Just bought my second orchid, and I have a few questions!

[orchidyeah]

I decided that it was time to add a new member to my steadily growing family of plants.(No pun intended hah!)I picked up this orchid, and she has many beautiful flowers and buds and is packed full of roots, and of course moss.. I just ordered some more ventilated clear pots, and those will be here next week sometime. Fingers crossed they get here quickly! I noticed that there's a lot of green coloring on the roots, and I'm not sure if this is just from the moss, or if it's mold... If so, what should I do when repotting? Also when I repot, will the action of doing so harm the flowers, and or the buds that haven't opened up yet? I want what's best for my orchid, but I would love to keep the flowers around if possible! Here are some pictures to help with my questions.

[78Terp]

Phalaenopsis roots when wet should turn green. So maybe that is what you see? Does the green turn silvery/white between water?

[ksriramkumar]

I would suggest you enjoy the Phal until it finishes blooming and then repot it in bark + perlite. You would have to be careful to water phals in moss. allow it to dry completely before watering again. Green coloring looks normal. Keep checking the roots for any sign of rot.

[orchidyeah]

Phalaenopsis roots when wet should turn green. So maybe that is what you see? Does the green turn silvery/white between water?

I've had this phal for about a week now, and the green color is pretty consistent. The plant doesn't seem to be stressed as two more flowers opened up and the rest haven't changed any. However one of the smaller bulbs has changed to a dark pink color and shriveled up a bit. So maybe it is in shock? The color of those few roots I can see are really dark compared to what I normally see in phal roots, so that's why it concerns me a bit that it could mold.

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I would suggest you enjoy the Phal until it finishes blooming and then repot it in bark + perlite. You would have to be careful to water phals in moss. allow it to dry completely before watering again. Green coloring looks normal. Keep checking the roots for any sign of rot.

Do you have any tips for checking the roots? I've tried to dig around in the moss a bit, but everything is so tightly packed in there. The roots on top look good, and there's only a few that were dried out. Also do you have any tips for repotting since it's in a clay pot? The orchid is reallly packed in there and I'm concerned that I might not be able to get it out when it comes time to repot. But from the looks of it there's a lot of roots in there so if a few are lost, she should be fine.

[ksriramkumar]

Poke a skewer or your finger to decide when to water. You can check the roots but removing the loose moss on the top and checking it. Clay pot is bit difficult to repot if the roots have attached to the clay pot. When you decide the repot, soak the entire pot in water and gently tease the moss and get the moss out and gently pull the plant out,. You could soak the entire plant in physan 20 and then repot it

I've had this phal for about a week now, and the green color is pretty consistent. The plant doesn't seem to be stressed as two more flowers opened up and the rest haven't changed any. However one of the smaller bulbs has changed to a dark pink color and shriveled up a bit. So maybe it is in shock? The color of those few roots I can see are really dark compared to what I normally see in phal roots, so that's why it concerns me a bit that it could mold.

---------- Post Merged at 06:19 PM ----------



Do you have any tips for checking the roots? I've tried to dig around in the moss a bit, but everything is so tightly packed in there. The roots on top look good, and there's only a few that were dried out. Also do you have any tips for repotting since it's in a clay pot? The orchid is reallly packed in there and I'm concerned that I might not be able to get it out when it comes time to repot. But from the looks of it there's a lot of roots in there so if a few are lost, she should be fine.

[Traci]

I agree with Sriram. I would only repot it if it was in distress which it doesn't appear to be.

[JDT]

I would agree, when it comes time to repot you can find lots of information and videos online to help with that or ask us here. That Phal is looking very good!

[JDT]

I would agree with Sriram, if you think you still might have some mold rub your finger over the area if you rub what you think might be mold off then you could use a soft brush and brush off what is left. As far as repotting tips, soaking the orchid in some water, pot and all, will soften the roots so that you should not do too much damage, there are plenty of video's online about repotting different species, that will give you an idea of how to do that. Good luck!