Catt roots and repotting

[Carl]

Hi everyone,
I am not new to orchids, but very new to Catts! I could not resist getting a few to add to my collection. However I did inherit a very overgrown Catt with a lot of roots growing outside of the pot--many of them are older roots that are wiry, white and brittle. It has started to put out new green-tipped roots and it needs to be repotted, but I have concerns about the roots. Should I cut off the older white roots--they need to come off to get the Catt into a new pot. Also, any additional advise on repotting Catts would be greatly appreciated!

[MuscleGirl'sHobby]

I personally soak mine in water to see which roots are really goners. Then I just trim off the dead roots or any blackened tips etc. As for the roots outside the pot... when re-potting, I just position them so that they grow down into the media. Don't know if I should be doing anything special for these previously air roots, but it's working for me.

Perhaps someone with some more Catt expertise will jump in here. I'm learning as I go

[jrhennek]

You want to remove any old dead roots. Then soak the good roots on the plant in water for 5 to 10 minutes to make them more flexible for re potting. By soaking the roots you will have less of a chance of breaking them during re potting. Hope this helps.

Jayme

[Zozzl]

Here is a link with photos that explains cattleya repotting pretty thoroughly. It is not difficult.

Orchids - Repotting a Cattleya