Petite Orchid - Say hi to PARTY!
Birthday gift from my best friend!! I am in love!!! Her specks are so cool! && perfect timing since my first mini orchid has seemed to take it course. I hope you all enjoy && as always, any tips or advice is appreciated! Blessings ☀️🍀💖 #OrchidLovers #OrchidOrg #Orchid #NewPlants #NewPlantMom #NewYork
1ft to light, indirect
2” pot with drainage
Last watered 1 year ago
7
@ModestHardbeech really?! It's a brand new plant, straight out of the plastic. I thought, although I'm no expert, that Orchid prefer a tight & compact root system. I'm definitely not repotting her 1. I have no clue how to && 2. She's brand new & I don't want to mess anything up! Thank you 😊
I would give it a sniff and decide then. If it smells bad, yes, a repot idea might be a good idea. If not, I would wait. Every repot during bloom can stress the Orchid into losing their bloom earlier (less so, the more robust the Orchid and the more experienced the repotter), which would be a pity.
I would not necessarily go by "shes brand new" as a reason however. Orchids - if not bought directly at a nursery - am can end up at places that destroy the roots even before you buy them, without you knowing (e.g. by wrong care or simply too big a change in the surroundings which stresses the orchid). This does not necessarily have to be that way but it could. Rotten roots spoil the medium faster, compounding the rot, all the while you do not necessarily see it. And not necessarily all the decisions the nursery make, are for the plant. Smaller pots could also just mean lower shipping cost and lower labor costs because you do not have to repot it before selling.
I would just let it bloom its course, then take a look under the hood and then decide what to do . And if it is still in a nursery plug ... well I have made my opinion pretty clear, haven't i 😀
I would not necessarily go by "shes brand new" as a reason however. Orchids - if not bought directly at a nursery - am can end up at places that destroy the roots even before you buy them, without you knowing (e.g. by wrong care or simply too big a change in the surroundings which stresses the orchid). This does not necessarily have to be that way but it could. Rotten roots spoil the medium faster, compounding the rot, all the while you do not necessarily see it. And not necessarily all the decisions the nursery make, are for the plant. Smaller pots could also just mean lower shipping cost and lower labor costs because you do not have to repot it before selling.
I would just let it bloom its course, then take a look under the hood and then decide what to do . And if it is still in a nursery plug ... well I have made my opinion pretty clear, haven't i 😀
You’re right - phals love being rootbound as it mimics their natural growing pattern in the wild - lots of roots grown closely together to grip on to the tree and a pot that’s not too big so they can exert that grippy pressure. When choosing a pot size, I always go by how many healthy roots I have - whether they will comfortably fit back in the same pot plus two to three years growth or the next size up. It’s hard to make a decision without knowing what the root situation is.
The best time to repot is after blooming and I encourage everyone to repot their orchids after the first bloom in their care. That’s because they often come with a sponge nursery plug in the centre of the pot. This causes no end of problems as the orchid matures as sponge can stay wet for far too long when the roots on the outside of the pot need watering. This can lead to root rot and, if untreated, can lead to stem rot which is almost always fatal. The sponge plug helps nursery seedlings and does well in nursery environments, where temp, humidity, light is controlled perfectly. But it doesn’t do so well in our homes. It’s always best to remove them. Secondly, the media is often old, sometimes the same media the plant first was planted in. As media ages it breaks down (bark) or compacts (moss) and when it does so, the air pockets that phal roots need to stay healthy disappear, which affects root health and can lead to suffocation. The other thing is that ageing media becomes acidic which also affects root health and can lead to root death. So it’s always best to repot after the first blooms in your care have finished. Just before blooming ends, phals switch to a vegetative stage of growth in which they concentrate on making new leaves and roots - they cope much better with repots when they are in this stage and it stresses them out much less. It’ll need the same care as your other phal - water when the media is dry/almost completely dry and the roots are silver, fertilise regularly with good quality orchid fertiliser and keep out of direct sunlight.
The best time to repot is after blooming and I encourage everyone to repot their orchids after the first bloom in their care. That’s because they often come with a sponge nursery plug in the centre of the pot. This causes no end of problems as the orchid matures as sponge can stay wet for far too long when the roots on the outside of the pot need watering. This can lead to root rot and, if untreated, can lead to stem rot which is almost always fatal. The sponge plug helps nursery seedlings and does well in nursery environments, where temp, humidity, light is controlled perfectly. But it doesn’t do so well in our homes. It’s always best to remove them. Secondly, the media is often old, sometimes the same media the plant first was planted in. As media ages it breaks down (bark) or compacts (moss) and when it does so, the air pockets that phal roots need to stay healthy disappear, which affects root health and can lead to suffocation. The other thing is that ageing media becomes acidic which also affects root health and can lead to root death. So it’s always best to repot after the first blooms in your care have finished. Just before blooming ends, phals switch to a vegetative stage of growth in which they concentrate on making new leaves and roots - they cope much better with repots when they are in this stage and it stresses them out much less. It’ll need the same care as your other phal - water when the media is dry/almost completely dry and the roots are silver, fertilise regularly with good quality orchid fertiliser and keep out of direct sunlight.
Also, when it is time to repot, Miss Orchid Girl has great repotting tutorials such as this one https://youtu.be/lK2wz8aab1Q?si=5olMQ_SkHosulC-I