transplanting orchid with huge stem?

[OrchidNut555]

Hi!

This question i have may be oddly specific. I have Asperger's (a light for of autism), which usually makes me tend to think of specific things other people don't tend to worry about as much.

When a phal gets older, the stem will get longer and longer, because it grows more leaves. I think this can pose some problems when it needs repotting:

a) the orchid's stem is alive, but HUGE. personally i really don't want a phal that's like 13 inches long. I'd want to cut the stem below the new aerial roots so i can shorter the stem that way while keeping the plant alive

b) The long, older part of the stem dies off. you're left with a long, dead stem and a healthy plant on top. I'd want to cut off the dead part of the stem and also keep the plant alive through its aerial roots.

i suspect that most people would only advice to cut the stem in situation b, so let's imagine that situation. (but in both situations we're left witht he problem i'll list below)

when the stem is cut off, and only aerial roots remain, we're left with the problem of having ONLY aerial roots and no roots in the media. I guess some people just put it on top of media, soak the aer roots very few days adn wait for new growth, then put the new growth in Sphagnum moss or something so the new roots can gently grow into the media. I'd like to try a different method, which i've heard many different opinions about; burying the aerial roots.

i'd be interested in burying these. Some disagree on doing this, some don't. I've heard that if you use media that allows a lot of ventilation (maybe also slotted pots for ventilation on top of that), that the aerial roots will not die then, they continue to grow healthily.
I've also read a thread here where some people soak the aerial roots daily for some weeks and then put it in the ventilated media.

my question basically is: Anyone who has had success with burying aerial roots: how did you do it exactly? i know a lot of people would recommend not burying them, but i know there are people who have had success with it and i'd really like to know how they did it, it seems easier than having to go through the hasle of growing tiny new roots and protecting them (not to mention you'd need with teeny tiny pots and build up instead of using a regular pot when you bury the aerial roots)

here is a picture (that i drew very badly) of what i mean: Imgur: The magic of the Internet

sorry for the long post, i wanted to explain in depth.

Thank you in advance!

[Dollythehun]

I think you will want a more detailed answer. Mine is short. I cut the dead portion of the stem below the roots. I soak the ariel roots to make them more pliable. Then pot it in a moss mix and clay pot. I just bury the roots. Sometimes I have to buy taller pots to accommodate the roots.

[OrchidNut555]

Originally Posted by Dollythehun

I think you will want a more detailed answer. Mine is short. I cut the dead portion of the stem below the roots. I soak the ariel roots to make them more pliable. Then pot it in a moss mix and clay pot. I just bury the roots. Sometimes I have to buy taller pots to accommodate the roots.

That already helps a ton though! would this be an issue if i usually use bark? if i'd use the moss i'd make sure to use a pot with ventilation holes though

[neophyte]

i have a phal that had such a long stem that almost no live roots were in the potting medium. the plant was so dehydrated that every single leaf fell off. luckily, the plant had enough reserves to grow two more small leaves from the crown, and i finally repotted it (yes, i am a pretty neglectful grower). i cut off the lower portion of the stem and buried the aerial roots in sphagnum moss (the plant only had aerial roots at that point). the plant was in a clay pot with no holes except for the draining hole at the bottom and everything has been fine. however, note that the moss is packed very loosely (drains fast) and water evaporates quickly (ie. aerial roots are never soaked).

tl;dr: it's ok to bury aerial roots in a non-ventilated pot (with a hole in the bottom of course) as long as the medium drains well