Orchid Care: Do I need to repot? What about wrapped roots?

[SPierce]

Not sure if this is the best spot, but thought I'd give it a try!

Long story short, I bought a smallish Orchid from the grocery store 2 months or so ago. It's my first time trying one, and it seems to be very happy- and is growing faster than I can keep with it (new roots, new leaves). So now that I haven't yet murdered it, I need to find out sone info re:care. I tried googling but perhaps I'm missing the answer...?

1- when I bought it, the substrate material with the roots, etc were wrapped and packaged in what I can only call a soft, tight plastic wrapping? I still currently have it in this tiny package, but am I hurting the plant by leaving it there? If it's something that needs to come off I'd rather do so before the new roots really take root

2- since the plant is tiny, will it always stay this small...? Not sure if I will need to uppot it or anticipate anything

3- if i do need to move it to a new pot ( with drainage ) or get it new substrate whats the best way to do so without stressing out the plant? I read that eventually the material breaks down and needs to be replaced, and I almost feel like its at that point since the material looks like sand, but I'm not sure.

Thanks

[imafan26]

The plastic wrap usually tape should be removed the growers put the tape on to keep the plants moister longer and to keep the plant from falling out of the pot when it is moved.

Can you post a picture of the orchid?

Orchids in general like to be underpotted. As long as the media is firm and not breaking down and the roots are firm and white it is healthy. If the plant is in the house it should get indirect light. A light fixture about 4 inches above it is good. Put a tray of pebbles under the pot and mist the plant if your humidity is low. Orchids do not need a lot of water. When you water take the pot to the sink and water it thoroughly but try to keep the leaves dry, especially the center of the leaves. Tipping the plant helps. Drip dry the plant at least 30 minutes before putting it back in place. Do not water again until the roots are white and the media is feels dry. Poke in the media, the top will dry faster than the bottom. Most orchid can go 5-8 days between watering. It all depends on the plant, media, type of pot, time of year, and air circulation.
Orchids are usually repotted when the new growth get to the edge of the pot and starts to hang over. The lazy way to repot is to tape another pot with orchid media (usually orchid bark--orchiata bark from NZ is the most popular one now) to the pot next to where the growth is hanging over the pot and allow the keiki to walk into the next pot. Once it is established, it can be cut with a clean pruner or utility knife from the mother plant. If the media in the plant is breaking down faster, then remove the orchid from the pot and wash off all of the old media. Soak the plant in a fungicide solution for a few minutes. Use clean pruners to cut out soft and dead roots. Use a new clean pot that is just big enough to contain the roots and have maybe an inch all around extra. It is easier to tie a stake to the plant and have the stake go all the way to the bottom of the pot. Soak the bark in 10% bleach overnight and rinse it with clean water. You want the top of the media to be about 3/4 of an inch below the rim. Position the orchid so the top of the roots will still be above the media. Fill bark around the plant and tap to compact the media as you go, the stake will help keep the orchid from shaking. Lift the orchid to make sure the base is not buried or it will rot. Press and tap media to firm it. Put osmocote or nutracote fertilizer on top. (you only need a little a teaspoon for a small pot, a tablespoon for a 10 inch pot.) It is important to keep the orchid stable to keep the new roots from breaking.
Your new plant should also be fertilized with osmocote or nutricote. Osmocote will last about 6 months and nutricote is good for a year. Fertilize with Michigan fertilizer 13-3-15 weakly weekly. 1/4 tsp in a gallon of distilled or RO water. You can mix a gallon and store what you do not use. Water plant and then apply fertilizer. Most of us fertilize on a schedule, where we fertilize every Sunday but water only on the 4th Sunday (or whatever day you choose). Michigan magic fertilizer is available on the internet but you can use miracle grow for acid loving plants instead also using 1/4 tsp per gallon of water.

My orchids are outside and I have different alliances that have different light and watering requirements. I have some hanging on the plumeria trees, some are under shadecloth and others are out in the sun. Some get watered daily and others get watered twice a week if they are lucky. For the plants that get watered frequently they are in baskets and no media or clay pots with tree bark or cinder. I try to avoid plastic pots as much as possible and the ones I do have have extra holes in them. I need to take better care of my collection. I haven't fertilized them regularly and most of them need repotting.

[SPierce]

Certainly -- photos of it coming after this text post, because I'm waiting for them to upload to photobucket and photobucket is slowwww!

Its currently hanging out in our bathroom window and stays inside - it gets a little bit of side sun, but nothing direct. This also gives it a somewhat humid tropical climate for at least a little while, while we're taking a shower each day which seems to make it fairly happy (at least, I think so. Plants in the past that I have kept in the bathroom always tend to do very well).

It gets watered every 10-12 days, on average. I feel the substrate every few days with my finger, both on the top and drainage hole in the bottom to see if it's dry/might need some water. When it's time, I use rain water if I have it (try to collect when it rains) or filtered water from our faucet that's warmish. It's watered into the subtrate/media, but never on the leaves unless I accidentally spill. Any water that collects & drains in the bottom of it's outer pot is immediately dumped so it isn't sitting in water.

I haven't fertilized it yet, but it's just about due I think. Once I get a paycheck I can go take care of that. So I should take the plastic off, and put it into a new pot since it's current "outer" one doesn't have any drainage... or leave it as it is this way?

The two leaves on the top are new, and started almost immediately after the flower stalk died. The photos are outside for photo purposes only, then immediately I brought it right back in, and I just watered this morning (last time was on the 9th) so it was just about due.

I guess it never occurred to me that it would grow/walk itself into it's new pot so thank you for that.

[SPierce]

Here we go, you can see the new leaves and the new roots a bit, there's 4 of them?

[ButterflyLady29]

First of all it needs more light. The new leaf is awful pale.
Second, I simply don't like the substrate the growers pack around the roots. It stays too moist and the plastic helps hold that moisture in.

I like using coir fiber lined hanging baskets for orchids. Mine are doing very well since I switched. I don't know if you would be able to find a coir basket small enough for just one orchid. But orchid pots are becoming easier to find.

[applestar]

FWIW -- this is how I'm potting mine -- two are in clear orchid pots slipped inside clay pots and two are in top half of 2 L soda bottle with a flap cut out of one side and standing inside clay pots. It's a combination that seem to work best for me to avoid drying out too much as well as drowning.

I like that I don't have to worry about water in the tray -- in fact I usually keep the drip tray flooded with 1/2 or so of water to add humidity while they are in the dry indoor climate for the cold months. I remove the drip tray when they are outside.

All four of them seem happy enough. You can see the one on the right has grown out of the bottle top and I'm going to have to cut that bottle open to get it off. The aerial roots get stuck onto the clay pot but so far, I've been able to get them to let go....

image.jpeg (42 KiB) Viewed 1015 times

[imafan26]

You have a phalaenopsis orchid and it looks good. It is planted in sphagnum moss which is another type of orchid media. Phals do not like to dry out completely, but do not like being soggy either. The leaf looks fine. Phals like 70% shade and the new leaf should darken with age. The humidity in the bathroom is good for it and it looks like you are watering it well. the roots are green. Roots of phals will turn whiter when they are dry and green when they are just watered. You do not want to see brown or soft roots. Phals can be fertilized with osmocote or nutricote, but most people here use Michigan formula on phals and vandas because of their exposed roots. You want to make sure if you use slow release that they are on the media not the roots. Most phals will bloom once a year and the flowers can last for 3 months or more. If you cut the stem above the node that did not bloom, you can get a rebloom of smaller flowers. Some people will do that to get more flowers others will cut the stem to the base, so the energy will go to producing more leaves and bigger flowers next year. Phals should be repotted every two years. Canadian long fibered sphagnum moss is easy to use for repotting. Soak it in hot water and let it cool. Wring it out like a sponge. Water the plant well. Take the plant out of the pot and remove all of the media. Wash off the roots. Use a clean pruner to cut off any broken or dead roots. Put sphagnum around the roots under the crown and around the splayed roots. Don't try to push them together, they may crack. You just have to make a ball of sphagnum aound the roots. It does not have to be very tight, but it should be enough to fit in the pot and you will be able to lift the pot by the holding the plant and the pot should not fall off. Us a clean pot that is the same size and has a lot of holes in it for drainage. Phals only have to go into larger pots if there are roots hanging out like Applestar's, Aerial roots should stay out of the media. It you up pot you just want to keep the roots in the pot but just barely fit. Phals are monopodial orchids so the grow vertically rather than horizontally.

[SPierce]

Thank you guys and gals for your advice/replies/etc I love the idea of using a soda bottle as a creative way for potting as I typically recycle them but I loveee being able to reuse! It's also extremely helpful for me to know what everyone else is doing so I can keep an eye out/know what to do when the time comes.

I guess since it's doing OK and not outgrowing it's pots yet, I am going to leave it for now - My biggest worry was the plastic wrapping it was in but if it isn't sending off any huge concerns, I won't stress it out anymore than I need to (Unless I'm misunderstanding?). Will continue to keep an eye out on it, and hopefully it'll continue to do okay!

I will go the nursery tomorrow and pick up some food for it

The house I'm in isn't my house, so I do have to keep my plant footprint fairly small, especially with two cats running around who get into everything possible! So I can't get too fancy & open.

[SPierce]

I finally worked up the courage to give my Orchid a facility upgrade, since it's starting to put out a new flower stalk and more leaves... I hope I did this correctly? Some of the moss didn't seem to want to come off and I didn't want to force it- was it OK to leave it on?