Cattelya repotting

[WeirdGuySeattle]

I have a 15 year old plant outgrowing its 10 or 12" pot. I'd like to shed some of its oldest pseudobulbs and maybe divide it.

Its pretty stuck in its pot though, and it has three spikes growing on it, with roots sprouting that may already be too large to consider 'new' (it grew like 1-2 inch roots in a matter of weeks).

Wait till flowering is over? Wait till it starts growing this years flush of new growth?

[james mickelso]

Depends on what variety or species or hybrid it is. Confusing I know. The optimal time for most cattleya or similar is when the new growth starts throwing roots and those roots are over an inch long. The new growth is the future of the orchid not the flowering. But with care you need not worry about the flowers aborting. I've done it before and not lost the flowers. Remember that back bulbs have the potential of producing good new growth and are worth keeping as divisions themselves. Keep at least 4 back bulbs per division for better results. Let the plant get dry as you can before laying the pot on it's side and rolling it along the work bench to help loosen it.

[dounoharm]

for a plant that large you might have to break the pot....I run a dull knife around the edge of the pot to loosen the plant, also run the knife under any roots on the outside that have grown into the pot....you will lose some roots no doubt....I think I would wait till after the blooming, just in case it aborts the blooms....I like the blooms! I think the plant will be fine to wait, most cats are....good luck!

[tucker85]

I would definitely wait until flowering is over. Spring is a great time to repot because most orchids are starting to put on new growth. Cutting off the oldest pseudobulbs is fine. It won't hurt the orchid much. Personally I don't like to divide cattleyas because they bloom best when they're large plants with lots of energy. But since your's is already in a large pot I can see that you may want to divide the plant. My recommendation would be to keep the divisions fairly large with 5 or 6 pseudo-bulbs if possible. Good luck.