How often is too often to repot a phal?

[tangerine0rchid]

My (indoor) common/phalaenopsis orchid was growing/trying to support two flower spikes and THREE keikis. Due to overwatering(?) and/or stress(?) from supporting keikis and/or something else, the parent orchid leaves started going limp and it lost a few lower leaves.

April 1: all keikis and blossoms cut off. (Keikis are doing well in their own pots.) It got rotten roots trimmed and repotted into fresh new medium but back into the same large pot (since that was all that was around at the time). I also tried the “orchid ICU” method, large plastic tote with a small humidifier, intermittently, to help out the leaves.

End of May: the orchid is recovering! no more leaf loss! and has a new center leaf growing that looks healthy. Also has either a new keiki or new flower buds starting on the old spike.

My question: I really wonder how the main roots are doing (aerial roots look OK) and if I should repot into a smaller pot since I have some now. Is it a bad idea to repot it 2 months after the last repotting? Are there any guidelines like “don’t repot more often than X times in Y period of time”?

Bonus question: how do I make sure it doesn’t get stressed again by the new growth?

[Ray]

New growth does not stress a plant.

A plant gathers “raw materials” from air, water, fertilizer and sunlight and creates phytochemical resources which it uses for staying alive, growth, and reproduction - in that order of priority.

How well you give it what it needs is the controlling factor in how it uses them.

For your description, it seems you had the potting medium go bad, which took away some of the roots, limiting the plant’s ability to take up water and nutrients. Because of that, it started drawing from lower leaves to pass onto newer tissues.

[Roberta]

First, Welcome!

Patience, patience. Orchids grow slowly. If the new medium is fresh and airy (which it should be) the new roots will grow. Give it time.

[Mountaineer370]

Welcome to the Orchid Board! It does indeed sound like your Phalaenopsis orchid is well on its way to recovery, and that the keikis are doing well.

FWIW, I have had a few occasions where I have been forced, for one reason or another, to repot a plant that had only recently been repotted (such as the whole thing got knocked off the table by my dog, lol). No harm was done. For me personally, repotting that main plant now would probably depend on how large that "large" pot is. A couple of photos would help.

[tangerine0rchid]

I figured out how to add photos, hooray! (though they are not the best pics.) One pic is her “good side” and the other pic is a closeup of new leaf and some new roots.

She was repotted in August 2024, then April 2025. She lost maybe 4 or 5 leaves between Aug and April. Medium is Repotme AAA Imperial mix and then I’ve added some medium Monterey bark, mostly on top (at the advice of an expert at my local nice houseplant nursery). Next time I repot it seems like I should add more bark to the mix, so fortunately I bought enough for that.

So that’s a 7” top diameter pot and almost 8” deep, and back in August she needed that size. Now with fewer leaves and roots (I can’t see the roots through the clear pot) it seems like maybe she needs to go down to a 5” pot or so(??), or whatever is small enough that I could see roots.

[tangerine0rchid]

Also thank you Cheri, I am also in lower MI not too far away and I wouldn’t have thought to look up the Ann Arbor Orchid Society if not for it showing up in your profile/reply!

[Roberta]

Originally Posted by tangerine0rchid

I figured out how to add photos, hooray! (though they are not the best pics.) One pic is her “good side” and the other pic is a closeup of new leaf and some new roots.

She was repotted in August 2024, then April 2025. She lost maybe 4 or 5 leaves between Aug and April. Medium is Repotme AAA Imperial mix and then I’ve added some medium Monterey bark, mostly on top (at the advice of an expert at my local nice houseplant nursery). Next time I repot it seems like I should add more bark to the mix, so fortunately I bought enough for that.

So that’s a 7” top diameter pot and almost 8” deep, and back in August she needed that size. Now with fewer leaves and roots (I can’t see the roots through the clear pot) it seems like maybe she needs to go down to a 5” pot or so(??), or whatever is small enough that I could see roots.

That pot really is too big. YOu should base the size of the pot on the size of the roots, not the leaves. So if you can find a pot that is more like 5-6 inches, a repot would be good. Just do it gently, don't worry about getting the medium out, it's not old. The new medium has lots of air space, so you will need to water more often than you did before the original repot. Your goal in the root zone is "humid air" not sopping wet, but don't let it go completely dry either. The leaves look rather limp... either the roots are bad and it can't take up water, or it's underwatered. In the new mix, I think the latter is more likely. With a free-draining mix like that, you don't need to fear overwatering as long as the pot is draining well.