Advice for Rootbound Cattleya --> Basket Repot

[madalyneb]

Hello all,
I've lurked for a while here but don't think I've posted before. I'd like some advice on a recent C. intermedia repot from a 6"(ish) plastic pot to an 8" hanging wooden basket.

When I took it out of the pot, it was a lot more rootbound than I anticipated - basically a solid brick of roots. I had planned to tease them apart a bit, remove some old media and nestle the roots down into the 8" wooden basket, but it was so potbound that I can't tease anything apart without quite a lot of damage. Much of the old media is inorganic (large pumice, LECA, charcoal), with just a few pieces of chunky bark, so I'm not terribly concerned with not being able to get that out.

My main concern is the fact that 2"-3" of the root 'brick' are sticking up above the rim of the basket. I backfilled the basket with LECA and a couple of broken up cork chunks (mainly to fill the big gaps and keep the LECA in), but I'm not sure what to do with the root brick that is still exposed. Will leaving it exposed like this damage the roots/plant at all? Do I need to re-think the basket idea and either get something much larger/deeper or just pot it up into a larger pot? Or is it fine as it is?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions/advice!

*edit* - I don't know why the attached photo is sideways, and I'm not sure how to fix it - sorry!

[rbarata]

I don't see a problem about it. The rhizome, as it grows, will occupy the empty spaces.

[Roberta]

First, Welcome!

I have found that Catts love those wooden baskets. New roots grow into and around the slats. Some just hang free. In fact, for me, when they have been in a pot, grown over the edge, they really start to grow... they didn't want to be in a pot.

Don't worry about loosening the roots or getting old medium out. As the plant grows and old growths die (along with their roots) the center of the plant will hollow out naturally, but by that time there will be plenty of new roots. In fact, if you have a basket the next size larger, that would be even better, filling in with very large bark, or lava rock.

Those "sideways" photos are a "feature" (really a bug) of the aged software that the Board utilizes. If you save the photo to your PC, open it in a photo editor, rotate it, save, then rotate it back and save again, it'll be oriented correctly. But we're al used to tilting our head...

[madalyneb]

Thanks for the replies! Good to know that leaving the root wad exposed like this isn't a terrible idea. Roberta, I'll give a larger basket a try to give it some more room to fill in. It's currently growing 6 new pseudobulbs with what looks like 2 more potentially on the way, so I'm sure it would fill out this 8" basket in no time at all!

[orchidman77]

Welcome to the OB! I second everything Roberta said, the plant will grow all over the mount and you'll love the wild mound of plant all the same!

[estación seca]

Welcome!