is this dendrobium nobile too root bound ?

[Jeff214]

Hi Everyone,

This is my first post here at the forum. I've had a phal and a den phal for a while, and I finally decided to get a dendrobium nobile. I was mesmerized by the sheer number of flowers of the one I bought. But... once I got home I realized that the roots were... not at all healthy looking and quite rootbound. I wonder if I would need to remove the sad looking roots and repot it immediately...

It's heavily flowered right now and I'm afraid to touch it...

I'd appreciate any advice!

Thanks

Jeff

[vjo]

If that was mine I would leave it alone until the flowers die, that might be a couple months down the road. Enjoy them while you you can! They really are beautiful aren't they?.....Jean

[emg53]

Welcome Jeff, I bought 8 den nobles this winter and they were all very root bound. I waited until they were done blooming then very gently pulled out the medium and separated the roots. It will help if you get some really long tweezers. Soak the roots well before repotting. Most of them had a moss ball in the middle. You need to slowly pry the roots apart and unwind them. You will break some off but the plant will recover. Your roots really look OK.

[campchi]

Nice, looks really healthy. Just becareful with overwatering it since it looks like it comes with promix medium.

[Jeff214]

Thanks for all the helpful comments, vjo, emg53, and campchi! I'm glad you guys think it is doing ok. I was worried since I had always thought that brown roots were a negative sign (it didn't smell rotten at least so I was not too concerned).

Den nobles are quite beautiful, Jean. I'm very glad that I finally found one locally! I guess I will worry about repotting until after it finishes flowering.

Thanks again,

Jeff