Brassidium in old medium

[boxerfan]

My Brassidium has finished blooming and the medium looks old, nasty and mushy. I think it's peat primarily. I've either got to drive out of town to get some fine bark mix, use medium bark mix that is locally available or order mix over the inet. Can I depot my plant and clear off the old medium then keep it wrapped in a damp towel until I can get some proper medium? I've got a rotten feeling about leaving this plant in its current pot. Lisa

[kmarch]

I've done something similar with plants I received in the mail bare root but didn't have time to pot right away. I misted the roots a few times a day to prevent them from becoming completely dehydrated and they kept like this for 2-3 days until I got them potted, no problems.

[sandra]

Lisa, a while back there was a discussion that got started in another thread about these plants and how basically, hardy they are. I don't remember the thread but it's somewhere here. As long as you don't keep it too wet, why not just leave it in the mix it's in (which probably is peat moss from your description), until you're ready to re-pot with another medium? If the plant doesn't seem to be in bad condition, why add any possible stress to it? This, temporarily over keeping it in a damp towel is probably a better environment for it. I met a woman while orchid shopping a while back who was buying a brassidium and told me that she had several of these planted in her garden and watered them regularly....in plain soil! I usually re-pot my orchids as soon as I get them home, even the ones in bud or that are bloomed but I have a miltassia potted in the same peat moss that wasn't repotted yet and it's doing really nicely. I'll be repotting it in a fine bark, charcoal, perlite medium when it's blooming cycle is over.

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

I'd at least wait for the fine bark from whatever source works for you. Just keep the plant on the dryish side, and maybe pour some hydrogen peroxide thru the pot if you don't like the smell. Repotting is best when there are new growths and the new growths are starting to root. Otherwise, you need to be very careful not to damage the old roots. When repotting at the first sign of roots from the new growths, damage to the roots will not be very important.