Hi
Certainly a bad time of the year to move anything lol.
There's still a lot of winter left. for sure. Can't wait until spring?? gary

Hi,

Thanks so much for your reply. I don't think it can wait as the house is up for sale and she is moving. I just dug up two of the orchids growing in the ground mulch. They came upwith no problem. I have surveilled the orchids in the trees, and the roots are so tight that they break when I try to remove them. Any suggestions? Like soaking with water first? How many roots need I take? I am guessing the more the better.
Thanks for any suggestions.
Mary

Mary,
First, I'd make any divisions that I could remove with a minimal amount of hassle, 2-3 bulbs should be enough and the easiest. The more bulbs, the more difficult and the harder they are to relocate.

Other, hard to remove plants, I'd water with water/superthrive or plain water, and then cut around the plant's roots about 4-6" away from the base of the plant. Gently pry the roots off the bark using a butterknife or scraper. Take as many roots as you can, but anything longer than 6" will usually rot anyway when potted up. And again, small divisions are much easier to work with. I've also found that trying to move large clumps of many genera result in a total loss due to rots. Plants that I've had good luck with moving in fairly large clumps are Schomburgkias and latouria Dendrobiums.

I like to wait at least 2-3 days before any futher action as immediate repotting or mounting often results in rots in the wounds. Repot or remount after the move, make necessary sacrifices to the orchid gods and pray for the best.

Good luck,
Randy

Hi
The above sounds like a good plan. I had a similar problem when the state whaked down my citrus trees.lol had to move 40 orchids in one afternoon. Most went into pots and back to the shadehouse but did move 6 to a Carambola tree. I did lose a few and of course were greatly reduced in size but the survivors are doing well.
I did have a great advantage that the move was done in early summer. Good luck and tell us how it turns out??
gary

Hi Gary & Randy,

Thanks for your help. I will let you know how it turns out. We have taken 12 down from trees and two up from the ground.

This was for my sister-in-law whose husband just died, so it was a labor of love. Whichever orchids die, we will gradually replace for her.

Seeing the orchids growing so naturally outside in FL made me feel sorry for my indoor ones. In general I prefer the plants I can grow in my New England garden, but I would so love to have orchids growing outside!

Thanks so much for your help.

Mary