Can I cut it near the level of the pot, since there are so many roots , and repot in the same pot ?

I know, should have been addressed a long time ago, but I didn't think it would turn into "Jack's Beanstalk"

If I were mine, I would take it out of the pot and mount it on a piece of wood.

Jim

Looks like it's asking to be mounted to me. If it's not really attached to the pot, I'd give it a big wood or fiber mount and forget the pot. I'd never cut off healthy roots if I could help it.

I lost a few Phals that were in pots last summer, and ALL the ones in pots had the wilty, shrivelly thing going on. But none of the ones mounted or in slat baskets had problems.

Rainy season's coming! (edited to add) Ha! Jim, great minds think alike. We cross posted.

I would mount it as well but on a natural cork slab. For me, nothing beats cork and if this phal. is pretty large (I don't know the size of the pot its in) the cork will give an extremely light-weight mount.

It sound unanimous, but at a class I sat through a couple of years ago cutting off the bottom and repotting was recommended in situations like yours, so I guess it's your choice.

Wow, Thanks for all the replies. It's in a 8 in clay orchid pot. I've got cork, cypress knees, cedar, and Queen palm seed pods. Saw lots of different plants including Orchids at EFG and at recent Orchid show mounted on the Queen palm seed pods. I've never mounted any of the Phal's before. They live outside under the Oaks in summer, hence the mix this one is in now.
I'll do something with it and post.
Thanks again !
mj

I would like to see the picture(s) of the mounted orchid.

I'll pot a pic when I decide what to do. Not ruling out it going into a pot.

Well, when I dumped the pot out I found some beautiful healthy roots, nice and loose too, and they were all just below the surface of the potting medium.

Knowing that this orchid always spikes and blooms from late fall thru spring, and ends up in the house over the winter I opted to repot vs. mount.

Mounted plants don't do so well inside.

Looks good, except if I might offer a bit of advice? I'd have placed the plant with the crown a little more slanted so the water drains out of the cup of leaves easily. They do like some roots up in the air, too.

Or, you could just hang the pot on a bit of an angle?

As you see, all my potted ones are 'crawling' over the edges and sticking roots up in the air. Just waiting for that bloomer to finish and it will get mounted. The little variegated one had terrible rot problems and I've almost lost it twice until I mounted it. Since then, no problems even in summer!

Not to late, I can shift it a bit.

Easy solution.

I have a 6-7 Phals that I would like to combine into one or two 'clumps' because I rapidly run out of room for pots indoors.

Being new at the orchid thing, I don't know if it's better to put them into a larger pot, mount it to something, or put them into a hanging wire basket.

Suggestions?

Thanks!

I have mounted multiple orchids on cork, lattice, and tree fern plaques with success. I have done this with phalaenopsis (compact and sub-compact ones) and compact and subcompact non-phalaenopsis ones, such as the cattleya alliance orchids. It will be interesting when they all are blooming. I don't see why a hanging basket or large, shallow clay pot would not work.

Rick, since you are in MD I'm thinking you might put your orchids outside in summer and bring them indoors for the winter?

Since they drain and dry out easier, mounted orchids need more watering, and generally more humidity to thrive, I think. Unless you have a greenhouse where you can keep the humidity up in winter for those Phals I'm thinking I'd favor a shallow clay pot with some vents in it, over a basket or mount. The clay holds some moisture and would help maintain humidity around the plants in winter.

Outdoors in summer, where you can spray them with the hose, there's lots of air movement and generally the air is probably nice and humid anyway, it wouldn't matter so much. Same with growing in a greenhouse.

When you say "inside" do you mean a garden room , or the living room? Just keep in mind that mounted plants have to be watered frequently, so .... I have seen set ups for watering indoor plants, but they wouldn't work in the living areas, unless you want shower curtains and pans. The other choice would be hauling them to the sink or shower frequently. The main reason I don't keep but a couple in the house, and they are in pots.

Thanks all.

We have a garden window in our dining room that's about 5'w x 4'h x 14"d. They would either go there, or in the den in front of the patio door. The garden window gets plenty of indirect light,while the den varies depending on what plants are placed there. In either case things get watered pretty regularly. Generally, the amaryllis, jade plant, spiders, cactus, and other small stuff goes to the window. The ficus, poinsettia, and larger stuff goes to the den. (I would LOVE to have a real greenhouse, but I keep getting voted down.)

What appeals to me about the hanging option is that they can be put 'high' in the space and the shelves left available for other pots.

Even in your garden window, the humidity isn't going to be all that great in winter, especially if you hang your orchids up near the top. The other plants wouldn't need nearly as much watering as Phals hanging on a mount.

I'd go for a big clay pot, and keep a spray bottle handy so you can mist them whenever you walk by . . . a little dilute fert in the spray bottle will be welcome, too.

I have a couple of Phals on a mount outside, in the sauna that is Florida in summer, and I still water them with a douse from the watering can at least every second day if it doesn't rain. They dry out very quickly! Orchids are 'designed' to absorb moisture and nutrients from the air so they eat up water that sits on them mighty quick.