Question.
So I got this Brassalova from a local-ish greenhouse about a month ago. And about a week ago it started growing wild. It is blooming AND have a ton of new roots coming out. I put some sphagnum moss to keep the root area humid. (I thought I read somewhere that orchids flowered first then you repot when new roots appear?)
Based on the picture, you can see that it's all moving on one side as sympodials do, but it looks like it's about to crawl out of the pot. And since it's a clay pot, won't the roots just stick to it really tight and will break when the time comes to repot? And the greenhouse guy said this plant had another year before repotting.
I probably should wait after flowering, but then should I just repot and push the plant to the non growing side? Or break apart into new plants? or just let it grow wild?? I live in a small apartment and not sure if I can handle a monster plant!!! So pretty I'd hate to kill it with my repotting skills!!!
by XOneAIByst
6 Comments
Enjoy 🤷♀️
You can maybe try dividing the plant when you repot so that you can keep some of it in same size container, that’s a really cool thing about sympodial orchids is they divide easily. You can even try different pot material or different potting mix so you learn what works for your orchid and environment, it’s really a good way to learn to repot and not completely kill the plant. Then give away or sell the ones you don’t have space for.
Take a deep breath and relax. It looks great and you really don’t need to do anything right now. Maybe think about repotting or dividing after the next round of growth.
Anxiety is ruining your enjoyment of the plant which is doing really well. You can wait to repot until the next round of growth. You might need to break the pot (use a hammer and goggles). Great thing is orchid roots love clay, so any sticking to broken pieces can be put into the next pot as if they had attached to a ball of leca. Think about this all in like 6 months to a year. For now enjoy.
I plant most of my orchids in terra cotta pots. When time comes to repot, I soak the the whole pot in water for several hours. The roots come off very easily with little or no damage.
is it Brassavola?