When you contemplate repotting an orchid, you must develop the ability to look at your plant, see the root system and learn to interpret and understand exactly what you are seeing. Developing that skill is a difficult thing to master.
Number one. You must remember the simple fact that these are epiphytic plants. The new potting mix that you use has to take into account the root system of that particular orchid. An orchid with either short skinny roots or longer and slender roots does not belong in a mix of coarse particle size. That is a bad direction to go.
Number two. The opposite side of that coin is also generally true. Any orchid with pencil thick roots does not belong in a fine mix featuring very small sized pieces. You should always look at the roots to determine the proper mix. This ability is very hard to develop. Haphazardly repotting your orchids into "whatever mix is on hand" is not really the best idea!
The key to good healthy orchids is the root system. Your orchid pant can be growing in an ideal set of conditions, the best light, the best temperatures, yet without a healthy root system your orchid may never be happy. Also let me add here that being afraid to repot, or being neglectful about repotting, or turning a "blind eye" to the situation, is also a bad idea.
I am a person who believes in making custom mixes for all of my orchids! And here I go again, orchids are fairly complex plants. As Epiphytes, they grow onto a host plant for support only, they are not parasites. Orchid roots do not penetrate the host plant taking nutrients and moisture from the host.
I will bore you with a simple analogy, ALL orchids are plants, BUT not all plants are orchids! Just reflect upon that statement. It is so true. And yes, it becomes very hard for a great many plant growers to suspend their beliefs, or to forget their experiences with non orchid plants and not to apply those practices to orchid care.
Now for my last point. Failure to properly take care of your orchids potting and root system can lead to limited growing success in the beginning of your little orchids life but long term neglect will lead to declining growth, failing roots and ultimately the death of your plant. Well, not always death, but a plant becomes so sick, so downtrodden, it becomes very difficult to bring it back to health. [ There are many cases where it might be best just to toss out that orchid and start over]


One of my recommendations is for beginners growing orchids is for them NOT to use sphagnum moss! Why? Because in my opinion, it takes some level of experience to learn how to pot with it correctly. It is much easier, or much more common, for beginners to use sphagnum and end up killing their plant. The moss is either packed in too loosely, causing a problem by not holding enough water, OR it is packed in too tightly keeping the water from flowing through the media properly. If the moss is packed too firmly, the roots can suffocate or not get access to enough moisture.

Bill, that looks good!! It is now a sticky!

Okay! That's cool and thanks for the acorns!

I have had a supermarket phal for over a year. It is doing well, and even recently grew a beautiful new leaf.
It is currently in the original pot: a plastic pot inside a ceramic pot (as you see in countless supermarkets and big box stores.) The pot is about 6" tall. Although there are no signs, I fear the plastic could encourage rot.
I really like the Medusa-y, grey-green roots, and would love to put it in a ceramic pot with lots of holes and openings.
However, I realize this is simply a cosmetic / décor issue.
So my question is: Do I repot, or let it be since it's thriving?

AuntieEm, this is a good question! Honestly, I don't know! Normally I think don't fix it if it isn't broken. But, eventually the plant probably has to come out of that plastic pot and given fresh medium. When depends on how the old medium looks, is it old Sphagnum?

I found this thread here because I was looking to make a post about repotting single flowered Paphiopedilums.
Just about three to four months ago, I decided to try to grow a couple. I had noticed up here in the Great Lakes Area that a lot of people grow them.
Well, those few that I bought have lost their flowers. One was chartreuse and white, another was a bronze green kind of color and the other was kind a maroon flower with lots of spots on the dorsal.
I could not find a lot of information regarding culture. All three were in 3 1/2" square pots in a mix of medium bark and perlite. I put mine in either 4 1/2" or 5" pots. I am using a mix of fine bark, charcoal and perlite. After they were repotted around the holidays they are showing remarkable growth with either one or two new leads. They seem to bloom from late fall throughout the winter months.
I water them about once every 5 days and fertilize twice a month. I look forward to see if they rebloom. I sure hope so.
I hope it was okay to post on this thread about repotting.

Surely they will bloom nicely treated like that!

Like AuntieEm I have one of those mini phals from the grocery store. It is a Sogo Grape that was mixed in with the other $6 plants last April and it has not stopped blooming in all this time. It handled the move to the mountains well and even has another new spike coming along. I know I have to repot it, it is growing in tightly packed sphagnum in a thin plastic sleeve.

But, I am scared to touch it, it is so happy.

However, I will be responsible and I will try the bark, charcoal and perlite mix. It is going to kill me to remove the moss, I think it is like the plant's security blanket.

But my counterpoint would be that the moss will go sour, it will become acidic and the roots will begin to die.
When you grow orchids, repotting just becomes part of the hobby.
You have options from potting them, putting them back into sphagnum, putting it in a basket or on a mount. It becomes a matter of just how comfortable you are with whatever method use choose.
We all face fear and uncertainty with our initial attempts at repotting. But with every one you do, your confidence should grow. My first dozen or so were frightening, my last 1,000, not so much.
You can do it!!!!!

Catpaworchids said: But my counterpoint would be that the moss will go sour, it will become acidic and the roots will begin to die.

That may be for most orchids kept more wet than dry. Phalaenopsis in sphagnum moss can stay in the original moss for years. In my experience, the moss lasts longer than the traditional bark mix. I wouldn't repot until I actually saw signs the moss was going bad, which may be years from now. On the whole, moss works well for Phalaenopsis. In my greenhouse, if I use sphagnum moss (I'd rather use Spanish Moss), I work hard to encourage it to grow so it doesn't go bad. Constantly wet sphagnum moss will turn into the black sludge of death in just a few months.

Well, I am not the most responsible waterer perhaps letting it dry out has kept it thriving. I have also been remiss in fertilizing so there is no chemical build up.

But "Nick", have no fear, I will repot it.

I have left Phals in their Sphagnum for quite awhile. Careful not to overwater as Lucy mentioned. But when it finally does start to break down, I will repot with a bark mixture or go to attaching it to cork, tree fern bark...

Maybe I can learn something Lucy.
What are the signs that you see to tell you that the moss is going bad?

In the past when I see that a Phalaenopsis of mine was suffering from wilting roots, the leaves go soft, they get floppy. I take litmus paper and put it in the water coming out of the drainage hole on an ailing Phalaenopsis. It typically reads a ph value of between 4.8 and 5.8. That is much too acidic.
When I take apart the plant, the roots are often seriously compromised. Many have lost their growing tips and are dying back from that tip back towards the core of the Phalae.
I have not used straight moss with any Phalaenopsis for many, many years. In fact, nothing in my collection grows in plain moss.
But if it works for you, then it works for you.

You may enjoy reading this study:

https://journals.ashs.org/hort...

It tells me low moss pH is really a non-issue.

That was interesting and an informative read.
Thanks a bunch!

You're welcome!

I honestly cannot figure out why my little Sogo is doing so well. I am not so concerned about acidic moss as I am about O2. The reason I want to tempt fate and repot it is to get some fresh O2 to those roots.
The leaves on the little guy are crisp and shiny, not soft at all and the roots I see are firm and green or gray depending on moisture level.

When you are dealing with the Phalaenopsis violacea/bellina complex, they produce fairly broad, highly glossy leaves. They tend to stay very low growing and produce bloom spikes all year long. Seldom is there more then one flower open at a time and the blooms are on the small side, of intense color and long lasting.
Sogo Grape has violacea in its background.