Repotting Masdevallia Bellavallia orchid

It is now time to repot my Masdevallia orchid since it is a new orchid and the old media might not be appropriate for it anymore. This is the first time repotting this orchid, but things are not too different from my usual routine. A little winging it along the way and tadaaa :) Enjoy!
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[@artistenoire]

Haha Danny, you unpot so differently than me! I live to dig at that old potting media with my bare hands. I take an hour and I love it so much. Then there's Orchid Doctor Danny with her sterile gloves and surgical tools!! XD

[@MissOrchidGirl]

***** bhahahaha the glove thing is to keep me from screaming like a little.. girl :P when I see things moving around in the media :)) and splinters and things under my nails, meh, pet peeves what can you do :P

[@artistenoire]

I hate splinters, but I can't help but dig in the potting mix anyway!! I screamed like a child when I saw a centipede curled up in one of my orchids omg

[@MissOrchidGirl]

***** omg that's nightmare material :)))

[@CockatooG2]

So much patience! Great video Danny!

[@MissOrchidGirl]

MouseLilly Thank you Pam :D yes some repotting take an eternity but that's the way it goes :P

[@ytucomph]

Keep us update. Thank you for the video Dani :)

[@rkatika9]

Tweezers, genius! I never thought of using that when trying to remove sphagnum moss from tight places. Leraned something new again, thank you! :)

[@MissOrchidGirl]

Kati R. :D glad it was useful!

[@missaic4250]

i got the same plant at the same shop :) The roots looked the same as well, now hoping it will catch on and give me some more blooms!

[@rosannarodarte5208]

Thanks for the tip about placing media in the inside of the root system, I usually arrange the roots where I want them and then I arrange the media in a way that kinda stabilizes the plant. Very time consuming lol

[@MissOrchidGirl]

Rosanna Rodarte well nothing good in life comes fast :P

[@adwena9934]

Masdevallias can do pretty well in a plastic orchid pot full of Pearlite with a layer of sphagnum moss on top to hold more moisture. As soon as the moss on top is almost dry, but still damp to the touch, you know its time to water with Distilled water ONLY. They absolutely love to cling to moss, but will usually enjoy Pearlite. My Masdevallias are kept in a mini-greenhouse with a tiny fan blowing for air circulation and I learned I hardly needed to use the humidifier. They are found in cool, high elevation cloud rain-forests where there are lots of soft breezes and pure rain water. To keep these picky little guys happy, you don't need to create an indoor rain-forest (though I would if i could). Get a large glass jar 12 inches deep or more and at least 6 inches wide. Keep a humidity tray under the potted Masde. inside the glass jar which will help trap the humidity. This works very well for me in temperate climates. In more humid homes, the glass jar may be overkill (literally). I fell in love with these orchids due to their water needs paired with my habit of over-watering. If it is almost dry, its time to water!

[@marymontgomery479]

What size of perlite do you use?

[@jackie26085]

Hi Danni, I have another question. I discovered that one of my long vanda roots is rotted in the upper middle closer to the stem than to the end. The rest of the root is healthy and firm. Can the rest of the root be salvaged or should I cut it off? It'll be sad to see almost the entire root go. Thanks again!

[@MissOrchidGirl]

Jackie Fu it could be salvaged, if you stop the rotting of the velamen, try with some hydrogen peroxide and see how it evolves. If the root continues to rot downwards and dies, then you can cut it. It's ok, if the vanda has a lot of roots, one root won't matter :)

[@jackie26085]

Hi Danni, I have a question. How come when the valeman is dead, the stringy part of the root cannot continue to observe water?

[@MissOrchidGirl]

Jackie Fu I don't think it cannot absorb water, but I think the velamen protects it, once the velamen rots the stringy thing is exposed to all sorts of things. That is actually a good question and I am not sure about the correct answer :P but the end result is, the string cannot live without the velamen, cannot grow either.

[@JohnJohn-hv4ef]

Wow, this baby had a lot of roots. I love a good root-ball, don't you?

[@MissOrchidGirl]

John John I do I do :))

[@andreasoilander5407]

I hate removing old sphagnum from orchid's roots. I remember how awful it was to repot my masdevallia, and how long it took. I hated it! And I made a mistake that was fatal to the plant: I repotted it using only very fine bark and perlite (I didn't have new sphagnum). It was not moist enough, and one day when I didn't water it, it dried, lost all leaves, and died. Sad little plant. I haven't bought any masdevallia ever since. :(( Do you put the sphaghum into the pot while dry? Doesn't it expand then after watering and the medium gets too compact?

[@artistenoire]

Andrea Soilander I always pre-wet my sphagnum, but I don't know if it is right or wrong. I find soppy sphagnum moss to be a lot easier to work with and manipulate... also I hate to touch the dry crunchy stuff!! I loooooove to dig out sphagnum moss haha. I try to get every last little bit and I usually succeed!! :)

[@MissOrchidGirl]

Andrea Soilander Hi Andrea, well it depends on the orchid again, I'm winging it as I go, for this orchid and its massive root system I was counting on the moss expanding and filling the air gaps that might have remained in between roots. Plus the moss I have is not pressed into a tiny little block :P it's just dry :)

[@MissOrchidGirl]

***** well however feels better is the best way, some people pre wet bark as well, nothing wrong with it, it's just ease of use that can differ from one person to the other :)

[@MissOrchidGirl]

Andrea Soilander ooow also, wet moss compacts a heck of a lot more than dry moss, if I use dry moss the mix ends up airier, if I use wet moss I cannot make it fluffy :P

[@mr.dahliaking.202]

When I was reppoting my first catt in the middle of operation, a giant centipede crawled out of the root system! I was in shock! I immediatly dropped the orchid down and screamed as loud as I could - MOM COME HERE !!! :P Since then I always soak my orchids in water for 3 h just to drown any creepy-crawlies so I don't get surprises, when repotting. . .

[@MissOrchidGirl]

+Vytautas Poška that's why I always wear gloves ;)

[@orchidforever3657]

Nice work Danni :) i do have repot mine too,but i have used sphagnum moss and perlite ( 50/50). i hope that's ok :( thanks for another video....

[@MissOrchidGirl]

Vitor Marques it should be ok I believe, depends on environment, pot size and so on :) just observe the orchid and she will tell you ;)

[@Rosemary457]

Is that the flying colors one, I was thinking of getting one of those, They seem so bushy and full, A nice little plant, is it easy to care for, :-)

[@MissOrchidGirl]

Rosemary457 it is the Bellavallia one, to be honest Masdevallias are pretty tricky to grow, I only bought this one cos it's supposed to be a home environment friendly hybrid and I am still not sure about that :P

[@Rosemary457]

MissOrchidGirl Maybe I'll leave it then the one i found is the Masdevallias, it says they are a terrarium/vivarium plant, for lizards, lucky lizards eh, but also make a nice house plant, Maybe if I had a terrarium. I haven't found the Ballavallia one, maybe just watch out for that one, keep me updated on how you get on with it its so cute, :-D

[@MissOrchidGirl]

Rosemary457 well Madis like a lot of humidity, that's why it can be grown in a terrarium, but I am not sure a window sill will work too well for it

[@ZaneLeroux]

it's weird, you didn't have the layer of bark chips on the bottom, while my bellavalia was potted like that, maybe because it wasn't the exact same hybrid? The root system of your masdevallia looks good, did you smell it while removing the moss? I think it smelled sooooooo good haha :D

[@MissOrchidGirl]

Zane Leroux ow wow really? no I didn't smell it, I kinds hate the smell of decomposing sphagnum.. or media in general, very traumatic experiences lol how did they smell?

[@ZaneLeroux]

MissOrchidGirl i don't like the smell of decomposing sphagnum either, but this was totally different, i think maybe i mentioned a while ago maybe not, but it smelled like a freshly cleaned pool on a hot summer day, it reminded me the relaxing summer days, it was soo good i kept smelling it like every second or so lol :D

[@MissOrchidGirl]

Zane Leroux hahaha that's new :P well as long as you had a good time repotting :P

[@danishhaziq4588]

Hi dani, when are you going to make a video on that orchid

[@MissOrchidGirl]

FISH&BIRDS Whisperrer when I find fit ;)

[@danishhaziq4588]

MissOrchidGirl are you kidding

[@MissOrchidGirl]

FISH&BIRDS Whisperrer there is absolutely no point in filming an orchid that has 2 out of 6 flowers opened at the moment

[@danishhaziq4588]

MissOrchidGirl hi danny.oh realy.sorry for making you irritated or angry if you are

[@MissOrchidGirl]

FISH&BIRDS Whisperrer don't worry about it ;)