Bifoliate Cattleya encouraging growth

[cluelessmidwesterner]

Hi Everyone,

I have two BetterGro Bag orchids, C. War Paint 'Sun Bulb' and Epic. Golden Sunburst that I purchased last November. Since they're bifoliates I know they can be sensitive to being repotted so I left them in the media the came with. During the winter they've just been adjusting to my environment and with the low light levels they haven't been doing a whole lot. They do have some viable roots running along the top of the pot (they green up when wet) and the pbulbs have plumbed up. I would really like to get them out of the media they're in but with no new growth/root development I'm hesitant to disturb the root ball. Any suggestions on how to encourage some growth and with it eventually new roots so I can repot these into fresh media?

[DirtyCoconuts]

I have a ton of those better gro “bag babies”
Awesome way to get good orchids cheap.

I pretty religiously repot them as soon as I buy them so I can check for any critters or rot( never found either) and to assess the media

If the root ball retains its structure I will typically just “up-pot” it by adding medium around the existing ball

If it all crumbles loose I pot more conventionally.

I use kelpmax and incocour on them to boost their health and to overcome the issue you are fearing. My theory is that by stimulating them I can help them begin to root once in their new home.

I grow outside and have a lot more heat and light than you. So take it with a grain of salt. But I have had some really good luck/results with this method

[JScott]

I would go ahead and repot. Apply some kelpMax and that will get those roots which are still alive growing again, and you want them to be growing into the fresh potting mix. Just do your best not to disturb the healthy roots too much. If the media is sour, you might find that all the roots in the pot are dead anyway. But if it were my plant, I would go ahead and do it.

[Roberta]

Repotting should be when new roots are starting to emerge... some bifoliates are more fussy than others, hybrids very likely have more than one rooting time so would be even less fussy. Looked these up, I don't see any parentage that would put them in the "picky" category.