Have you ever seen something so pot bound?

[astrid]

Originally Posted by NYCorchidman

That sight is very typical of any oncidiums and coelogyne I've had.
Sometimes cattleyas and paphiopedilums as well.

Thing is, I hate repotting such root bound plants as I don't want to disrupt the tight root balls.

What I normally do is just leave them as is and just slide the whole thing into a larger pot and then add some new potting mix around the edge.
Have fun!

I think I'll do that next time, but these were new acquisitions (ergo god knows what's inside that root ball...) and the media was stinky/stale.

But now that I know what's going on in my own dang plants, I might do that!!

[wintergirl]

Originally Posted by astrid

I think I'll do that next time, but these were new acquisitions (ergo god knows what's inside that root ball...) and the media was stinky/stale.

But now that I know what's going on in my own dang plants, I might do that!!

I'm with you on that. I have found rotting sponges in the root ball too.

[bil]

Originally Posted by NYCorchidman

That sight is very typical of any oncidiums and coelogyne I've had.
Sometimes cattleyas and paphiopedilums as well.

Thing is, I hate repotting such root bound plants as I don't want to disrupt the tight root balls.

What I normally do is just leave them as is and just slide the whole thing into a larger pot and then add some new potting mix around the edge.
Have fun!

Yep. I bought two Cymbidiums this year, and it was clear that repotting just wouldn't wait. I had to cut the pots off and the roots were just a solid, pot shaped plug. TBH, I took one look at it and figured that if I tried to open up the root ball, I would break most of them. So I just repotted them into a much bigger pot and filled the gap with fir bark chunks. I couldn't see a single scrap of old medium between the roots.

---------- Post added at 12:07 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:04 PM ----------

Originally Posted by wintergirl

I'm with you on that. I have found rotting sponges in the root ball too.

Yep, the cymbidium I bought last year from a different garden centre was a solid mass of muck, sponge chips and 3rd rate roots. It nearly died overwinter, and I was going to chuck it, but as it had one good bulb I repotted it and we shall see if it can pull round.

[NYCorchidman]

Cymbidiums are even worse as you mentioned. lol
I used to just grab a hand saw and cut off the bottom 1/3 of the whole root ball, and then untangle the rest, shake off the old mix, and then put the whole thing back to the pot with new mix.
No more cymbidiums. lol

Well, now I have small Asian cymbidiums.

[bil]

Well, my experiences have been so bad that I now automatically repot everything that I buy.

[camille1585]

I don't bother repotting anything that comes from my favorite and trusted growers, unless the plant clearly has a problem.
As to repotting orchids with such a dense root ball, I usually try to untangle the base so that I can wiggle my fingers into the center (where there are usually less roots), and pry out as much medium as I can. I don't try to get it all, it would take forever. But usually those sort of plants simply get dumped into a larger pot, it's too difficult to try and do a proper repotting job with so many densely packed fine roots!

[NYCorchidman]

I wish the roots were elastic. lol

[bil]

Originally Posted by NYCorchidman

I wish the roots were elastic. lol

Another bit of poor design......

[dbarron]

I agree with Astrid on a new accquistion, I never know what the media is, when so overgrown, and it makes me nervous. And when I unpot it, I might as well put it in my own media...and I want to get every possible bit of old media I safely can off.
My motto this spring is...repot it and then you know. And so far, nothing has taken an obvious turn for the worse being repotted, even in spike.

[bil]

Originally Posted by dbarron

I agree with Astrid on a new accquistion, I never know what the media is, when so overgrown, and it makes me nervous. And when I unpot it, I might as well put it in my own media...and I want to get every possible bit of old media I safely can off.
My motto this spring is...repot it and then you know. And so far, nothing has taken an obvious turn for the worse being repotted, even in spike.

I agree. I can see where Camille is coming from, and a trusted dealer who is shown to know what he is doing, fine. But even there, I'd worry. I prefer to risk blasting the odd bud and know EXACTLY what is going on in a pot.