root craze

[SteveM]

OK I have a few ideas on how I am going to deal with this LOL. I would like to hear any suggestions that anyone has. Plant is an Encyclia Cordigera. I really think it is going to bloom this spring and so I am afraid of repotting it. Plus right now probably isn't the right time. I have seen either a few sheaths or possibly new leaves, too early for me to tell. Plant has been in that pot for about 1.5 years, got it with only 3 Pbulbs, had 4 new bulbs form this year. and the newest ones are twice of the original ones. I really would like to try to get it to bloom, My plan is to put it in a much larger pot, burry pot and roots. then after it blooms pull it up cut the roots and take out of pot and then divide. Any other ideas I will appreciate. Right now I have been spraying roots daily. watering once every 7 to 10 days.

[Roberta]

You can certainly put the whole thing (existing pot) into a larger pot, add some medium (like large bark) just for support and some surface humidity. Keeping the added medium very open is important - those roots are adapted to growing in air, so you don't want to change that environment any more than you have to.

When you do want to repot it, cut the pot not the roots. (Pots are cheap, roots are precious.) You can carefully cut parts of the pot that aren't entangled, opening it up. Don't worry about getting rid of all of the old pot. Just give the new roots an escape route. Eventually, as the plant grows, the roots of the oldest growths will die as the new growths make new roots. So over time, the plant will solve the problem all by itself.

[Mountaineer370]

Those clear slotted pots with lots of holes on the bottom are what I use to pot all of my orchids in. I like them for lots of reasons, but having lots of places for roots to escape is one of the built-in hazards.

When I repot, if I have one with roots similar to that (though I admit I've never had one with that many!) I do as Roberta suggested. I cut the pot off, very slowly and carefully. I use a sturdy pair of scissors, in my case kitchen shears. The idea is to damage as few roots as possible, though a couple usually end up getting minor injuries.

Yes, I hate cutting up a good pot, but as Roberta says, compared to the value of your orchid, pots are cheap. I would definitely not cut all those roots off that plant at the next repot as you mentioned.