Help with repotting Oncidium

[LiveLaughGrowOrchids]

Help!
Help!

I decided to repot, the orchid only took up less than half the depth of the pot once it was out and it looks like some of the pseudo bulbs are ? Rotten? They were completely beneath the surface, the mix is actually a bit damp, and I have NO idea what a healthy Oncidium root is supposed to look like. Ie what do I cut off or do I just stick the whole thing in some new bark potting?
Some are slightly green if you wet them, the most are dark brown to black

[reliablefool]

Oncidium roots can be a little trickier to figure out since they don't necessarily turn green. It is best to feel them and if they feel hollow/papery then to cut them off. Looks like you have yourself a plant that likes to climb out of its pot so when it was repotted they put the old psuedobulbs beneath the surface. This can cause rot issues, but from what I can see in the picture (it's really small for some reason) they don't look rotten but do look completely spent so the brown paper thin psuedobulbs can/should be removed. Hmm...I'm not sure what your root situation is like but if most of the live roots seem to be attached to the rhizome near the old spend psuedobulbs you may want to leave them on (really unsure about this though).

[LiveLaughGrowOrchids]

Thanks! The one is actually black and feels empty.
And some of the roots feel a bit squishy.

I don't want to cut off healthy roots by mistake, is there any harm in rather leaving them?

[LiveLaughGrowOrchids]

And can you give me any tips on how I should go about removing the older bulbs? Does one simply cut it off?

I've only ever had Phals before so I'm completely in deep water with this one!

[reliablefool]

I'm no expert, but this is what I would do: I would cut off below the green psuedobulbs and start anew (maybe just above the old/rotten pbs). It doesn't look like there are many roots attached to that part of the plant, so you'd have to anchor/stabilize it in its pot and water sparingly if it is in fact low on roots. Spraying the surface of the media would probably be better for a while. Oncidiums tend to mainly grow roots when they are putting out new psuedobulbs and that is generally the ideal time to repot for this very reason. After you see new growth/roots you can start to increase the water.

Of course...I live in an area where almost everything seems to grow so I can be harsh with my plants because their growing season is almost never ending.

I really hope someone else chimes in with their recommendation in case I've steered you wrong.

As to cutting off the old psuedobulbs...you just use shears, strong scissors, sharp knife, etc.. I prefer the first two myself.

[LiveLaughGrowOrchids]

Thanks for all the advice!!

---------- Post added at 07:44 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:26 PM ----------

So I've started having a closer look at the roots, cut off the old,dried pseudo bulbs. And some of the roots if I touch them gently, water leaches out, like a sponge. These are the brown ones. Is that normal? I'm thinking it means they're not carrying water to the plant anymore.
Also, can Oncidium survive without any roots? This one looks like it only has 2 maybe 3 good ones left.

---------- Post added at 07:57 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:44 PM ----------

This is what it looks like now, I'm going to repot it in bark and styrofoam chips. And then hold thumbs it survives!

[LiveLaughGrowOrchids]

Before and after potting

[LiveLaughGrowOrchids]

Before

[LiveLaughGrowOrchids]

Here's what she looks like now, just sat doing nothing, and now look at her grow! So glad I didn't give her up as too far gone!!

[WhiteRabbit]

Good deal!