Too many roots!

[MiniMoth]

How on earth do you pot something like this? How to make the bark chips go down and between the dense roots? Any tricks?

Should I use a bigger pot?

It's a very healthy rescue Brassia hybrid





---------- Post added at 02:44 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:29 PM ----------

.. if I pick a bigger pot (and risk overwatering), it's still a puzzle how to fill the small spaces among the roots.

[rbarata]

A trick is to fill the middle area of the root mass by hand and the rest wii stay around the outer area of the root mass. A bigger pot is ok but not much bigger, maybe the next size.

[DeaC]

I don't grow Brassia so unfamiliar with type of media they require. But when I repot a plant with similar roots, as small bark is placed in pot, give a firm tap of pot on tabletop and bark will make its way to bottom. Do this till amt. of bark has been added. Watering will also help bark settle. You may not even need a bigger pot from what I can see.

[Roberta]

No need to fill in all the spaces around the roots. New roots will grow toward the damp media, the mass in the middle will stay quite wet enough. (Eventually old roots attached to old pseudobulbs will die, the new ones attached to the new growth are the ones that do most of the fork) The exisitng pot should work for another year or so, if you go to a larger one, only a little larger - room for 1 or 2 years' growth only. If those are all new growths, the slightly larger pot might be in order.

[MiniMoth]

Thank you all!

I went with a bigger pot... The one that matched the plant size better just didn't make sense in the roots department.

Majority of the roots are healthy and coming from the newest pseudobulbs.

There are 2 large older bulbs. One of them has 2 more bulbs which just finished blooming. Another one has 2 large maturing growths.
A total of 6 growths that all have functioning roots.. and (hopefully) more new growths on the way.

[SouthPark]

Originally Posted by MiniMoth

How on earth do you pot something like this? How to make the bark chips go down and between the dense roots? Any tricks?

Maybe you can jam a tube of suitably large diameter between the roots, and start feeding bark chips a bit at a time into the gaps between the roots, and then move the tube around - like those clowns with the rotating heads at the fairs/carnivals. And make sure to then hold the plant, and then tap the pot on a hard surface to help get the bark distributed around a bit.

[Roberta]

Originally Posted by SouthPark

Maybe you can jam a tube of suitably large diameter between the roots, and start feeding bark chips a bit at a time into the gaps between the roots, and then move the tube around - like those clowns with the rotating heads at the fairs/carnivals. And make sure to then hold the plant, and then tap the pot on a hard surface to help get the bark distributed around a bit.

It's really unnecessary to get bark between the roots - don't clean out any old media that doesn't come out easily, the new roots will naturally migrate into the new media. The important thing is to not damage roots!

[SouthPark]

Originally Posted by Roberta

It's really unnecessary to get bark between the roots - don't clean out any old media that doesn't come out easily, the new roots will naturally migrate into the new media. The important thing is to not damage roots!

I normally use a hose to wet the bark of plants that are sent to me through mail. Once the roots and bark are wet enough, most of it comes away from the roots quite easily. I usually just leave the bits that appear to be stuck on too tight. I don't use bark for my plants though. I use scoria, which can be trickier. A tube and/or a couple of sticks (like chopsticks) can just part enough roots to insert some media into there. Fully agree about avoiding root damage.

[neophyte]

hi, i have a similar issue to the OP. my problem is that the medium the orchid came in is potting soil! the orchid has WAY more roots than I was expecting. it pretty much forms a solid layer around the potting mix, making it difficult to remove the old medium. should I just put new potting mix around the roots, or should i try my best to get the old mix out?

[Roberta]

You can wash the unpotted plant under the sink or hose to remove old medium that is broken-down or soil-like (some commercial growers use a peat mix that looks like soil). Leave anything that the flowing water doesn't remove easily. It won't hurt. Then just put in a suitable sized-pot (enough to allow 2-3 years' growth, no more) and fill in with your new mix. Tap the pot to shake what you can into the spaces, but don't worry about filling every crevice. Then remember that you'll need to water more often since the new medium won't retain as much water as the old.