Safe to repot?

A few weeks ago I picked up some young cattleya from a local "garden center". They were on clearance because they were pretty much dead. I had tried keeping orchids a few years ago, so I knew I still had my pots and medium back at the house. So I got a few of the little fellers and took them home to get them into something (they were pretty much bareroot) and when I got my pots out and my sphagnum moss... I couldn't find my bark. So I just made do for the time being, wrapped the "roots" (these things were literally almost dead) with some moss, filled pots up with moss and put the plants in. It was supposed to be temporary, but due to life happening I haven't gotten a chance to go back out and pick up some bark.

Well, the pots have been hanging under my carport for the past couple of weeks and they've shown some great improvement... turned a 180 and I'm even seeing some new growth on a couple of them.

SO... after that long intro.. that brings me to my question.. I have some time coming up this week to get back out and get some bark. But with the turn the plants have made would it be better for them if I just leave them alone in just the moss, or should I risk it and re-pot them with the bark?

While they are making new growth is the best time to repot.

While sphagnum is great to grow new roots, its a short-time thing. When its really got a few nice roots repot into a mix suitable for catts. 100% wood is usually for phals, catts need other stuff to improve drainage. Some mini's catts i've seen in tiny rocks even.
Connie

Yep. Not to mention, cattleyas hate sphag...the sooner they show improvement and root growth the sooner you should get them out into bark.

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*cooking breakfast* *apartment filled with smoke* me: "We should have made French toast!" Christopher: *opening the door to let air in* Oh kelly. We're not ready for French toast.

and to the above. Repot your cattleyas when they are growing new roots. They will adapt better and will have less of a shock.

Cheers,
BD

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We could learn a lot from crayons: some are sharp, some are pretty, some are dull, some have weird names, and all are different colors....but they all exist very nicely in the same box. ...Hmmm? .

Holy crap that was fast... and not one email notification. Guess I'll have to watch the forums more.

Thanks for the fast replies. The last orchids I "kept" were phals. Didn't do too well, lived for a long time but no real growth out of them. I guess I keep seeing orchids as 'regular' plants, that's why I was worried about re-potting them during growth.

It'll be a relief to get them out of the moss. I have to go out every other day and add new moss because the birds have been taking the stuff to make their nests with.

Thanks again for the fast replies and information.

Since many people do not like automated messages (or at least their email provider do not 'like' them) we do not have 'subscribe to thread' as the default option here on the forum. If a member wants to be notified, s/he can simply check the 'subscribe' box when posting or go to the 'Thread Tools' drop-down a the top of a thread and click on 'Subscribe to thread'. Please note that if more than three emails bounce back to the system for any member, then that user's membership is placed into a 'bounced email user group' and until the email address is updated with a working email, that user will no longer enjoy access to many parts of the forum or the ability to post, PM, or use most of the advanced features here. Also, her/his subscribed threads are automatically canceled.

I suggest, if you plan to 'subscribe to threads' with email notification that you check and make sure that our orchidtalk email address is in your 'whitelist'. You can get this address by looking at the email that was sent to you when you registered, or you can use the 'contact us' link at the bottom of every page of the site and request a response email from that automated address.

AND... I think you should watch the forums more We are glad you are here!!

Cheers,
BD

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RVO's OrchidTalk Forums - "Bringing People Together" Help support our Community: Donate or Become an OrchidTalk Subscriber today!
We could learn a lot from crayons: some are sharp, some are pretty, some are dull, some have weird names, and all are different colors....but they all exist very nicely in the same box. ...Hmmm? .

Yeah, this forum runs a little different than some other ones I've been on. I'll get the hang of it. Thanks for the information, about the forums and the orchids.

I'm heading out today to try to find some orchid substrate that isn't 100% bark... if need be I'll make my own mix I guess.

Yes, we are definitely not typical here.

You can do it! And if you need more help, we are here.

Cheers,
BD

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RVO's OrchidTalk Forums - "Bringing People Together" Help support our Community: Donate or Become an OrchidTalk Subscriber today!
We could learn a lot from crayons: some are sharp, some are pretty, some are dull, some have weird names, and all are different colors....but they all exist very nicely in the same box. ...Hmmm? .

Just a quick update, took me a while since I've been without a computer. But, got everything repotted. The "2" plants that I got, ended up being 5 after a bird decided to try to build a nest in one of my pots. So, 2 decent size plants now, and 3 VERY little ones. But even the little fellers that got broken off are showing new growth so I guess I can't really complain. Anywho, ended up covering all the pots with moss and that seems to keep the birds from digging through the bark now.

Thanks again for all the help. I'd put up some pictures but there's really nothing to see, some plants with new shoots, no flowers or anything.