The pots were too large for these plants. Overpotting leaded to overwatering because excess medium kept too much water and leaded to root rot. Orchids prefer to be fairly tight in their pots, allowing for only a couple of years' growth. That's why the 1 step what I would recommend is to repot them.
I repotted them in semi-hidro. Main benefits are moisture delivery at the roots and no medium decomposition.
Capillarity will mean water is transferred to upper pellets. Evaporation will increase with increased air movement and heat; even if the medium looks dry, there still might be moisture in the pellet.
Advantages:
- Inert media does not decompose and repotting is infrequent.
- LECA is reusable
- Less guesswork about watering (keep the well filled, flush plants when watering)
- Once established, plants can't be over-watered
- Overpotting not an issue.
- Air spaces between media allows for good gas exchange at the roots.
- Easy and convenient.
Remember about a bit of bottom heat
Heat really helps to stimulate new root growth. With my semi-hydro a bit of evaporated water constantly around the roots, plus the air space, seems to really help.
Also, when the plants have few roots, they are sometimes wobbly in their new media, which sets them back. Try to make sure they are firmly in new media. For the semi-hydro, I sometimes use lava rock on top.
I receive this orchids on October 2nd, on November 12th I noticed the new grows. They responded positively on the treatment quite quickly.
Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture before the plants went home. It was in the beginning of February, two plants had good healthy new grows, the 3d one decided to develop the root system first
The owner and I were satisfied.:-)
Good luck!
If you have any questions do not hesitate to ask me, and I will reply as soon as possible.
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