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Thread: Should I repot my Dendrobium - If so when?

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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jun 2014
    Posts
    18

    Default Should I repot my Dendrobium - If so when?

    I have this Dendrobium (no ID, to me looks like Dendrobium Blue Sky) really long canes, big leaves, small/medium flowers in long stems (about 15/20 flowers each stem) Ok so the thing is that this plant was a gift, a classmate got a cutting from her sister's plant and gifted it to me. It was rather small so I planted it in a small plastic pot (4 in) then it grew & grew, so I tried to replant it on a bigger pot but the roots were too attatched to the plastic (this taught me to preffer terracotta pots that in this case I can just break if needed repotting...) Bottom line I couldnt get it out without damaging it so I made some cuttings in the plastic & planted the pot inside the newer one (also plastic, big oops again) and cover with the medium. I used to live in a very humid area so I was told the most adequate medium was stone/gravel. The thing is, now 4 years later my Dendrobium with 20 inch long canes is still on that 6 inch plastic pot, it blooms regularly I cant complain, it blooming most of the year and the flowers last a month or so. So in general the plant muat be healthy, but it looks ridiculous in that small pot, and I am also concerned for its future. Should I repot? And since it flowers so much it is almost impossible to see it without blooms, I read one shall not repot while they flower cuz the flowers will fall off, is it true? Atm it is growing 3 flower shoots in a single cane just after the last flower fell from the previous 2 shoots.
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  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Saratoga Co. New York
    Posts
    6,922

    Default

    sound wonderful...Most Dendrobiums do better if they are pot bound. Post some pics of the blooms!
    roots usually don't adhere well to plastic pots, I am surprised. I assume you can also crack a pastic pot and plant it in larger pot with the plastic fragments and all.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jun 2014
    Posts
    18

    Default

    this is my No ID dendrobium, I took this picture a while ago after some soft rain. Photography iz my other passion, but that passion has to wait, my 10mp cannon will have to do lol

    Posted via Mobile Device

  4. #4
    My Grow Area
    Windowsill
    Favorite Orchid(s)
    Dendrobium,phalenopsis
    Join Date
    Jul 2014
    Gender
    Female
    Location
    Forest Park IL
    Posts
    16
    Member's Country Flag

    Default

    Beautiful! I too was wondering about when to repot hoping someone gives us an answer

  5. #5
    Real Name
    Ray Barkalow
    My Grow Area
    Porch/Patio.
    Join Date
    Oct 2012
    Location
    Oak Island NC
    Posts
    2,103

    Default

    The absolute best time to repot is just as brand new roots are emerging from the base of the plant.

    As roots grow, they "tailor" themselves, on a cellular level, to the environment into which they are growing, and once they have grown, they cannot change. When you repot, you are changing the root zone environment, so the old roots will be less-than-optimal for that environment, so new roots have to take over the majority of the support for the plant (support meaning more than just mechanical).

    As to Lionell's question about flower loss when repotting, sure that's possible, even likely in many plants, but if the current potting medium is so far gone that it risks the root system, then you might lose the entire plant, and not just undergo a temporary setback in blooms.

  6. #6
    My Grow Area
    Windowsill
    Favorite Orchid(s)
    Dendrobium,phalenopsis
    Join Date
    Jul 2014
    Gender
    Female
    Location
    Forest Park IL
    Posts
    16
    Member's Country Flag

    Default

    Thank you,right now my plant has about 5 kiekis(sp) and one new shoot from the base,will that one bloom? And does having the babies mean the plant is done growing,blooming?i had 3 good blooming seasons right around Christmas was so nice to see some color on thoses dreary winter days. Oh and at what point does one plant the babies.?

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