Oncidium pot up or repotted

[Orchiddep]

Hi everyone,

I'm trying to repot this oncidium and it is very hard for me to get this rootball untangle. It is potted in peat moss I think so I really don't want to pot up but then I really don't want to break the root so how should I proceed?

[WhiteRabbit]

Soak and use a chopstick or skewer to work into the mass, wiggle around to help loosen things up.

There's a lot of good roots, breaking a few won't harm the plant. If it's in peat, or extremely broken down media, there's likely rotted roots in the center. Don't worry about getting every last bit of old media if you can't without doing lots of damage, but do the best you can.

[Ordphien]

Yeah...
Loosen it as much as you can. Be patient lol. I'm not and it's usually my undoing.
After you get it loose enough I find you can normally get quite a bit out bye rinsing it or swirling the roots through water.

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[james mickelso]

Take it outside so you can use a hose to help. Take the ends of the roots you can see and unwind them. Next, and this is the secret part......start from the bottom and unwind downward. Move up a little into the next layer of roots and work the chopstick into that layer and work them downward. Keep doing this a little at a time. All the roots are on the outside. They grow out and then down and around. So you start down and go up little by little. This way you do as little damage as possible to the roots. Every so often use the hose with you thumb on the end and spray the old media off the root mass. Take your time. What you break won't hurt. It's not important to get all the old media out but it does matter if there is a large ball of it left as this will become a breeding ground for all kinds of nasties. Here is the problem. Now you have this small oncid with this much larger very loose fluffy mass of roots. Now what???!!! Patience grass hopper. Take your pot, media, and that chop stick and proceed. Take the ends of the roots in your hand and start twisting them into a bundle. Twist them up loosely and then put the ends into your pot and continue to twist them down into the pot. Smoosh them down. Tie the plant down into the pot. Lay the tie across the rootmass atop the pot and tie them on the bottom. These will come off in about a month. Then start placing small amounts of media into the pot and work it down into the roots with your chopstick. Continue until you are satisfied. It is not necessary to get media down around all the roots as these are epiphytes. Not terrestrials. They normally don't grow in soil nor are they covered by leaf litter. But tie it in good and tight. Don't water for a day or two to let the plant heal itself.