Brassia roots
A couple folks here have brassias and I thought I would post a little info on the roots of brassias. Brassias new growth comes from the base of mature pbulbs that have just finished flowering. Usually two new growths, one on each side of the mature pbulb, but occasionally three new growths will emerge from a very well grown mature pbulb. The new growth elongates until nearly full grown before starting to grow roots at which point it becomes independent of the older pbulb. Until it grows new roots of it's own, it is dependent on the matured parent to provide water and nutrients to it. As the new growth matures and uses water and nutrients from the parent pbulb, that parent shrivels and starts to lose it's roots. The roots start to decline, delivering nutrients and moisture to the new growth and eventually become paper wrapped around the thin wire that was the actual root. Here are a couple pics of the new roots starting to protrude from the bottom of the new growth. So when repotting brassias, or most oncidium intergenerics, wait until the new growth has started to produce roots of it's own before dividing or repotting. Repotting can be done earlier or later but is not optimized as it is when it has started to grow it's own roots. Hope this helps.
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