Phalaenopsis orchids repotting

Repotting an orchid

During repotting, the roots of an orchid are slightly damaged, even if they are not broken or cut off. Most often, however, we are forced to cut off some of them when they grow over the pot from the bottom, which blocks the root ball from getting out of the pot. Such damage must be allowed to dry out thoroughly, so we wait with the first watering until at least a week after repotting.         

After extraction, dry, dead or rotting parts of the roots should be cut off.

 The photo shows a root that started to rot at a certain height. It was removed in its entirety to avoid infection and contamination of the remaining roots.

When adding the substrate, make sure not to leave any empty spaces between the roots, this will provide them with the right level of humidity and prevent them from drying out faster. The pot should be shaken lightly so that the bark gets everywhere (photo below).

An extremely important issue is the right type of substrate, it should be permeable, free of moss and in the case of phalaenopsis orchids, have a coarser granulation.

The new pot should be disinfected and one size larger than the previous one. Its bottom should have an appropriate number of holes, if there are too few, more should be made.

The issue of covers is controversial. Some growers believe that keeping orchids in covers is a crime, others disagree, claiming that the cover is needed to maintain higher air humidity around the roots by evaporating water from its bottom. The truth, however, is somewhere in the middle. Properly selected, not tightly fitting to the pot and thus ensuring an adequate supply of air and light to the roots, will not negatively affect the development of the plant.