Thanks for replying arthurm, The tag it came with the plant says Miltonia, I read so much info online and even the link you sent me, that is why IâÂÂm concern about it. I hope to keep it alive at least try. The orchids I have are: Phalaenopsis, cattleya, cymbidium and two type of intergenerics, I keep them in my kitchen all grouped together under a pebble tray with water, a fan and a humidifier, temp during the day are 80 and at night 75, my kitchen is very bright with no direct sun. thanks again

Aerial roots that look healthy, mix looks OK. Do nothing... Re-pot a little deeper in the mix this coming spring. Good luck, Bob

Arthrum: good point, the temps in my house are only kept above 65 degrees, but it still seems that some temperature hardy plants still show dislike of my repotting... Dbarron: oh my! Sounds like a tragedy! I get upset enough when I break of a new shoot! Vtandrea: thanks for the suggestion! I'll definitely try it on one of my oncidiums! Jane: I live in the Oakland hills in the SF Bay Area. I grow almost all my indoor orchids in the same spot, positioned around a fireplace to control the amount of light. The facing of the house isn't the best. 80% of the light is late morning to afternoon sun . 90% of the windows are west facing :( like the house... The problem might be I repotted at the wrong time. I didn't a lot of reporting in the winter/ late fall (whoops...)

I second arthurm. Have not seen a Phal. with that kind of roots posted on here. It obviously likes what you are doing for it. The AOS culture notes are great, but I suspect your plant is going to require a bit more help than they give in the repotting department. #1, I suspect when you pull that plant out of its pot you are going to find the mix has pretty well decomposed, and there may not be anything in the pot but a bare plant stalk with dead roots curled around inside the pot. That is probably the best explanation for all the roots growing out of the pot. If you find this, I would suggest you just cut the main stalk off at about the level of the present potting mix. You have more than enough roots from that point up. remove the yellow leaf....it will probably just pop off when you pull on it a bit, if not a sterile razor will get it off. Cut the old bloom spike off about an inch or so from the plant. Now, there is no way you are going to get all those roots in a pot without really over potting this plant, and that's really not good, so I would suggest cutting off all the roots that are hanging below the table. Cut them about where they hang over the shelf, The couple of really big roots growing down the side of the pot, are probably growing onto the pot, but I would try to get them off the side of the pot without damaging them any more than necessary. There are other roots crawling around on the shelf that are going to need to be trimmed also.....Your discretion.....but I would try to cut mostly roots with no active growing tip - leave them at least 4" long. The one root that is taking off toward the upper left corner of the photo, is growing from about the level you want the plant to sit in the new pot, but you are just going to have to let that root be......he is determined to grow into the next county or somewhere, so let him go. It's going to take at least a 6", and probably an 8" pot to hold this thing. Clay or plastic, your choice.......If you have to go to 8" clay, try to find an orchid pot with slits cut in the sides.....You will be over potting a bit, and that will help with drying the mix out faster until you get the plant established. Don't know where you are located, but if you have a big box store Lowes, Wally World, etc. or a good local garden center, try to find a bag of orchid bark mix for the repot. Pour out enough of the mix to fill the pot into a pan, and thoroughly wet it. Put a handful of mix in the bottom of the pot, and set the plant on that straight up, not slanted like it is now. Tuck as many of the roots into the pot as you can. The roots are brittle, and some will break...that's ok.....try not to damage any more of the active growing root tips than you have to. When you get the plant and roots tucked in, fill the pot and all around the roots with the wet mix. You may need a couple of rhizome clips (google these) you can make your own out of wire coat hangers. Use them to stabilize the plant in the pot until the roots start growing. Now the hard part.....Set the pot back on the shelf in a bright but shady location and do not water for a week or two. You can mist during the hot part of the day if it makes you feel better, but no water on the roots until they have a chance to heal, callous over and start growing again. If you grow the plant on as well as you have until now, you are going to have a really nice plant that should give many years of blooms. Good Job. Bill