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.

[SteveM]

Thanks Roberta and Cherry,

When do I plan on repotting..good question..not sure..hmmm...well from what I have read from other peoples experience these bloom on Mothers day. I'm not sure where they were located but I would say I should see a spike by February. This plant has not bloomed yet so not very sure. I have also heard that they can bloom twice in a year, once in fall, so I am guessing that if I don't see anything very soon that wont happen.

From my notes on last years growth (which may not be valid since it was the 1st year) I started seeing new growths in December followed by a lot of root growth from Jan to March then it produced some other new growths. I think 2 or 3 new growths aborted in total so I could have had a lot more than mentioned above.

I do like the idea of cutting away most of the pot so that I can change a lot of the soil, but I still dont want to get rid of it all and chance setting this plant back . I have a Coelogyne seedling that I accidently set back twice and it has not did anything since July. its still green and Pbulb has not shriveled up, but it stinks because this plant is still tiny where all the other seedlings that I have gotten around the same time are growing well.

Anyways I will probably wait until I have a few hours to give it some delicate attention and in a gung ho mood LOL..When would you guys repot... ASAP or wait until a lot of new growth?

[Roberta]

Don't even think of repotting until you see new roots (which may or may not be associated with new growth... it's all about roots). Roots are adapted to the medium that they grew in, so an abrupt change will tend to kill them. The new roots will establish in their new home. (Dropping the whole thing into a larger pot and filling in with loose bark doesn't count as "repotting" in this sense since it doesn't disturb roots)

Don't worry about the medium surrounding the old roots. If you can shake some out when you repot (by cutting away as much of the pot as you can without damaging roots), great. Just shake off/rinse off what comes off easily. Anything attached, leave it. But don't try to remove all the old medium, that will damage the root system for sure. Eventually, new roots will establish in the new medium and the old ones will die off, naturally. Then separation is easy. Don't rush it. And don't try to be too tidy. Preservation of good roots is the most important thing you can do to help your plant thrive.