Orchids: November Orchid Blooms Make Us Thankful, 1 by dyzzypyxxy

dyzzypyxxy wrote:
Peg, here's a picture of my variegated phal with both roots and shoots (flower spikes) going up. The shiny ones going to the left are all roots. They start out a shiny dark green, with those brownish pointy ends on them. As they age a bit they get that silvery sheen on them. Going up to the right are two flower spikes, both bright green. One is about 4in. long and the other is not quite an inch.

In the opinion of this newbie, if your phal has flower spikes, you should not re-pot until the flowers are finished. If it has flowered fairly recently and is finished now, you could re-pot it safely. But from what I've learned, just because the plant is putting up aerial roots doesn't mean it needs a new pot. Jim showed a pic of one of his that really looked like it was climbing out of the pot, but he says it was still ok. I think it's when the growing medium is breaking down that you need to re-pot. And yes, when you do, you should cut off dead roots, and also remove all the old growing medium.

Elaine ps. our mentors Jim and Laurel are shopping up in Apopka, which from what I've heard is a theme park for orchid addicts.