Repotting My Orchid

I received an orchid from a working friend when I left a job about seven years ago.  Wow has it been that long?  I guess so.  Anyway, this was and is still my first orchid.  When I first got it, of course, it was in full bloom.  For the first year of it's life with me it lived in the house and seemed... just ok. 

The summer after I got it I decided to put it in a shady spot on my patio outside and to my surprise it bloomed!  That Fall I brought it back inside for the winter and each summer have set it outside to enjoy the fresh air.  It has bloomed for me four times now but has chosen not to for the last two summers.  Which makes me sad because it is a sure sign that something is wrong. 

Since it was placed in the same spot on the porch where it had once bloomed and receives water from the plant hanging above it, I knew it had to be that the poor thing needed more room.  I will be honest... I have been scared to death to repot this thing.  Orchids are just different.  There's no dirt.  Their natural habitat is a crevasse in a rock amidst a misty waterfall.  (Ahhh what a lovely thought) 

Yesterday, I bit the bullet and bought some orchid bark and simply tried to follow the directions on the package.  I picked a larger pot for it's new home but when I tried to pry it out of it's tiny home it wouldn't budge.  Roots where everywhere, old and new.  I trimmed and pried and wound up getting out a hammer and breaking the pot it was in. I trimmed more brown roots off and dug as much as I could of the old bark from it's base.  I placed some rocks in the bottom of the new pot and filled it the rest of the way with the new bark.  I placed the orchid inside and it sort of just fell over.  So I got out some wooden skewers and staked it.  It will receive a daily misting and will hopefully root into it's new home for a couple more years.  Hopefully!  It sure does look better and much healthier.  I think it is smiling now.   Maybe next summer it will bloom once again.

 The good, healthy roots are white with green tips.

Yeah.. not too many here huh. :(

 And to my surprise an even smaller pot inside.  This made me feel even better about what I was doing.  Even though my stomach was in knots the whole time.

 I also trimmed off some of the shoots.  Don't know it I was supposed to or not once they were still green inside.  But it cleaned it up more.

 It said to leave it out of the sunlight until it takes hold again.

I imagine it's spreading around as I type.

So much better!

 

This is what her blooms look like.  This pic was in 2008.

 And this was the last time she bloomed in 2010.