I think I have a problem here, that I need some help with. My Phrag After-Glow, that I received last week in spike, seems to be severely underpotted. From crown to tip of spike is 23 inches, and the spread is 27 inches. Its longest leaves are over 23 inches. It's in a 4 inch plastic pot! It's already fallen over once (last Saturday, and took a 5 foot fall :( ), even though I have four bricks proping the sides of the pot. I was trying to wait until it bloomed before repotting, but as you can see from the pics I posted in the Phrag Gallery, that could be awhile. The plant fortunately fell on its flat side, so the leaves and spike were not damaged. I've got some 6 inch S/H pots arriving tomorrow, and planed on potting it in one with Dyna-Rok II. Its currently in a semi-hydro state, as the pot sits in a saucer of water, with a bark mix. Any suggestions would be Greatly Appreciated. :help:

Thanks in Advance,
Mark

Hi Mark,

Could you post a picture of the base of the plant. Your other post with pics of the plant doesn't show that part.

From my own experience, I have repotted phrags in spike with no problems. I am extremely careful not to disturb the roots, or disturb them as little as possible. I have also found that when fear of losing blooms dictates, I just stick the plant inside a 'decorative' heavier ceramic pot until blooming is over. That usually solves the problem of having it not be knocked over and waiting till it's safe to repot.

Hope that helps.

--tien

Hi tien,

Weather permitting, I'll post a pic in the morning. When it fell off the shelf, it came out of the pot. It is completely root bound with very little potting medium left. I was thinking of basically putting the rootball in the larger S/H pot and filling the Dyna-Rok II around it.

Mark

I don't know much about DynaRok II and s/h because I grow all my slippers in bark mix. I think your plant should be fine repotted. I have repotted many slippers in bud/flower without any problem.

Well Mark, if that's the case, I don't think you'll have a problem just simply putting it in a bigger pot. I've never used the medium you're speaking of so can't really go on more than my own experience. A few years ago I purcahsed a phrag Sorcerer's Apprentice near blooming size. A few months later the leafspan grew really, really large and it sent up a spike. The plant toppled over constantly in its small container so I just gently loosened the plant and put it in the next size up. It was fine and flowered for months. I had no idea this plant was going to be such a monster. It is the largest slipper I have.

I have also repotted several paphs in bloom because there was a time when the cat decided he wanted to eat orchids... he only managed to kill two plants. He knocked over several plants during this time and once I caught him walking away with a p. malipoense in between his mouth. Several sprays with a water bottle later and I think he's kicked the habit. Anyway, some of them were in clay pots and broke as they fell from the table and ledge. I repotted them immediately in plastic pots and the ones in spike bloomed without any problems.

Hope this helps.

--tien

If you put the old medium in a S/H type setup, it will rot out your roots. I would try to put it in a decorative type clay cache pot to stablize it.

If you put the old medium in a S/H type setup, it will rot out your roots. I would try to put it in a decorative type clay cache pot to stablize it.

...and repot it when you can clean off all the old medium. I agree with Tadd.

Thank you all for the information. I realized after my last post, that leaving the current material on the roots would not be a good idea. When it came out of the pot, there appeared to be very little potting material left. It was basically a solid root mass. If it looks like I will have to disturb the roots very much, I'll try Tadd's suggestion.

Mark

I agree - it could be in bloom for quite a while, and shocking it this far along in such a pro-active way may abort the spike. I'd just plunk it back in its' pot and put the pot inside a heavier clay pot until it finishes blooming.

Can't wait to see!

I have put pots like yours in a plastic bowl that fits in a six inch clay pot and that would keep it still untill you do repot. Works great