Repotting mounted orchids

14 years ago

I have two small orchids epidendrum longipetalum and schoenorchis that came mounted on bark. They have done well, blooming often for a few years, but I wonder if they should be repotted somehow. I give them soaks in plant food when they are growing and until lately they did very well. THey have grown into the bark. How does one repot, or what should I do with them? Neither has outgrown the bark it is on. Any help would be appreciated.

Featured Answer

orchidnick

14 years ago

Orchids in nature don't get repotted. They latch on to their mount and stay there for life. I have some that have been on the same mount since 1996. Also there is a misconception of them 'consuming' their mount. They are not parasites and get nothing out of their mount other than support.

Leave them as is, their problem relates to something other than the mount. I would also not mess with sphagnum moss but water them every day when its warm, fertilize like any other orchid. If their roots outgrow the size of the bark its a badge of honor, you have a very successful plant. some of my old mounts are invisible. All one can see is a ball of roots with some wires coming from something inside it. Very happy plants. Would never change that setup. Was given a very large Laelia purpurata in January, took it out of its 14"or so pot and decided to mount it on NOTHING. Ran 2 strong wires horizontally through the root ball producing a cross, then bend the ends up and made a loop. Hung the thing up and its in full bloom right now.

The nature of a mount is unimportant to the plant, it just wants to be kept off the jungle floor. Look for the root of your problem somewhere else.

Nick

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Comments (8)

petite_orange
14 years ago
My feeling: when the mount disintegrates, or the plant climbs off of it, then move to another or larger mount. I've had a digbyana on a slab of cork for 15 or more years, it still has not 'consumed' the mount.
If your two plants seem to be suddenly losing vigor, you may want to check for the presence of fungus or insect. Have to say, I have never, ever seen a schoenorchis grown any way other than mounted. Excluding terrestrials, most orchids are epiphytes/lithophytes. We sometimes put them in pots because it is convenient for us, not because they actually like to be grown that way.
Also, if your plants are on a pad of sphagnum, that stuff tends to last a few years, then suddenly have the pH shoot way up...for what that's worth.
Regards - Nancy
georgette77
Original Author
14 years ago
So would you try to pull out the old spagnum and get some new in? Neither plant has consumed the mount.
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Hi again Pat, There's no need to apologize for questions. It's what keeps the experts here on the forum-questions from a beginner ;) Good questions! Because orchids are epiphytes, that means they require a lot of air around the roots. Clay pots are porous, which provides the roots with ventilation. Plastic pots are not porous, however. That's why most people who use plastic pots create ventilation holes on the sides to provide extra ventilation. I don't believe roots actually have that much of a "preference" when it comes to what they attatch to. They will latch on to clay a lot harder than plastic, which means once an orchid that is potted in a clay pot needs repotting, the poor grower will likely have a hard time attempting to detatch the roots clinging to the clay. I don't think however that that means roots "prefer" clay to plastic. For your second question-yes, in the wild epiphyte orchids' roots do have room to spread. However, they also need to latch on to something in order to secure and anchor the orchid in its position, otherwise the plant will fall and will likely die. A small pot allows roots to attatch to the sides faster, giving the orchid a sense of security. If you attempt to pot a tiny orchid in a huge pot, the plant will have a hard time trying to find something to attatch to and will likely not do as well as a similarly sized plant in a smaller pot. Bigger pots also retain more moisture, and if the plant is too small the extra moisture sitting there unused could promote some fungal growth. Hopefully I didn't mess anything up in my explainations :p Again-good questions!
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Dendrobiums really do not like to have roots disturbed. Anyone that has grown many dens successfully can vouch for this, they like smaller pots and do better when pot bound. The plant is nice sized and looks like it has been in the same pot for quite a few years. If this was my plant, I would carefully hammer the existing pot into pieces and gently removed all pieces of clay, then leaving the root ball as is I would place the bulk of the plant in center of a hardwood basket about 8-10 inches or so and tie wrap it to bottom of basket and then pack sides of root ball firmly with tree fern chunks. There should be no wiggle room when plant is locked tight in basket. Then you can tie opposing canes toward each other bring them to about a 30 or 45 degree angle , stop pulling them close when they resist and a few months later you can adjust them to closer yet. You will then have a continuation of growth as the roots continue to grow undisturbed and bring the long canes under some control in a semi upright position. You will see what I mean if you open up the root ball as the next growth will be smaller than the previous and the plant will then be in catch up mode to re establish a solid root ball... in any case, best wishes with the re-potting task. it will be interesting to see how it progresses once you decide how to re-pot it.
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I won't recommend any orchid mix, because I believe orchids are adaptable enough that you can entice them to grow on, or in many mixes, or things. Its just much easier if you use something the plant is "happy" with. I try not to use pine bark in any potting mix, orchid or otherwise, but its almost impossible to find mixes that don't contain pine bark, without having to pay dearly for them. Old growth fir bark is probably the best all round primary ingredient in an orchid mix, but old growth bark is difficult to find also. The lumber industry declares fir trees mature at a much younger age now than it did years ago, so the bark is not as "old" as it once was. I know, bark sheds off trees from the outside, but there is something about bark from a 50+ year old fir tree that orchids just seem to prefer. That's my .02 cents worth, as a grower since about 1966, and I have grown orchids in some pretty strange places. Bill
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richardol
14 years ago
Sphagnum can be tucked in at the edges. But I doubt that is the problem. Something changed, as was mentioned insects or a too-long period between watering, less light, something.
smwboxer
14 years ago
The only time I've really had to "repot" a mount is when the stick it was growing on rotted. Just took the plant and attached to treefern with florist wire and it attached itself in a couple of months. Otherwise I just attached old mounts to larger ones when they outgrow their current one.
georgette77
Original Author
14 years ago
Thank you for all the help, I will really check them out and see what I can do!
lellie
14 years ago
I'm by no means an Orchid expert but I'll add my two cents.
Many of my Orchids, through no fault of their own, were failing.
OK...so I'm guilty of over-watering on occassion...OK...habitually over-watering...LOL...and apparently I cannot control this bad, bad habit.

Several of my Catts and others began to decline so I figured what better way to correct the over-watering problem than to mount some of these poor babies.

Here are a few that have been mounted now for a couple of months or more.
All are doing well, I'm proud to say.

First a Catt:
{{gwi:174805}}

A Den which now sports new growth:
{{gwi:174806}}

Reed Epi w/keiki which I need to remove:
{{gwi:174807}}

I even mounted a huge Phal which I divided into 3 plants.
It loves being mounted and is throwing out new roots and even sporting a new leaf!
{{gwi:174808}}

I guess my point would be that if your orchids are doing well...let them be.
In my limited experience, they much prefer their 'feets' in the air...LOL
georgette77
Original Author
14 years ago
Beautiful plants! Maybe i should do more!

Repotting mounted orchids

orchidnick

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