Question

First Emerging Spike   QUESTION: Hello!

I have a Phalaenopsis orchid that I bought at the Home Depot on November, 2009.  She was in bloom and later on, she naturally shed her flowers and dried her spike little by little all the way down to the bottom, at which point I cut out.  Now, I was thinking of repotting her because several roots have grown out of the media (bark) already and are sticking out, above, and around the pieces of bark.  This would be the first time I repot her since I bought her back in November.  After seeing her roots like that, I thought she was outgrowing her pot, and that she needed to be repotted into a bigger pot.  However, right now, she is also beginning to grow a green spike.  The spike is still small, but it already reaches a height of approximately 1.2 inches.  I am not very savvy about caring for orchids or plants in general, which is why I am not sure whether the buds have already appeared.  I see a tiny little green protuberance on it, but I am not sure whether it is really a bud.  It seems more like part of the spike itself.  But since I read somewhere that one shouldn抰 repot the orchid if there are already buds on the spike, I wanted to make sure.

I hope somebody can help me with this by giving me some advice on whether I should repot or wait till the spike blooms and then dies naturally before repotting the orchid.  But if I wait, it worries me that it will be way into the summer before I can repot her again, and I understand one should only repot while the weather is not too hot.  On the other hand, if she stays too long in a pot that she is already outgrowing, wouldn抰 that also be harmful for her?  I really would not want her to die.  She looks very nice!!!  She has one little bottom leaf that is yellowing out, but the rest look very healthy.

I am including a few pictures to illustrate what I am trying to explain.

Thanks to anyone that can help.

ANSWER: Thank you for the picture and questions. The spike does not have buds.  The swelling at the tip is just tissue needed for elongation of the spike.  In general, orchids should not be repotted while in spike.  However, this is one of the exceptions.  The conditions for repotting are more favorable now than they will be later when the spike will be longer and likely to flower. Also, I have found that plants from Home Depot generally need repotting as soon as possible because the plants seldom are sold in fresh orchid potting mix.  You might find that root conditions in the potting mix are quite different from above the potting mix.  In unpotting the plant, rinse off the roots and remove any that are mushy or stringy as these are dead or dying.  Retain only the roots that are firm and turn green when wet.  Because your plant has good vigor, I would not expect you to find many rotted roots. Use the fir bark based orchid potting mix and soak it good prior to use. Dry fir bark is difficult to wet and, if used dry, will suck moisture out of the roots. If done properly, you should expect little or no interruption in the growth of the flower spike as it is in such an early stage of development. Be careful not to damage the fledgling flower spike during repotting. If most the the roots are healthy, you may need a somewhat larger plastic pot for repotting the plant.  Be sure the pot has lots of drainage holes.

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Roots Above and Below   QUESTION: Hi!  Thank you so much for your prompt response to my repotting question.  You suggest to repot it now that the spike is still little.  I will do that and be careful with the roots and especially the spike.  However, I am a bit confused about whether I should fertilize her or not while in spike.  I haven't fertilized her since I bought her because I thought that I should start doing so by late March when I was about to repot her. But I also thought that one should not fertilize the orchid while she was in the process of spiking and blooming.  So since I am going to repot her now, should I hold off fertilizing her while she is spiking and wait till the flowers and spike dry off before starting to fertilize her?  Or should I start fertilizing her now as well?

Answer
After you repot, the poting mix should stay wet for a least a week.  After that you can feed with every watering weekly, weakly.  Weakly means 1/4 tsp per gallon of room temperature water.  You can use either a balanced fertilizer (eg 20-20-20) or a bloom booster.