting out all the old roots & taking off the old potting mix, you can put the plant right back into the same pot. If not, pot it up to the next size pot. I use small coir chips with perlite & Charcole for my den's

[Leafmite]

I've found most phal-dens are happiest after a repot if they are completely stable in the pot. Stake them well until the roots grow enough to hold them firmly. I have one that doesn't mind repots and doesn't need staking but if the other three aren't well-staked, they lose leaves until they are. I have my four in plastic net pots and lava rock.
Good luck with the repotting,
leafmite

[E-Jag]

Don't overthink this. Roots are roots - on a den they are finer then the roots on a phal, for example, which are thick. Phal roots grow everywhere, den roots not so much but they certainly can. Repot basically the same way you would any other orchid which doesn't prefer exposed roots. Trim it up, put it in a pot and dump in medium. Voila!

[syndywindy]

I'm with E-Jag on this one, don't think too much on the repot. As he said the root structure is a bit different on dens than for phals. They are finer and there tends to be more of them. Because they can grow tall, be sure to secure it by staking if yours is tall. I have one that is over 2' closer to 3' but is only in a 4" pot and I just recently repotted it. It is staked and when I have it outdoors it gets put into a terra cotta pot or in a milk crate so it doesn't fall from the breezes. For my hybrid dens I use a straight bark mix and they can handle a lot of watering. These dens also don't get a winters rest, they get regular waterings all year round.

[pinky]

thanks for everyone's responses. Very helpful. I am soaking my bark and getting everything ready to repot. I will be sure to let you know how it turns out =]

[11Orchid126]

Don't plant it too deeply either.

[pinky]

Hey I managed to repot the den. It was SOO OVER POTTED!!! It was in a 6 inch pot and I have it in a 4 right now...probably could have gotten it into a 3 but I do not have one handy.
I was surprised at how different the root system is compared to a phal. All the roots were small in diameter and white.
I found the name tag inside.. It said Dendrobium Princess Misaki.