New Plants

[Cathy]

I went to the bay area garden show and puchased about 8 new orchids some are small in the 2 inch pots and some are in the 4 inch pots. When do I repot them. How can I tell when it is time to repot a plant that I have no idea of when it was last repoted.

[Dave]

Hi Cathy, re-potting orchids are generally done about once or twice a year depending on the medium they are grown in. I would need more information as to what kind of orchid they are. Phals really should not exceed a 4 inch pot. Cattleyas and other pseudo bulb orchids can be divided and thus kept in the same pots. How can you tell when it's time to repot? Well if you dig down a little into the medium and see how much it is broken down. The most popular mix is bark...if the mix looks almost like soil and there are no real big chunks of bark left then it is time to re-pot.

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

Dave, did you really mean 'once or TWICE a year'? Or did you really mean once every year or two? Good quality bark will go three years. Cynthia