Question Zygonisia cynosure ‘Blue Bird’

[sammywolffox]

I need help from the experts! I recently purchased this orchid. The medium it came in is old and broken down. The medium definitely does not drain well. I would like to repot as soon as possible but have no experience with Zygonisia. I would like to know the best medium and pot type. I can fine general care information but very little on potting. The plant was actually in spike when it arrived but had a rough transit and the blooms are in poor condition so I did not attach a photo. Any advice you can offer will be appreciated. Thanks!

[coeruleo]

actually, a photo of the medium it is in now may help us help you... i don't have this one myself, but i have a bollopetalum, another hybrid in this family of orchids. it does not like to dry out, and can handle pretty high light. i would use a very small plastic or slightly larger clay pot of sphagnum moss, and maybe mix in a bit of treefern fiber to keep it looser. but it is very dry here, so you might not need to use so much moss if it is very humid there... i have seen photos of people growing this in semi-hydro, so i assume it also does not like to dry out. i keep my bollopetalum moist year round, outdoors in very bright shade. i accidentally let it dry out to much in the summer heat this year and it lost a lot of leaves. but i brought it back from the brink of death once before, they seem hard to kill and quick to recover once happy again. good luck! the one you picked is a beautiful plant.

[sammywolffox]

Thanks coeruleo:
I am posting a picture of the medium. As you can see it has decomposed to a state where it is virtually dirt. When I water it retains moisture like potting soil even though the drainage holes are clear.

[coeruleo]

it probably is potting soil with a peat base. that green moss on top shows it has been kept moist enough for the moss to sprout. the bulbs look plump. always best to repot when actively making new root growth if using any sort of bark mix, which on mine is hard to determine in the moss. but they are tough if you are gentle. i would let this one go if you can keep it moist but not soggy. wait till it actually begins to grow over the edge. i would get a shallow but a little wider plastic pot and use moss with some charcoal and if you have any some loose tree fern fiber. in the right mix you don't have to repot very often. i think the zygo family is kind of moody following a rough repotting. but they come back strong under good care, so in any case it will probably be fine. if you are an over-waterer, then use a clay pot. you really only want to give moss a sip of water, not flood it like bark. then the moss will stay damp but not sloppy wet. i have been buying orchids lately coming in 4" wide plastic pot that are on the tall side, with potting soil like this. i water them by sitting them in a saucer filled with water until they soak it up. it keeps it moister without drowning and choking the roots. watering from the top only allows much of the water to wash through the edge of the pot and does not penetrate into the soil mix enough, leading to the orchids lacking water and getting wrinkly bulbs.

[PaphMadMan]

I agree, this was probably a peat based potting mix to start with, rather than a case of extreme bark breakdown. Fairly common for commercial growers when potting up moisture loving orchids a few weeks to months before expected distribution. Quick and easy to pot large numbers of plants at once. Properly managed, it works well for a few months in greenhouse or outdoor production but is not a good long term choice. I'd say it isn't urgent to repot if you can be careful with watering, but you definitely want a bark mix or other more open medium long term.

[Kmac]

I was just writing an article for our society on zygos. Because they are moisture loving , they apparently like a moss mix, with perlite or similar thrown in to improve the air to the roots. Good luck! I love my zygonisia!