Dear Orchid Doc;

I have a small collection of orchids that I have been expanding by buying additional plants, as well as separating and potting kikis.

I have had some success with removing kikis from Dendrobiums and establishing them as separate potted plants even though some have not survived after repotting.

On the other hand, I have a few Sun Vandas with several clusters of roots, but am not confident or comfortable to even attempt removing and separating what I think is a kiki — probably because the root system on the Sun Vanda kiki is not as clearly defined or obvious as that of the Dendrobium.

Can you please give me some advice regarding whether, when and how to remove/separate the kiki from the main plant?

Thanks,

TINAG

Dear Tinag:

About the suckers that are not surviving, maybe you are not waiting for the roots to be old enough? How do you know that? The sucker/baby will itself will look mature…it won’t look young and shine.

About the Vandas, you might just have to get a sharp sterile pruner and make a clean cut; it doesn’t matter if you snip the root, just don’t cut it too short.

Dear Orchid Doc;

I get the feeling that there is a peak “blooming season” and assume that repotting should ideally take place several months before blooming season. Is this so?

I have largely Dendrobiums and a few Sun Vandas. If this is true, then please tell me:

1) How do I know that it is time to repot a plant (Dendrobiums & Sun Vandas)?

2) Is there a time period/season that is ideal for repotting?

Yours,

TG

Dear TG

There is a main blooming season for most orchids, but most Dendrobiums bloom constantly. When to repot depends on: if the plant is overgrowing its present container, in which case you could repot during the spring. Since most of these are always blooming, you might just have to decide when you can do without the blooms, but plants do grow faster during the spring, so it might be a good idea to repot during the spring.