Small Oncidium roots stocked in sphaigne

[chantrelle]

I don’t know how to repot my Oncidium Twinkle ‘Frangrance Fantansy’. The sphaigne is so compacted and there are so many small delicate roots.

What do we do in cases like this, leave the shaigne there and repot in my potting mix, (small bark & perlite) or break a few roots and clean it ?

I bought it a couple months ago and I was waiting to it to finish flowering before repotting in a mix that I like.


IMG_7424 by chantrell99, on Flickr


IMG_7421 by
chantrell99, on Flickr

Thank you for your advices,

[Dollythehun]

Use the sink sprayer to carefully flush and tease out what you can and repot.( I moved mine from bark to moss recently as they like water). Then repot. If that doesn't help, just repot. If you can, put some styrofoam or something in the bottom for a little airation.

[Optimist]

If the roots are as thick as the picture shows, there is probably not a lot of spagham moss in there. I would just repot, in a larger pot, and stuff other potting material around it. The point of taking out potting material is mostly lost on some people. Why do people do it? Because decaying potting material causes an elevation in the level of nitrogen in the pot, and also attracts worms and other small bugs that eat rotting wood. Rotting wood also can support a colony of beneficial bacteria (that is found in the air, and dirt). Sphagnum moss lowers PH. Initially rotting wood/leaves do lower PH but over time they raise ph and buffering capacity. The decomposition will continue, so the particles will get smaller and smaller and eventually you will be able to shake them out. I do not believe that people should beat up their roots in an effort to remove all the last potting material. That will shock the plant and potentially set it back because injured roots cannot get water to the leaves.

[chantrelle]

Thank you for your answers that helps a lot. Actually, everything looks very healthy in there and it smells good too.

The reason for repotting is that, it was in a green plastic container, and I got new Terra Cotta clay Orchid pots that are just a little bit larger than the plastic pot. Therefore, I believed that I may as well get all new potting mix.

How ever it make sence not to break a bunch a healthy root for only the purpose of reppoting in fresh potting mix if the one there is still good.

There is quite a bite of sphagnum moss still in the middle as most of the roots are mostly growing around. I picked out a little out of the middle, I see a few good roots but not so many and no decay.

To fill the extra room of the new clay pot I will use a mix of 50% Orchita small bark, 25% Perlite and 25% sphagnum moss.

[estación seca]

I agree with the above. Don't disturb the roots. Put the plant in a new pot, and put new medium around the root ball.

[chantrelle]

Originally Posted by Dollythehun

Use the sink sprayer to carefully flush and tease out what you can and repot.( I moved mine from bark to moss recently as they like water). Then repot. If that doesn't help, just repot. If you can, put some styrofoam or something in the bottom for a little airation.

Thanks for that information @Dollythehun. I was trying to find information about the growing condition it likes and I got confusing info.

So I added some Sphaignum moss to my mix to fill the extra room in the new pot. I would have went with a 50% - 50% if I were able to clean the compacted Sphaignum moss, I made I compromise. Hope it will be happy cause I realy like this little guy.

[Dollythehun]

They're pretty tough. It will be fine, just remember they like to be moist.