Does anyone repot to the same size pot?

[FLaCo]

Today I repotted my DenPhal. I t had lots of nice white healthy roots. I trimmed some, repotted it to it same pot with brand new medium. I cleaned the pot in a Physan solution before potting.

Does anyone do this? Or do most people just up-size. I remember Jerry mentioning he sometimes even downsizes.

[Hummer344]

It sorta depends on the size of the plant. I am not afraid to pot into the same pot. The other day I down sized a plant that I had trimed off dead pseudo bulbs and roots. Most of my plants go into the next size up. Its not an exact science. You have to read the plant after you get it out of the old pot.

[palito]

I have done it once with an old cattleya,. The old pbulbs looked already spent and wrinkling while the other part of the plant was green and growing.I removed the old part and the mass of dead roots, and put the plant in the same basket. The reduction in size was maybe 1/3 of the original plant and it kept growing as if nothing had happened.

[Anton]

There's no problem doing it.

I had to change the potting mix once that had decomposed too quickly and repotted with fresh mix into the same pot.

Like Hummer, I have also downsized plants that weren't doing well in the pot they were in and once they started to grow and had picked up, then upsized.

Some plants just love being crowded, others prefer a bit of breathing space.
Just like people, some like big crowded cities, others the space of the country.

[FLaCo]

Thanks for the great replies. The plant had just gotten rid of its flowers and I decided to take it out and reduce its roots. After I did so i noticed it would have fit perfect in its own pot again.

There have been times in the past that I have replanted Phals into a post one size bigger and it be too big...then holding too much unused moisture for too long. Leaves would wilt and wrinkle.

[evagentry]

I just did this also, the Phal had nice roots but the medium was no good, so it went back in the same pot with new medium.

[sandra]

Many, many times I downsize, especially when bringing home new orchids from big box stores. The nurseries that supply these chains like to give the illusion that they're offering these large plants when in reality, the plants are just in too large pots. I just today repotted my Beallara intergeneric from a 6" to 4" pot.

[kmarch]

Originally Posted by FLaCo

Today I ... repotted it to it same pot with brand new medium. Does anyone do this?

I do this all the time, especially with Paphs. I've done it with catts, paphs, phals, dens (not so much because I dont' repot them very often anyway), phrags, and a handful of others.

If we use the general rule of thumb that we should pot our orchids in the smallest pot that can comfortable accommodate the roots, we'd probably find ourselves repotting in the same size pot quite a bit.

I've downsized pots too, I just did that with 2 of my 3 massies and I have 2 cymbids that need to too. I believe ti is better to have a plant in too small a pot (they just grow out of it) than too large a pot (they stay too wet and get root rot and other nasty stuff).

[chefatplay]

I have downsized and upsized and stayed the same. It all depends on what I see when the plant is unpotted. I just downsized two of mine because I found rotten roots. I want my phals to be full in their pots.

[digitalgate]

Originally Posted by Anton

There's no problem doing it.



Some plants just love being crowded, others prefer a bit of breathing space.
Just like people, some like big crowded cities, others the space of the country.

i like Montana .

[janet_a]

all the time. i keep an assortment of pots handy, and try to soak more bark than i think i'll need, cuz i never know what the plant's going into until i get it out of the old pot. i use a 1 in 10 bleach solution to spray out the old pot with if it's going back into it.

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

I give each plant the pot it needs, up size, downsize, same pot, shallower pot, and sometimes deeper pot. If I reuse the same pot for the same plant, I will rinse the pot out with a jet of clean water, but that is all. Anything that sticks in the pot stays there for the next season. There is nothing in that pot that isn't on the roots already.

For sympodials (not Phals and Vandas), I select a pot's diameter for the length of the rhizome across the top. The pot is chosen to give me room for the number of years growth for the expected life of the mix which is one growth for me, as I repot every year. I have been making an exception this year for seedlings, adding an extra 1/2" diameter, because I found last year that the plants fell over so much that I had to put the plastic pots into clay pots to stabilize them. I am also adding an extra 1/2" to plants that are very tall for the length of the rhizome to keep them upright. Many Catts need bulb pans to compensate for the extra width. Just wish bulb pans came smaller that 5".

[FLaCo]

I same sized a Phal. but since it came with soo many rotten roots I had to remove many of the roots. I think I will downsize from a 6" to 4" even though its a big plant (this Phal. has a set of 6 huge leaves).

[exasperatus2002]

I have but only once. Its my Brassia and it was starting to grow out of its pot. There was room at the back bulbs so I shifted it so the back bulbs were touching the side to give it more room for the new growth. Now, even after making a 3 bulb division, its at the edge again. Its in a large mixing bowl turned pot because I couldnt find a clay orchid pot large enough at the time.

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[janet_a]

dang! what are you feeding that thing--mice?

[exasperatus2002]

Originally Posted by janet_a

dang! what are you feeding that thing--mice?

LOL... south window &schultz's orchid food every 2 weeks and the occassional small child sacrifice.

[Anton]

Cynthia, when are they going to make a seedling pot with a wide base ????

I too, am fed up with breathing on them and they fall down, I am forever raking up bark chips off the floor. I have even laid fine, square mesh bird cage wire along my benches to give a more stable base for them to sit on.

Sneeze, and the buggers still fall over..........

[PhalPal]

I rarely have a Phal in a pot larger then 4" so that means I re-pot in the same size often.

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

Anton, I have been using clay pots to give stability, and found that the plants like to jump the edge of the plastic pot and head down the space between pots sticking to the clay. Not too happy about that, so moving up to get away from the clay. I think I may also not be watering enough for these very small pots and the roots are wondering out of the pots looking for moisture, so the slightly larger pots may help this.