Orchid leaning over and leaving pot

[Mark_Riga]

I've got this orchid that looks like it is trying to escape the pot. It doesn't seem to like more than 4 leave and currently has 7 with a new one starting and 4 are starting to die off. When these eventually die off, it will have quite a long bare stem with a lot of roots coming out of it.The latest flower spike has about 18 flowers/buds developing on it and is quite long and twisty.
I was wondering if there is anything I can do to get it back in the pot? I was thinking, when it has finish flowering, whether I could take it out of its pot, trim its roots back and then put it back in the pot about 4" further down that it is?

Or what is the best way to tidy it up?

[burnie]

I repotted mine in a bigger pot, gave it a liquid drip feed and it's got a new flower on it and a plantlet growing on the other spike.

[sparrow100]

No useful info to add, but thanks for posting this Mark, both my orchids are in the same condition.

[ameno]

That's nothing! One of mine has almost entirely escaped its pot, and is now extending almost 6" out of it.

Anyway, personally I would leave it a bit longer yet, until it's maybe another inch further out of its pot, and then do as you suggest: take it out, cut a length from the bottom (the bottom-most section of stem will be dead, anyway) and then replant deeper in the same pot, with fresh orchid compost (which is basically tiny bark chips. Never use normal compost).
Don't be tempted to pot it into a larger pot, though. That orchid is as big as it will ever get, and that pot size is the maximum it will ever need. Fresh orchid compost in the same pot would be all it needs when you come to repot it. A larger pot won't give it any benefits, and can even limit it's growth and prevent it flowering as often.

[chillithyme]

I didn’t realise that you were meant to cut back the roots,I just left the roots overhanging the pot on the windowsill and thought it looked pretty,the whole thing has been making an escape

[Mark_Riga]

I didn’t realise that you were meant to cut back the roots,I just left the roots overhanging the pot on the windowsill and thought it looked pretty,the whole thing has been making an escape

I don't think you should cut the air roots off. If i take it out to re-pot it, I'll likely cut off the bottom of the stem leaving all the roots above it and put it back in the same pot as Amino suggests.

[chillithyme]

yes that makes more sense you’re orchid is stunning. I just gave mine away due to lack of space, I miss them!Take care of your baby

[ChilliFlower]

Heh, my orchids do that as well. According to the experts on another forum I'm on; that's natural! They tilt to make sure they don't get rainwater in their crown, as if that gets too much water, it'll rot and die.

As for roots determined to get away, again, that's natural. They live pretty much attached for trees, and are all about noodling in various directions in search of water and light, and treat pots like an option instead of the damn thing you're trying to grow them in. DO NOT CUT THE AIR ROOTS!! Only cut them if they are rotten or dead, but healthy green/chalky-white ones are perfectly fine. My biggest orchid, nicknamed Noodles, has annoying ones that I keep accidentally putting the pot on top of but I leave them alone.

I feed mine two drops of Baby Bio Orchid Feed in ROOM-TEMPERATURE Brita-filtered water (about 200ml), and feed by 'flooding' it until it all comes out the bottom about once a week, but I feed only when I see it is actively growing. I'm super-excited that both Noodles and another big orchid are actively growing stems and Noodles has buds!

[ChilliFlower]

(It won't let me edit my post, I'm sorry!)


EDIT: I think those leaves may be scorched? I'm leaving that to a proper orchid person to answer. I WOULD take it out of that white container; orchids are in clear pots to let their roots have exposure to sunlight. Have you changed the substrate at all? Orchids can have their substrate changed once a year (orchid bark, naturally. It's a pain in the backside to get the substrate through the roots, but so worth it)