Aerides houlletiana repotting

Let's look at my unhappy Aerides and see what is causing problems.

Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported— CC BY 3.0

[rosefame]

Hi Oliver, your sound seemed better in this video, thank you. Nice orchid. I like the flowers and perfume of that variety. Good luck.

[SHARONSHORTOrchidsandGarden]

I believe this what my neighbor gifted to me 3 years ago in my mailbox. I called them my mailbox rhynchostylis..had no idea what they were at the time. By checking Youtube vids, I think I've narrowed it down to Aerides, which both are now beasts with very strong, thick roots and strong leaves which still haven't bloomed....maybe this spring or summer...They both eat and drink plenty...(greedy) grow them like the rest of my vandas...they have their own wooden basket because they demand the square footage...very, very vigorous orchids...They were about the same size as yours, but now, they tell a different story....huge!

[indoororchidsandtropicals]

I'm glad you went to a much smaller pot size, you're right on-the reason to keep orchids in small pots is so that the pots don't stay wet too long (a tiny root system can't use al the water that is held in a big pot) and the air flow to the roots is restricted too much.
Also, I did something very similar once when potting a vanda, only what I did was, this: I got a bare root vanda and I put in in a huge basket to contain all the roots and I gently laid layers of coconut fiber in to keep a bit more moisture around the roots since I grow in a bedroom and have very low humidity. I rotted a good part of the roots. The reason they rotted is because you cannot bury roots that grew in the air. They are adapted to be in the air, and when you put them in media, they rot. It looks like all of the roots on that plant are rotted, so the best thing would be to sphag and bag it or pull off the outside layer of all the roots and pot it in sphagnum until I begins new root growth at which point you pot it up in a basket with medium bark, charcoal, and perlite, or something like that. Vandaceous orchids generally like to be bare root and be watered every day though. Alternatively, you can wire it to an empty pot and just let the roots fill the pot. I hope this little guy is improving. You did mention it was growing some roots, so hopefully those grew into the media and it's doing ok.

[Andrea-orchidsadutchy]

NIce repotting! It's a very nice plant and I'm sure it will do better now.

[TDMoorethanjustORCHIDS]

Nice repotting video Oliver...thanks for sharing...good luck with it!

[halohalo]

I believe mine has a fungus or bacteria. What do you suggest?

[B-ik]

Lava rock, charcoal and orchiata super are amazing if you’d like some fillers in the baskets. Vandas really dont like anything else but those medias if they’re stuck in pots. Hey even try growing it in a vase. It’s worked wonders for root growth.

[GardeningatDouentza]

Hope it does well now. Not a genus I know.