potting up ‘St. Ouen’ phrag

Tonight I had a chance to repot the ‘St. Ouen’ for planting in the South America riparium. The plant still had a couple of blooms and one more flower bud. It’s root system was healthy and robust.

I had to cut the roots back quite a bit: they had curled around in the plant’s original pot. As a precaution I dusted with powdered cinnamon after the root pruning. Since the plant went right into the aquarium water after planting I don’t know how much this procedure might have helped, but I felt a need to take some precaution against fungal and bacterial infection.

I potted the plant in a Riparium Supply, Large Hanging Planter. Most of the planter was filled with 4-8mm Hydroton clay pebbles, which settled around the orchid roots as I poured it in. I added a 1/2″ top dressing of calcined clay gravel. This will prevent the clay pebbles from floating away or spilling out and it might also retain some nutrients for use by the phrag. Most of the orchid’s roots are in the large-grain Hydroton, so they are essentially suspended in the aquarium water. I will need to maintain consistent fertilizer dosing.

Here’s a picture of the whole tank.