What to do with a large root mass.

[bil]

OK, I was having a feel around to see what needed watering, and as part of my sophisticated mmoisture measuring system, I was sticking my finger into the medium and having a bit of a ferkle about. This was all well and good, until I came to the hard cane dens that I got last year. They were repotted in January last into 30 cm wide shallow pots, and after a summer > January on hard water and trad fertilising, I switched to Ray's system of RO water and low dose K Lite. Last Jan, after 6 months in my care, the roots were nothing to write home about, ad to keep them steady in these new pots, I had to wirre the in and when that wasn't enough to keep them steady, I had to use rocks to stop the from falling over..

Well, on the new regime the pot is now full of roots, and when I repot next spring, what do I do? Those roots have a death grip on the medium and when I pull the plant out of the pot the plant is going to sit there just the same with that solid disc of roots and medium.

Do I just rip as much out as possible, or what?

[katrina]

The first 6 months was mostly a time (winter) when the plants aren't doing much growing. The growth you got over the 2nd 6-month period would be expected to be better because of the time of the year....active growth being strongest during that time.

As for the repot...if the dens haven't outgrown the pot then I would leave them be until they are physically climbing out of those pots. When that happens, if you want to keep them in the same size pot then simply divide. Or, you'll have to find a bigger pot.

When my plants outgrow 12" pots (growing outside the pot)...they get divided because I can't easily accommodate pots larger than that.

Before working on any repots I soak the plant in the sink and for any in clay pots that soaking time is at least overnight. There have been times when I got busy or something came up and I've left them soak for upwards of 24hrs. By doing this the roots easily release from the clay pots and the roots are more pliable so they can be twisted/turned into the fresh pot. And w/some that have super long roots...that pliability is absolutely needed.

[bil]

So, basically, soak and rip.

[katrina]

Soak and then a nice sharp saw should do the trick.

[Optimist]

If it is a ceramic pot, maybe break the pot keep it on the roots, just let it become part of the medium. Shake out bark if any, and put the works in a bigger pot. I don't like the idea of ripping things off roots because if the roots are happy, you should not destroy them.

[camille1585]

When there are tons of roots like that, I don't even bother to try to get the old potting mix out. I remove what will fall out of the rootball easily, and otherwise just chuck the plant in a larger pot. I've done this for 3 Oncidium alliance plants, and even several years later, the sour mix in the middle doesn't bother them. I suspect that the center roots died off, but there are so many other roots on the outside of the root mass that it doesn't really affect the plant. One will probably get divided soon though, to rejuvenate it.

[estación seca]

Oh, I feel your pain with this awful problem.

How long to canes last on these plants? Seems like eventually you could saw off the dead parts.

[bil]

Originally Posted by Optimist

If it is a ceramic pot, maybe break the pot keep it on the roots, just let it become part of the medium. Shake out bark if any, and put the works in a bigger pot. I don't like the idea of ripping things off roots because if the roots are happy, you should not destroy them.

Love to, but it's in a 30 cm diam pot, and there's a limit to what the shelves will hold...

I think calculated brutality is looking to be the way to go.