How do you remove sphag when tightly packed? - Orchid Board

Paul Mc · #1 03-19-2011, 05:19 PM

I have an oncidium alliance orchid that I am attempting to repot. It has been TIGHTLY packed in sphag. I've been digging for almost 2 hours and have now reached the point where I appear to be doing more damage than good. Even with tweezers, I can't grab sphag without grabbing roots as well. Lots and lots of roots, even after I broke a lot trying to get the sphag out.

Should I just pot it up as is and leave it alone, hoping it will eventually deteriorate enough I can get it?

What would you guys do?

Brotherly Monkey · #2 03-19-2011, 05:22 PM

in a situation like this I use the garden hose

Eyebabe · #3 03-19-2011, 05:32 PM

If you soak it in water the sphag will slowly disintegrate and easily pull away.
I will soak a good 15 min and then work for about 15 min and repeat until I am satisfied.
Unless you are going into s/h, leaving a few strands of sphag behind is not going to hurt things.

silken · #4 03-19-2011, 05:34 PM

You could soak it in room temp water which will help soften and loosen it. Or use a kitchen tap sprayer gently (similar to Brotherly Monkey's suggestion of a hose!). Otherwise it sounds like it has had the bulk of it removed anyways and would likely be fine with a bit left. Nice to hear you have lots of roots

Discus · #5 03-19-2011, 05:34 PM

Yes, I've used water pressure to help me out in similar situations. I haven't used a garden hose, but pressure sprayers on "jet" rather than "mist" help.

You may even find giving it a vigorous "shake" in a bucket after soaking it a bit longer will help. Of course, if there are lots of nice new roots growing, it should re-establish in short order despite some root trauma!

silken · #6 03-19-2011, 05:35 PM

Hey Eyebabe, looks like we were both typing at the same time but you are faster!

Brotherly Monkey · #7 03-19-2011, 05:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by silken

You could soak it in room temp water which will help soften and loosen it. Or use a kitchen tap sprayer gently (similar to Brotherly Monkey's suggestion of a hose!). Otherwise it sounds like it has had the bulk of it removed anyways and would likely be fine with a bit left. Nice to hear you have lots of roots

there is no "gentle" in this dojo~!!!

camille1585 · #8 03-19-2011, 06:02 PM

Looks like you got a lot of advice already! I was going to say that I soak the roots and swish them around, that gets most of it.

Paul Mc · #9 03-19-2011, 06:16 PM

Yeah, I tried soaking them and it didn't loosen it up. So I repeated several times and got nothing.

Well, since it seemed to so so well for the past year in the sphag I suppose I will just leave the remainder and pot the rest in the appropriate medium.

Thanks for your input guys!

Jennyfleur · #10 03-20-2011, 08:00 AM

I'd just say be careful and keep in mind they'll be little damp bits still in the pot - I had a similar problem when I got a Phal from my local garden centre. I spent ages trying to get it all off but, no matter how much I soaked/ water jetted/ tweezered etc, some round the top of the roots just wouldn't come off. What happened a little while after was, due to watering as I usually do with bark (which is what I put it in), I forgot that the area with moss still attached (even though it was only a little) wasn't drying at the same rate and it started to rot the roots. Luckily I noticed pretty quickly and could sort it (i.e. by cutting away the effected roots, I could get the rest of the moss out!) and now it's growing all happy and healthy