I have been known to remove the plastic or mesh bag and dig around in the medium to look for roots, no roots and you are buying a dead plant. After buying a beautiful Tacoma Glacier in HD that had no roots, it had been cut off and stuck in a piece of foam, I am very careful. Be esecially wary if the medium, like bark, is brand new.

I too had a cattleya that I bought from Lowes and when I went to repot, it had foam stuck to the roots in the middle. I thought it was really strange. It's doing great now though!

That "foam" stuff is the media that they were established in as babies. They're usually grown in plug trays by the thousands. When they pot them up they just drop them in a bigger pot and fill with media. There's really nothing wrong with it, but I usually remove as much as I can without disturbing too much.

I think the warning about newly potted plants hardware stores is a good one. I usually look for the one that's the most pot-bound, it's usually the most vigorous.

I know what you mean about the foam core that sometimes remains from seedlings, but this "plant" was like a cut flower, there were NO roots. It looked like they had cut off a couple of bulbs with a flower spike and used the foam for support.

This is the way mine looked, too. But, these didn't have any spike. Just a couple of leafs each. Of the 3, one is sending out a new shoot (not a flower spike).

One more question:

I didn't read this on this board, but I read that using a rooting media (aka Rootone) will help them establish new roots. Is this true or will it burn them?

Look for K-L-N by DynaGro or Superthrive. These are more orchid related rooting hormones. Rootone might be a bit strong for orchids as it is more of a general rooting hormone.
Al

:iagree: Wait 'til nobody's looking, then pop open the mesh on top and dig around a bit. No roots, give it a miss. I've scored a few decent baggies which I've given away as healthy-growing gifts after one season of TLC.

Don't remember if this was from Lowe's or HD, but it is a nice, compact plant with a light fragrance. Cluster of 4 flowers. Bought in spring '08, divided spring '09, and this is the first blooming. Looks like a keeper.
Epc Siam Jade 'Long View'
Regards - Nancy

I stay away from the baggie plants as they tend to be a big mess and not always worth the effort to revive them. I have bought a nice named Den from Lowes that was not a baggie plant and it's doing very well.

Epc Siam Jade is my all time favorite chid! That's a beauty! :)