Where do you do your repotting?

[Schlyne]

So with the new orchid intake, I've had to do a lot of repotting lately and I've made some interesting discoveries. I found something slightly squishy and interesting when I was bleaching out my pots and was trying to figure out what it was..all the while playing with it, since it was kinda fun..and it seemed at first like it was one of those old cube type potting media that would store water in..and then I found the other half and realized I'd been squeezing a rehydrated bleached jellied EWWWWWW!

Anyway, I do all my repotting in what would be the guest batheroom. Where do you do your repotting? I've also repotted several very root bound orchids lately, and it seems like i'm chopping off half of the roots every time I go in, is that normal, or am I being a bit rough with the roots when I'm untangling the mess? I usually soak the entire root ball mass if I'm having a problem getting the old media out.

[kmarch]

I do all my repotting at the kitchen sink.

[tansyflower]

I try to be good, and repot on the potting bench, but sometimes happens on the ground (if it's a big pot), or the front table.

[Breezy79]

I do mine on the kitchen counter/sink.

[berniep]

G'Day Schlyne

Usually too much rubbish on my potting bench, so often on a extra table.

Cheers
Bernie

[benetay]

I do it on a table right beside all my chids' are placed. They get a free visual lesson on what happens to them when they're in need of a re-potting session. Some got shocked and threw some spikes up so that i'll have to delay their session till they finish blooming.

Cheers!

[Stelios]

in the bathroom sink or outside in the garden for large cymbidiums.

[digitalgate]

on a long aluminium table. easier to clean also.

[FLBob]

I do all my repotting sitting at a table under my live oak tree. You never know what may have taken up residence in a pot, but I'm lucky it's not as common as you might think.
Lately I've been repotting catts for a neighbor who's husband had passed about 4 years ago. He was the orchid grower, and the plants that are still living are in sad shape.

[fred]

I have a table hinged onto the side of one of the orchid house I can take my chids outside lift the table do the repotting with a big rubbish tin under the table
when I am finished out goes the rubbish tin fold the two table legs and the table goes down out of the way for next time

[sunshine]

I do my repotting at the kitchen sink and kitchen table. I also keep my bark medium and coco chip bark in seperate utility pails.Just add the water the night before to soak and when I'm finished I just drain off the excess water
and leave in the buckets. The bottom is always a little damp and find this great if I tip over a pot and need a little extra.

[katrina]

In the warmer months when everyone is outside...I do my repotting/potting in the garage on a makeshift potting bench which consists of an upside down 5 gal bucket and my little stool. It's not pretty but it works great and it's portable and out of the way when I'm not doing any potting.

In the colder months (at least 8 out of the 12)...on the kitchen counter next to the sink.

[maria1971]

I do my repotting on a long work table I have in my covered terrace. It's right next to the backyard, so it's handy when I want to rinse anything out. I also sometimes do it in the kitchen, but that's generally reserved for small jobs (such as with miniatures) because I have granite countertops and God help me if I damage them. I usually save repotting/heavy work for the weekends when I can organize myself and do it assembly line style. Otherwise, the mess drives me crazy. Yes--I'm OCD....all caps, bold and underlined. hee hee hee

[syndywindy]

I do most of my repotting at my kitchen island. It's plenty big, sink is right there. On occasion if it's nice out I will sometimes repot smaller orchids on my patio which has a hose nearby, but for me it's just easier in the kitchen.

[janet_a]

kitchen sink/counter. unless it's some honkin' huge full body contact type of thing, then i do it on the front steps (to the puzzlement of the neighbors).

[cyngreen]

I do the majority of the repotting in the spring and summer and I take it all outside so it's easier to rake up all the old roots and medium to compost for the garden. In the off season I have a galvinized tub in front of the furnace and a folding chair. The greenhouse is so crowded that in front of the furnace is not prime plant growing area. The tub shares space with an aged barrel cactus with treacherous spines.

[rcb]

I repot the majority outside, to keep the mess down inside. Plus since I grow outside mostly - some bugs do get in the pots, and bugs freak me out. I also like to have the hose to use to wash off stubborn old media.

If I have to repot in winter, and it's too cold outside, I'll use the kitchen counter, but I put newspaper down first, so I can just fold up the mess and it goes straight into the trash can.

[Schlyne]

I have a small compost bucket which I toss all the old media in, which will be going in my friend's outdoor compost bin (to her surprise, and probable joy. I live in an apartment). I use the tub to store 2 containers of media, one of soaking fir bark and one of soaking prime agra. I've also got some spagh in a different container elsewhere. The spagh is slightly suspect at the moment, however. Right now that's one of my possible culprits for where the scale might have come from

[Olive Cook]

I do mine on my kitchen counter, or the dining room table... it gets a bit messy, but I have no where better to do it yet
Soon, I will have my plant room

[mytwogirls]

In my kitchen sink and bathroom. I drag the process all over the place actually. I have only done it once and if you were to have witnessed it, you might think I was prepping for brain surgery. I had all my instruments laid out, gloves on, had assistants (my three year old and two year old) and the process was timed (It took a good hour and a half) The patient did fine and is actually being a productive member of society by throwing a spike!

[lmartiny]

I have been using the bar out on the patio where there is a sink and a light. Some drawers and cabinets are crammed with my supplies. I'll tend to leave soaking bark, and other things out and hubby is not fond of my periodic messes. I cleaned it all up for holiday company and I'm going to try to do better.

[mehitabel]

Originally Posted by Schlyne

I've also repotted several very root bound orchids lately, and it seems like i'm chopping off half of the roots every time I go in, is that normal, or am I being a bit rough with the roots when I'm untangling the mess? I usually soak the entire root ball mass if I'm having a problem getting the old media out.

Your question sort of got lost, so I'll resurrect it, and maybe you'll get some answers to it.

It's been more than a year since I've grown catts, but I would say if your catts take to the new pot right away, you're not cutting too much. However, it's better to leave a little of the old medium on than to damage too many roots. IMO.

About repotting-- a deep sink is pretty much the right height for me to work at, and it's bright there, with overhead lights for middle-aged eyes to see better. I always seem to need to be rinsing stuff off my hands, too.

Fred, thanks for the idea of the fold-down table. I'm thinking about where I could put one.

[oncidiumlover]

mytwogirls: that's fabulous! I can picture it in my head, I'm sure your children had all kinds of fun, "oooh, mommy, what's that?"

I repot everything on the kitchen counter, I make a big huge mess all over the place, especially the floor. My boyfriend gets very disgusted by the fact that the chids get uprooted on the same table that I prepare our food on. I tell him to get over it, he's a vegetarian, everything he eats grows in dirt with poop and all kinds of bugs, my chids are much less disgusting than that!

[lmartiny]

Right Mehitabel. We didn't answer the root question. I'm not very experienced but did repot a very root bound Catt and applied different parts of advice. I gave up trying to sort out the roots it was so tight and many were not good. I just sawed off the lower half and stuck in a basket partially filled with bark mix and fixed in place so it wouldn't wiggle. It survived. I did the same thing with a Cym. There was a good tutorial on repotting big Catts I think by FLBob.

[Brooke]

Schlyne are you sure you have scale? Sphag naturally has a round brown residue in it that resembles brown scale. If it is the residue you can rinse it off with a light spray of water. The first time I saw it I also thought it was scale.

I use bales of sphag and have never gotten any pest from it.

Brooke

[katrina]

Originally Posted by mehitabel

However, it's better to leave a little of the old medium on than to damage too many roots. IMO.

TOTALLY agree w/mehitabel!! I follow this rule across the board w/all orchids. I'd rather leave a little bit of the old medium than to do too much damage to healthy roots. Even to the point that I have a couple of mounts that have a piece or two of bark still on the roots and hidden in the sphag.

[mytwogirls]

Originally Posted by oncidiumlover

mytwogirls: that's fabulous! I can picture it in my head, I'm sure your children had all kinds of fun, "oooh, mommy, what's that?"

I repot everything on the kitchen counter, I make a big huge mess all over the place, especially the floor. My boyfriend gets very disgusted by the fact that the chids get uprooted on the same table that I prepare our food on. I tell him to get over it, he's a vegetarian, everything he eats grows in dirt with poop and all kinds of bugs, my chids are much less disgusting than that!

Oh yes I got ALL kinds of questions. My two year old thought the roots were some species of worm. And yes, being a vegetarian he should know what makes a GREAT vegetarian lasagna.....great fertilizer for those veggies And yes, chids are WAY less icky

[mytwogirls]

Ahhhh, I never thought about leaving some of the old medium. Kinda like changing water in a fish tank, you don't want to drain it completely, gotta leave some water. Thanks for the idea!

[articuno75]

Originally Posted by janet_a

kitchen sink/counter. unless it's some honkin' huge full body contact type of thing, then i do it on the front steps (to the puzzlement of the neighbors).

I had to laugh at this comment. I'm visualizing Janet tackling some over-grown orchid like it's a football lineman or something and people starring at her as if possessed.

Ditto on the sink for me.

[janet_a]

four foot tall, three foot wide den. in a clay pot, in lava rock. it was more than a bit of work, for sure.

i've got another one going the same way--it should really be divided and repotted but i just can't face it.... maybe in the spring.

[PhalPal]

I have a 'kitchen cart' that acts as an island in my kitchen and it is a little higher than normal counter height. I cover it with a big lawn and leaf trash bag, roll it out into the family room in front of the TV and repot while standing. I make the media I will be using in the garage and bring a small trash can full of it inside the house.

It makes a HUGE mess, but that is the beauty of hard wood floors, right??? My cats love to play with wayward chunks of coco husk; they use them like hockey pucks and to them THAT is the beauty of hard wood floors.

[11Orchid126]

When I'm doing my yearly repotting, I repot at the kitchen table. I cover it with newspaper. When I'm done for the time being I take off the newspaper to a clean table and sweep the mess on the floor. If I need to repot more the next day I leave the tubs of media, markers, spagnum moss, and all the other necessary supplies in a corner and repeat the same process the next day. Not until I'm finished do I put everything away. A plant or two gets done at the kitchen sink.

[maiseymoo]

I use the kitchen sink and make a complete mess everywhere! I keep all my bark, pots, fertiliser etc in a cupboard in the bathroom and before I have even started I seem to walk bark throughout the apartment, even in the rooms I haven't been in!!
Last time, I thought I would be clever and repot in the bath meaning everything is close at hand and the bath would be easier to clean. How wrong was I??!! Mess everywhere, towel ruined as I got fertiliser on it, pulled my back bending down to reach in the bath and then soaked myself when I turned the shower on the water and then dropped the shower head as my hands were wet. So back to the kitchen sink for me.......

[oncidiumlover]

Poor Maiseymoo, You sound just about as clumsy as me.

[Schlyne]

Originally Posted by Brooke

Schlyne are you sure you have scale? Sphag naturally has a round brown residue in it that resembles brown scale. If it is the residue you can rinse it off with a light spray of water. The first time I saw it I also thought it was scale.

I use bales of sphag and have never gotten any pest from it.

Brooke

I'm sure it's scale, I'm just boggled at where it came from At this point I'm positive it's not from the spagh, as I had checked one of the mini phals I stuck in the same spag and it's fine. It's a white scale on the leaves though (or I'm confusing it with mealybugs, but it doesn't move when I poke it).

I had my angel tears with my other masdies and the other masdies appear to be fine. My herradurae (I may have spelled that wrong, but you know what i mean) has some odd damage on it, but no bugs. I've got a mini phal near my angel tears, but it has no bugs and no problems either. Nothing else is anywhere near those plants. In fact, the only other plant in the bedroom is the croton mammy, which has no bug problems at all.

EDIT: Hmm...Now I'm wondering if maybe I confused it with some sort of fungal issue? Then again, as soon as I could spray the angel tears, I sprayed the phal and all of the rest of the masdies with the cinnamon mix as a precaution....

At this point the poor thing has 5 leaves left, and all of them looked chewed at the bottom when the leaves were coming out. Before this it was blooming nicely in the plant house and it had buds here in the apartment. In fact I had checked to see what had happened to my buds when I found the bug problem

[Brooke]

Can you take a picture of the damage? You have me totally confused You need to know what you are dealing with before you can correct it.

Fungal issues on a masdie usually result in dark spots on the leaves or brownish areas on the stem where it meets the media - right after they fall off

Brooke

[janet_a]

Originally Posted by maiseymoo

Last time, I thought I would be clever and repot in the bath meaning everything is close at hand and the bath would be easier to clean. How wrong was I??!! Mess everywhere, towel ruined as I got fertiliser on it, pulled my back bending down to reach in the bath and then soaked myself when I turned the shower on the water and then dropped the shower head as my hands were wet. So back to the kitchen sink for me.......

yikes! at least the kitchen sink is more likely to have a garbage disposal for the bits that go down the drain...

i am happy to report that our new insinkerator can even handle large primeagra.

[Schlyne]

Originally Posted by Brooke

Can you take a picture of the damage? You have me totally confused You need to know what you are dealing with before you can correct it.

Fungal issues on a masdie usually result in dark spots on the leaves or brownish areas on the stem where it meets the media - right after they fall off

Brooke

Hm. Sure. I'll get some pictures of the remaining leaves (poor thing) when I get home and post em in a new thread. I'll also see if i can dig out a fairly fresh leaf out of my compost bucket to get a picture of the chewed looking stem. (Hopefully it won't lose any more leaves). At least I know the roots are fine.

[koshki]

Originally Posted by Schlyne

I found something slightly squishy and interesting when I was bleaching out my pots and was trying to figure out what it was..all the while playing with it, since it was kinda fun..and it seemed at first like it was one of those old cube type potting media that would store water in..and then I found the other half and realized I'd been squeezing a rehydrated bleached jellied EWWWWWW!

Ugh! Shudder! Gag!

That said, I currently repot at the kitchen sink. It's a bit tricky with my wheelchair, but I have a tray that I can clamp on my chair (like a little kid's highchair!) Since I'm a newbie, I'm guessing I'll also do some of this outside on the patio next summer, where the mess would cause less comment!