Dendrobium repotting question

[Kmac]

This am, I watched the excellent video, and learned that Dens like to be potbound. So, I guess I goofed last summer when I gave mine bigger pots. Would this explain why they seem to be just sitting there, not doing a darn thing ever since???

If so, should I repot them back to smaller pots now?

Thanks all--I am enjoying greatly reading here & learning something new all the time!

[Brutal_Dreamer]

Do you have a photo? Are the dendrobiums healthy?

Cheers,
BD

[Kmac]

The first one looks OK, I think. It just hasn't done much since it was repotted a year or so ago. The second looks awful. When I checked it, I think maybe its mix is retaining too much water for the conditions. Does that sound right, or do you think it looks like it has some sickness?

[Brutal_Dreamer]

Hi. The first orchid is over potted IMHO. The second orchid appears to be potted in sphagnum moss that is dark and perhaps rotting?? It is hard to tell from the photo, but I zoomed in on it as much as my browser would allow. The other thing I notice is the leaves have sunburn and look like a bug might be chewing on them. If you grow these outside, you might consider getting some sevin dust 5% and sprinkling on the leaves. This will keep the grasshoppers off of your dends. I use it on my cymbidiums that are growing outside on my porch as well as my tomatoes.

My advice is to repot both of these in smaller pots. You can pot them directly in a clay pot if you would like for stability. If you pot them in a plastic pot, you can use some lava rock in the bottom in place of packing peanuts. This will add weight for balance and allow proper drainage. I would remove the sphag moss completely from the dendrobiums. They should dry out between waterings and, the way I like to water, I would surly drown them if they were grown in sphag. I perfer a bark mix that is tightly packed and free draining for dendrobiums.

Good luck
Cheers,
BD

[Kmac]

Thanks, I think I will report them both this weekend.

[Kmac]

I ended up potting the one that looked so awful tonight. The good news is that while it had some rotty-looking roots (and a centipede), it also had a lot of good roots. The bad news is I can't figure out where/when I got it? It is definitely not one of the ones I repotted last year. The media in it was very broken down, with some scraps of moss, and doesn't look like anything in my other pots. Hhhm...I miss having a memory! So, its now in a much better mix, and moved to a shadier area.

Hopefully it will be so grateful it will bloom this year

[Brutal_Dreamer]

...Hopefully it will be so grateful it will bloom this year

I hope so too!

Cheers,
BD