My cousin bought me a beautiful orchid. I've never had one before and think the pot it's in might be too small. As a novice I would like advice on when I can repot without doing any harm. I've Googled it, but the answers seem contradictory. Thank you

Hi Florence,

It's a Phalaenopsis orchid and the pot size looks about right to me.

There's an excellent (but lengthy) thread discussing these types of orchids that you might want to look at: The thread "🗣 Starting out with Phals/Supermarket Orchids 🛎 ✍️" in Orchids forum

In short, Phals don't like to be over-potted (a pot just big enough for their root system) and they will send out aerial roots too (don't cut these off), so their root systems can look a bit untidy.

Thank you so much for your reply. It is very helpful and I'll look with interest to the thread. It's certainly a beautiful colour. 😀

It's a lovely orchid, and as Joshua said, no need to repot it just yet. It's generally a bad idea to disturb an orchid when it's blooming, so wait until the flowers are all finished, and the flower stem is dried. If it stays green, it may put out more flowers for you (if you're lucky). If it's happy, your orchid may keep it's blooms for a month or more.

Orchids do NOT need all their roots to be in, or covered by the medium. When you do re-pot it, choose a slightly bigger pot and use Phalaenopsis bark mix from the garden center. Place the plant slightly slanted so that the cup of leaves drains, and the water never sits in there.

Thank you Elaine. I love this site. As a novice I can always find the answer to my gardening queries.