Repotting S/H

[DTEguy]

Hi folks,

I am currently moving my small modest collection to S/H after my newbie success with an oncidium.

I was wondering how does one repot a S/H orchid? I have seen pictures of people moving an orchid with a huge glob of roots with the existing LECA to a new pot. Should one be cleaning out the dead roots that was transitioned into S/H? Do they get stuck on LECA tightly that one should not attempt to remove it?

I am asking this so that I can make a wiser decision on pot size and roots trimming. Thanks!

[Ray]

The process is simple:

1. Soak the plant as-is.
2. Wait about 15 minutes.
3. Put enough medium into the larger pot so that the plant will be at the same depth as before.
4. Pull the plant, medium and all, out of the current pot.
5. Put the as-removed plant into the new pot.
6. Fill up the space areound the root ball with fresh medium.
7. Water it in and you're done.

No need to do any trimming, as normal decomposition will release nutrients to the plant, and any little insoluble bits should be flushed as you water, if you are doing that correctly.

[DTEguy]

Thanks Ray!

[RosieC]

I made the mistake the first time of doing like I would with bark... removing all Lecca, de-tangling roots etc. Removing the dead roots. The plant sulked and all the lovely roots died.

Now I do like Ray says and it works a treat.

[DTEguy]

Thanks for the input Rosie, I will keep that in mind!

[Ray]

Keep in mind that there is a limit to how long the plant should stay in any medium.

In organic ones, they decompose, so we replace them and throw away the old stuff.

With inorganic media, because they don't decompose, we are "lulled" into thinking it's permanent, forgetting the buildup of minerals and wastes.

If your environment keeps the medium constantly moist, and you flush thoroughly at every watering, the rate of buildup will be minimal. I'm great with the second aspect, "pretty good" with the first, and have plants in the same medium for as long as 8 or 9 years, although they are about to be divided and repotted into fresh stuff.

Precipitation of the minerals occurs as the water evaporates, so the more that happens, the more frequently the medium will need replacement.

[RosieC]

Thanks Ray.

[Leadfoot]

What about if the orchid (in my case, a phal) is living in water culture currently?

I would presume you do similarly, but are there any other tips you might suggest?

[Oscarman]

Great comments, thanks Ray and Rosie

[DTEguy]

Originally Posted by Leadfoot

What about if the orchid (in my case, a phal) is living in water culture currently?

I would presume you do similarly, but are there any other tips you might suggest?

Hi Leadfoot,

I think similar is fine but it might be better if you put your phal's roots lower into the reservoir since there is an upper dry line.

What I did for my first S/H setup was to test it out--without the plant--for a few days to get a feel for the wicking and evaporation rate in my environment and then adjust accordingly.