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Hi. My orchid has green leaves and some healthy-looking roots but… | The Orchid Oasis 🇺🇸 | Planta-community

Sophie

Hi. My orchid has green leaves and some healthy-looking roots but it's not frowning a stem. Some roots are looking a bit dried out. Do you think it needs repotting? Thanks

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1 gilla 6 kommentarer

6 kommentarer

  1. Daisy

    Yeah it looks like it should be repotted, but with orchids you have to be very careful because they are fragile

    0 gillningar
  2. GreenLeaf

    I agree it looks like it needs a repot. Which is perfect because you don’t want to do that when it’s flowering. I would choose an orchid pot that has a lot more holes around the sides to allow for good air flow around the roots.

    1 gilla
  3. Sophie

    That's great, thank you. Should I just cut a few slits around the sides?

    0 gillningar
    • GreenLeaf

      Thats what I would do if your new pot doesn’t have them already :) you also would want to go up 1 pot size. Any roots that are dead remove with clean cutters when you have the plant out and all the medium removed.

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    • Jen

      You could, since when you repot, you should be cutting away any dead or mushy roots and you may have more room in the pot, but I would bet money on the fact that this is probably the same pot your orchid came in, and could use a size larger. MisnomerPi has a great comment in other posts below that would give you the best over-all suggestions for repotting. I swear one of these days I’ll just start copying and pasting them and giving them the credit- it’s very detailed and reliable. Many of us in this group are big fans of miss orchid girl on YouTube. Before repotting I would search her page and watch a couple videos. Truly a wealth of information.

      1 gilla
    • MeasomerPi

      Just like Beatlejuice, if you say my name enough, I’ll show up. When a phal is reluctant to bloom, I find it’s usually an issue of not enough light. Put your plant in in bright but indirect light. Direct sun will burn a phal pretty quickly. Too low and you won’t get blooms. I have mine an a west window that is shaded by landscaping. They get absolutely no direct sun. If the edges of the leaves turn reddish you know you are at the max limit of sun for your plant. Luckily most phals from big box and grocery stores are complex hybrids so most of the trickier care needs have been bread out of them. Regardless, if you are having issues with a healthy plant not blooming, try exposing them to a 10F degree drop at night for a couple of months. Most of the species out lovelies are descended from need that drop to initiate a bloom cycle. With regard to repotting, when you bring home a plant, typically they are in sphagnum that is tightly packed. That’s not a great setup for the home grower. Or those in bark, the media is beginning to break down. Generally, you’ll need to repot every 2-3 years or when the media is broken down. When you get ready to repot, I would first give it a good soak as things are easier when hydrated. Take the orchid out of the pot and gently remove the media from the roots. Try get it all, but it’s fine if you have to leave some so you don’t damage the roots. And don’t worry if you damage some roots. It isn’t great but it happens. Just try to minimize as much as possible. Examine the roots for health and pests. Trim off any dead or dying roots. Dead roots are papery or mushy, black or brown. Healthy roots are firm and green when wet, silvery when dry. Deeper into the media you may encounter pale yellow roots. It just means they haven’t been exposed to light. They are fine as long as they are firm. I would leave any wrinkled roots as long as they are firm. Use an orchid pot with additional ventilation as others have previously suggested. They are typically clear so you can monitor root development, and have ventilation holes on the sides of the pot. If you don’t have one, you can add holes to a growers pot or any other plastic pot you have on hand. Size the pot so that the roots just fit inside it. They like a tight fit. To minimize transplant shock, use a similar mix to what it currently is in. If your plant is in sphagnum, I would repot using a mix of 50% sphagnum 50% bark. That will allow moisture to hang around long enough for the roots to take in what they want without cutting off air circulation. If you are a heavy waterer you can reduce the amount of sphagnum in your mix. My preference is straight bark. The key is a loose airy mix that will allow the roots to dry between waterings. Regardless of what mix you use, gently work it around the roots. I use an old chopstick for the job. The goal is to firmly seat the plant in the pot without packing the media. You want an airy mix that allows the roots to grab the water they want and then dry out. Orchids like their water but the LOVE for their roots to dry out.

      4 gillningar