Repotting every year?

[spes1959]

I read these words in Ray's newsletter

“Steve Male, who operates Fishing Creek Orchids in Harrisburg PA, is one of the best growers I’ve ever met. He has a strict regimen that involves repotting everything annually, leading to spectacular growth that has led to a stack of awards”.

But in doing so, don't you run the risk of stressing the roots too much? I have always known that it is good to wait at least a couple of years because by repotting too often the plants suffer a stress. What do you think?
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[littlefrog]

Depends on how you repot... I try to repot smaller plants every year, bigger plants every few years. Probably also depends on how consistent you are with your potting mix, moving to a new mix every year is probably not the world's best plan.

Depends on what type of orchid you are repotting as well. Paphs and phrags are pretty much always in active growth so I don't feel bad about repotting them. I could repot catasetums every year, but only when they are dormant since they will grow new roots anyway...

 

[Ricardo Boricua]

I have wondered about this too. When I repot my plants most of the roots are in a solid mass hugging closely the inner wall of the pot. Changing the media doesn't disturb them much.

 

[big923cattleya]

I agree with the hop-meister. It depends upon how you repot. Are you an aggressive repotter or a careful repotter?

As far as frequency goes, everyone has a different approach. Large plants like strap leafed Paphs, large Cattleyas, Angraecum sesquipedale, large Vandas, standard Cymbidiums, etc. would not be yearly repots for me.
I do repot Phalaenopsis, Zygopetalums, smaller slippers yearly.
There are just so many variables such as media type, temperature, pot type, etc. for me to ever consider a “one policy fits all” scenario.

 

[katzenhai2]

I find these two articles interesting in this regard as they show the necessity of repotting, depending on how much and how often you fertilize and the quality of the water used:
1. https://www.paphs.de/en/culture/theory-and-practice-part-1
2. https://www.paphs.de/en/culture/theory-und-practice-part-2

When I repot I do it as carefully as if the plant were sleeping and try not to wake it up.
They always say you shouldn't replant when they are flowering but I've never noticed any difference. Then again I see YT videos in which people pluck at the plants and roots as if they were pulling out chicken feathers.

 

[CarlG]

Steve is a good grower. And a funny guy.

One of the bits of old-timer lore is that Paphs grow best the first year after potting, and flower best the second year.

My take-home is that if you want to grow up a plant, repot every year. If you want maximum flowering performance, repot every other year (choosing potting medium to accomodate this, of course).

 

[jtrmd]

It depends on what it is and the state of the mix. I tend to try to push it longer these days.

 

[Duck Slipper]

The reason I repot is a noticeable jump in growth. I repot annually, usually starting in February. The jump in growth is because some of the media has started to break down, retaining water, and most probably a drop in media ph. If the media doesn't or didn't break down I would certainly wait to repot. I don't want to repot if I don't need to. Annually, Paphs and Phrags. Every other year or every three years, Cattleya's. Cattleyas that are to be repotted this year I am going to use Hydroton. I'm experimenting with Grodan Grocubes and Perlite on some Paphs. The biggest reason being no crash in media ph...no annual repot!!

 

[Ray]

Last time I saw him, Steve was using what I'd call a "medium/coarse" fir bark. After a year, there is no visible change in it at all, and that's the point.

As roots grow, they "tailor" themselves on a cellular level to function optimally in that environment, and once they have grown, they cannot change. Stress happens when there is a change in the medium, whether that is degradation or the grower physically changing it.

In the "Steve example", with no change in the potting medium, as long as the repotter focuses on not damaging the roots, there is no stress induced by changing the conditions.

 

[spes1959]

Last time I saw him, Steve was using what I'd call a "medium/coarse" fir bark. After a year, there is no visible change in it at all, and that's the point.

As roots grow, they "tailor" themselves on a cellular level to function optimally in that environment, and once they have grown, they cannot change. Stress happens when there is a change in the medium, whether that is degradation or the grower physically changing it.

In the "Steve example", with no change in the potting medium, as long as the repotter focuses on not damaging the roots, there is no stress induced by changing the conditions.

Thank you Ray, I understand your Reasoning

 

[Tony]

I'm experimenting with Grodan Grocubes and Perlite on some Paphs. The biggest reason being no crash in media ph...no annual repot!!

I get 3-4 years out of it before the Grodan is too clogged up with algae and organic debris.

 

[Morja]

Being that I'm keeping my phrags pretty wet, I've been wondering about this. I appreciate the timing of this post. I don't think I will stretch it to 2 years until plants get bigger and I get a better feel for it.

 

[Sky7Bear]

If I remember correctly, and I didn’t write it down, I believe Terry Root of the Orchid Zone repotted every 9 months and always had beautiful plants.

But now I’m mostly in leca, which is inorganic, ad hope to have to repot little if any. I fertilize lightly and flush regularly. Ray Barkalow, what do you suggest. Obviously, leca doesn’t decompose but may change in other negative ways.

 

[Ray]

LECA accumulates minerals and biofilm..It needs to be replaced periodically. What "periodically" means is highly variable.

 

[southernbelle]

LECA accumulates minerals and biofilm..It needs to be replaced periodically. What "periodically" means is highly variable.

So, that says to me that the Grodan cubes also would need to be replaced periodically even though they don't break down? Couldn't you use something like a flush with KleenGrow to break down the biofilms? I know salts have to be flushed, but I've not seen anyone grow exhibition phrags (in 5 gallon pots!) like Jeff Morris. He actually gets frustrated because he gets so many CCEs and CCMs (only because it costs him to register the awards!) Don't we all wish we had his problems... He says he uses Grodan cubes (top dressing with about 2" of bark to alleviate algae growth) because phrags don't like their roots disturbed and with the inorganic cubes, he never has to change the mix, just pot up if need be. I've tried the cubes mixed with perlite/charcoal and currently have one phrag in them. I can't see any advantage so far except doesn't need as frequent watering, but it has not needed to be repotted yet.
And to contradict the part about phrags not liking their roots disturbed, I watched a Jason Fischer video on repotting phrags (it was a Jason Fischer he was repotting) where he rinses all the mix off of the roots to start again, completely with clean mix, as phrags don't like old mix. This clearly disturbs the roots, so again, what works for one...