Repotting cats with lots of air roots

[jellycat]

Hello OB,

What do you recommend in this kind of situation? I have several cattleyas that needed to be repotted, some of those had so much air root all over the place, I don't wanna cut them.

Should I tuck them in? or just cut them?

Many thanks!

[Ray]

Soak to make more pliable.

Tuck those that can do so without significant breakage.

[isurus79]

Cutting roots often triggers branching if you don't cut too close to the plant. Maybe cut some of the aerial roots that are close to the media and leave the more wild ones that are out in the air. Regardless, the best time to repot is when the new growths are sending out their new roots. Repotting just because it's spring isn't always a great strategy!

[smweaver]

You could, as Ray suggested, soak the roots in lukewarm water to make them pliable. Then do what RF Orchids suggests for vandas that absolutely need to be repotted (rebasketed?). Wrap the now-pliable roots around the outside of your current pot and just slip it inside a new one that's large enough to accommodate all of the aerial roots. I probably wouldn't fill in the space between the two pots (which now contains those long roots) with anything. You can possibly also tease out some (or all) of the old media from the old pot without disturbing the plant too much, and then just drop in some new bark (or whatever you're using as potting material) into the old pot.