Root rot, what to do?

[Anna]

Hello,

I got a big Cymbidium a couple of days ago really cheap. Unfortunately it was kept outside in the rain and cold. The plant looks ok, foliage is green but has 3-4 strange black spots that don’t seem to be getting bigger, a couple leaves are turning yellow but maybe they’re just old. The pseudobulbs seem healthy, but the roots aren’t happy. The medium is soggy and almost 90% of the roots I can see are rotten. I don’t know if I should repot it or not. It has 3 healthy looking new shoots growing. I really don’t want it to die!

[camille1585]

Hi!
If this was my plant I think I would repot. This way you can see the extent of the damage and give it new medium. I'm suspecting that if the medium is soggy it has broken down too much. Seeing the size and age of the plant it's possible that it hasn't been repotted in a while. Cym's like to be pot bound, so maybe it should be put back in the same pot. Depends on the roots as well.
When I got my cym nearly 3 years ago I repotted in right away because it was going to explode the pot it was in and there were many dead roots. Now it's doing wonderful,(but no blooms) and I will probably repot it again after it blooms in late winter.

Szia (hope that's right! )

[Lagoon]

Hi Anna,

I would unpot, cut off the bad roots, repot with new media.
Your likey to see the bulbs begin to dry up, but new bulbs and new roots should take their place within time.

[Anna]

Thanks for the help! I repotted my plant and I’m happy I did because it hardly had any roots left! I also discovered that the pot didn’t really have any holes on the bottom which explains why everything was rotting.