Question
Thank you for your answer. I'll try to respond to your questions. Yes, it is mid-winter here (I live near Philadelphia). The encyclia is in an East window that is semi-shaded due to a large evergreen about 30 feet from the house - it get very early morning sun. I repotted it from a 4" plastic pot into a 5" pottery pot with nice air vents around the sides. I repotted it because it was really cramped and the smaller p'bulbs were bulging against the sides, the little p'bulbs were growing and they were growing long leaves. The leaves are a good medium green and look quite healthy. Yes, by "puckered" I mean "shriveled" -  they are still green even though they are looking a little shriveled. When I repotted it the roots were really cramped together but looked healthy. I loosened them a little and planted into a looser potting mix - I think it's called "Australian Gold" which has been good for my phals. I really appreciate your input - this is a beautiful plant that I would hate to lose.
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-----Question-----
This might not be your area of expertise but maybe you can help! About a year ago I bought an encyclia cordigera with 2 beautiful bloom stalks and several pseudobulbs of differing sizes.In due course the blooms fell off and what had been tiny pseudobulbs have now grown a little and there are now 5 pseudobulbs with very healthy looking leaves. The problem is that 3 of the older/larger pseudobulbs are starting to look puckered. It had been in a tiny pot so I repotted it about 8 weeks ago. I've increased the spritzing and watering schedule a bit but no change. Is this normal development or should I be concerned and take further action?
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Hello Susan,

You didn't mention where you live but my guess is that it is midwinter there too.  Winter is not the best time to repot an orchid as most orchids are dormant or semi-dormant as far as root and pseudobulb growth activity.  The best time to repot an orchid is when you see new root growth beginning, usually late winter into spring.  

Continue spritzing but back off on the watering a bit.  Allow the potting media to become barely moist before watering again.  As the temperatures warm up, slowly increase the watering schedule.  While the Encyclia is actively growing roots and pseudobulbs, keep the potting media evenly moist and feed it some orchid fertilizer.  Also expose it to adequate light levels, enough so the leaves are a light to medium green color.  If possible, grow it outdoors in semi-shade with full early morning sunlight.  

By puckering, do you mean the pseudobulbs are becoming shriveled looking?  There are several reasons this could be happening.  One is that the roots on the p'bulbs have rotted and no longer able to take up moisture.  Another is that there is not enough moisture within the potting media to sustain them.  It is not unusual for this to happen to the oldest p'bulb but if this is happening to two or more, that could indicate something is wrong and needs your attention.  

By the way, when you repotted it, what size pot did you use?  Hopefully it was not too large a pot for the plant size.  When repotting, it is best to use the next size larger pot, not one that is two or more sizes larger than the old pot.  Why?  Too large a pot will tend to allow the potting media to stay wet for too long and that can lead to root rot.  

Hope I answered your questions and you found it useful.  If you have additional questions, write back and I'll try to answer them.  

Jim Kawasaki
San Jose, Ca.

Answer
Susan, one thing I forgot to mention earlier is that encyclia do not like to have their roots disturbed too often and that they perform better when roots totally fill the pot.  Going from a 4 to 5 inch pot was goodness, I feared you might have put it into a 6 inch or larger pot.  

Do you have a more southerly window you could place it where it would receive about 3 hours of early morning sun?  Keep an eye on the shriveling p'bulbs for any signs that the leaves are yellowing and dying off.  One p'bulb is not a problem but if 2 or more begin to do it, that could indicate a possible problem.  

Jim