On 05/07/2018 15:01, Pollygolly wrote:
On 05/07/2018 07:47, Jeff Layman wrote:
On 04/07/18 21:36, David wrote:
On 04/07/2018 19:52, Martin Brown wrote:
On 04/07/2018 12:16, Pollygolly wrote:
Hello,

I have a phalaenopsis orchid that desperately needs re-potting. It is
almost horizontal and the pot is very unstable. It has been flowering
continuously for about 14 months, so I thought I would wait until the
flowers start to die, cut off the shoot at the base and re-pot.

BUT, in the last few weeks it has produced another flower shoot which
is growing rapidly and the aerial roots have gone mad, shooting
everywhere, both new ones and from existing ones.

So, should I just be patient and hope it does not fall off the window
sill or can I re-pot whilst it is actively growing?

They flower better when a bit pot bound so my inclination would be to
make a frame to stop the thing falling over and enjoy the flowers. You
only want to increase the pot size by a single step.

They tend to flower themselves to death eventually.

On the other hand, you could re-pot it without taking it out of its
present pot. Just find a larger pot to stand it in and use pebbles to
hold it upright, or you could pack the space between the pots with moss
or bark chips.

I wondered if the OP has, in fact, got a few keikis and it is those
which are throwing aerial roots. If so, they could be removed and
potted up, and the original plant left alone.


Many thanks to all for your responses.

Clearly, the consensus is do not physically re-pot, just support somehow

I am a bit concerned about the comment of "flowering themselves to
death". The plant has a certain amount of sentiment attached to it, so I
would like to avoid that if possible, even if it means cutting off
flower shoots.

Having looked up keikis on the internet, and further examined the plant,
no there is not any keikis, each flower shoot comes out of the main
stem, between the leaves, and there are no leaves/aerial roots on them.
I did see that the existing flower stem that I was waiting to die has ow
started another shoot out of the stem from a bud just below where the
existing flowers came from.

I guess that patience and care is called for.

That is already part of the way towards a keiki so with a bit of luck
you may get one and be able to grow a clone on even when or if the
original plant wears itself out. They do last quite a few years.

Mine only expired because the central heating failed one winter and I
couldn't keep the house warm enough for them to survive.

I generally rescue post first flowering garden centre specimens of
colours patterns that I like "reduced" and grow them back to health.

Repotting to a single size bigger at some point might be beneficial if
you want a larger plant and are prepared to wait a bit for flowers. Be
sure to use very open well drained bark and moss based orchid compost.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown