Brassia verrucosa questions...

[Monkmonk]

I recently recieved my brassia in the mail yesterday and since I am very new to growing orchids I would sincerely appreciate some advice...

Here she is in all her glory (I think that she has flowered before because it appears to be a cut off stem coming out of it)...



I read up a great deal on this orchid before it arrived (as much info as I could find anyway) and I still have a few questions. Now I know that it is common for some of the roots to be growing out of the plant, but how many should be? Is this too many? I read somewhere that the roots growing out should be about six inches long. Also that if they are white that this means that they are healthy. Is this correct? As you can see on this next several picture that the roots are coming out everywhere, even growing out the bottom of the pot.









There is what appears to be a new growth (best shown in second and third picture down), the majority of the new roots seem to be going outside of the pot. Only a few are going straight down into the potting material and they're not even in it yet.

So my questions are these: Are the roots okay? If/when should I cut them back? Should I repot this plant? Is the new growth going to do its own thing or do I need to help it? On the very last picture, on the growth on the right-hand-side where all the roots are coming out, it's not level with the potting material. It's about an inch above it. Is this a problem?

Thank you very much for any advice that you could give. Someone with specific knowledge of this orchid would be greatly appreciated. Sorry about all the questions. I caught the "orchid bug" recently and I want them all to do well. Thank you again.

[Ross]

That's very common. Nothing to worry about. If the air is very dry they may stop growing. The new roots normally form on the bottom of the new growth just like in the photos. Nothing I see is to worry about. Nice plant by the way. Keep it pretty bright (south window if possible). Leaves should be light green to yellow green. If leaves turn all yellow, that's too much light. Hope this helps.

[Monkmonk]

Originally Posted by Ross

That's very common. Nothing to worry about. If the air is very dry they may stop growing. The new roots normally form on the bottom of the new growth just like in the photos. Nothing I see is to worry about. Nice plant by the way. Keep it pretty bright (south window if possible). Leaves should be light green to yellow green. If leaves turn all yellow, that's too much light. Hope this helps.

Thank you Ross. I will keep everything you said in mind. Since it naturally has it's roots growing out of the pot, when do I know when to repot it?

[quiltergal]

When the pseudobulbs are hanging over the side of the pot it's time to repot. (Or the medium starts looking decomposed whichever comes first)

[shakkai]

Your pic looks very much like one of my Brassia (its a hybrid with verrucosa in the parentage) and my new roots look a lot like your ones'.

As these plants scramble around up in trees when they grow in the wild, they don't really fit well into pots. Their roots will go everywhere - straight up, straight down, straight out, and everywhere in between - and the new growths will tend to 'climb' (each one sitting at a higher level). Though this genus doesn't do it quite as much as some others, it still does it.

When it comes to repotting, what Terri said is correct. Since pots are our way to try to make it easier to us to grow these plants, the plants aren't going to respect the pot boundaries. I repot when the whole thing is so unbalanced its in danger of falling over. Otherwise, only when the bark/growing medium needs it. I have been quite successful at bending some new growths around and back into the pot - this has to be done with a lot of care, otherwise it could snap. I'll take a pic of one of my plants to show you what I mean.

You've got a nice plant there! Wait 'til she flowers this summer - she's going to be wonderful!!

[gmdiaz]

Yep, as long as the air is nice and humid, those "out of bound" will be fine and do well.

I tuck wayward roots back down into the growing medium too but this works best when the roots are still small. You do need to be oh so careful. I think I would just repot at this point. Good time to take a look at the roots under the growing medium too.

When you repot tuck those "wild ones" under the growing medium as much as you can, and position the plant, in the pot so that, that side (with all the new growth) has the most room to expand.

You sure do have a nice plant!

Wishing you great growing!

[Monkmonk]

Thank you all very much for your time and your advice. I really appreciate it. I'm going to repot it this weekend and attempt to tuck any roots that I can back in the medium. I will also attempt to get the new growth back into the pot more but I know this is going to prove to be very difficult because like shakkai said, it is growing slightly higher then the other two. You think the pot size is okay? It is currently in a 5'' pot and I have a clear 5'' pot that I would like to put it into. Also the pseudobulb that is currently hanging out of the pot is like growing in a sidewase direction. When I repot should I put a stick in the medium for it to lean on to get it to grown straight up? This is all I can think about right now but I can almost guarantee I will have more questions. Thank you all again for your time and your patience.