Pot size after cutting dead roots?
 

Hello All,

I'm a bit nervous right now, and I have a few questions:

The first being, how do I deal with mold? I am repotting all my cattleya orchids at the moment. I noticed that one of my orchids (which I haven't repotted since I bought it) had mold on some of the medium and a ton of dead roots. The mold was definitely not mealy worms. It had the white web-like texture to it. There was no mold on the roots (at least the ones that were alive), thankfully. I had to cut all the dead roots. I'm afraid it won't revive, but I'm going to try my hardest. I plan on pouring 3% hydrogen peroxide on it and letting it sit out of the medium for a week.

The second question being ... Since I cut down so much of the roots, I'll have to put it into a new pot. I'm not sure if it's the right size, and was hoping you guys could help me with that too. This orchid's pot is the orange pot that is pictured. A new orchid that I just purchased needs to be upgraded to a bigger pot (it's original pot is the green one pictured). I was thinking of switching the orchid's pots (after pouring bleach on both pots of course). Are both pot sizes appropriate?

Sorry for all the questions I've been posting lately! I appreciate all your help.

Thanks in advance!

I think the orange one is to big for either...But, I do not grow Catts. I would look at 4' pots myself.

It's mouldy because you have been over watering and the medium has retained too much water. Cattleyas are thick root epiphytes and need a coarse bark, 1 - 2". sieve it to remove dist and small bits.

You do NOT cut dead roots, just leave them, and don't go pouring Hydrogen peroxide on them that stuff is an indiscriminate oxidiser.

Also, you repot in coarse bark the Catt will love you. Remember with coarse bark, you can't overpot and you can't overwater!

Thanks for your help! I did purchase new potting mix made especially for cattleya orchids.

Any ideas about the pot sizes? I get that the orange pot is too big for the other guy, but what about the one that I already performed surgery on?

According to Bill's post, large bark in large pot is OK with a catt because you can't over water. I think it's too big but I don't grow Catts. When I did, I potted them pretty tight and never lost any. I gave them away because I didn't have enough light. Then I found out I was impatient and I bought lights anyway. Wish I would have kept them. . .Someone more knowledgeable with that species will be along to help you.

Ugh, sorry! I totally missed the "overpot" part of the sentence.

Take a deep breath. You will do fine. Your plants look good, you have good advice, and most orchids are forgiving.😎

the orange pot is too big for either of them....and use REALLY BIG bark for cattleyas....like minimum 1"....those are baby plants, both of them, so I would use a medium bark in the small pots....I use net pots for baby cattleyas....good luck!

When you pot your plants, it is really really important that they be held very firmly in place, so that they don't wobble - that will help the new roots establish. You can accomplish that with a stake or two, or a rhizome clip. Another way is to poke 3 holes even spaced around the rim of the pot, and tie a wire to the plant going to each hole (so you have 3 guy wires) with enough tension to hold the plant steady. A reason for not cutting dead roots (too late for your first one, you already did) is that they can help to hold the plant steady in the pot. Without those stringy old roots, you have to be even more diligent about making sure that the plant doesn't move (even wind can move it even if you don't move the pot, and that can damage the tiny hairs on the tips of the new, emerging roots)

cattleyas are funny old things...one thing they are funny about is their media, and they do like it large! the joy of using such large media is that it wedges good, and helps to stabilize the plants. I was taught that when you are done potting a cattleya, you should be able to lift it by the leaves and it will stay wedged tight in that pot.

to achieve this, you take a rounded tipped stick like a broom handle or scale down to pencil tip (called a dibble)...put media in the pot, tap the pot to settle some bark in among the roots, and start tapping that dibble around the edges of the pot. as you tap down the media, fill in some more and keep tapping (with little ones, I press my thumbs down on the media)...using this method, you wont need all the staking and futzing around with strings....for new cuttings without roots, you will need a rhizome clip or two sized to the pot size....

always use the largest size medium you can with the smallest size pot you can and you wont go wrong....plastic pots don't dry as fast as clay, but you can put a small pot inside a larger one to help hold it stabil.....

I grow mostly Cattleya alliance plants and I would strongly recommend NOT using plastic pots for Cattleyas, especially because you have historically over-watered.

Instead, use unglazed terracotta pots that are between the two pot sizes you show. The unglazed terracotta will wick away at least some excess moisture.

With all plants in the Cattleya alliance, your watering plan should be to water then allow the coarse medium to dry out before watering again.

I agree with the terra cotta pot advice. Also going small with pot size is something I'd recommend myself. With a smaller pot, terra cotta and larger bark, you should be able to actually water as much as you probably had before.

a friend attended a talk (one I sadly missed) of a catt grower and he said the odd thing is many catts are often not watered enough. (I know of a respected catt grower that grows many in sphagnum moss if you can believe that) The trick is really letting them dry out completely between watering. So you can water more often and they get more water as long as they dry out completely between waterings.

Terra cotta it is! You guys are very helpful. I'm coming up with a lot of questions, and this community has been super beneficial.

I do think that the way catts send out roots, they need a bit of space. With coarse bark you simply cannot overpot or overwater, and if you are new to them, that is an important consideration.

Moss is a great medium, but IMO only under very narrow conditions, and those to me are very shallow containers like baskets which allow the moss to dry very quickly from all sides, top and bottom..
The medium has to work for summer and winter, and the huge problem is that a comparatively deep pot that can at best (terracotta ) dry slowly is a possible candidate for root rot.

bil, it seems like it's a tough balance between letting the roots have sufficient room vs assuring that there isn't root rot (which could happen with a more spacious terra cotta pot).

I don't trust myself with moss. I do think that the medium I have is course - most pieces are between 1-1.5 inches. Here's a link to the bark I already purchased: Orchid bark - Album on Imgur

This is the most suitable terra cotta pot (that has drainage) I've found so far. https://shop.greenbarnorchid.com/pro...productId=1439

That is a little smaller than I was thinking. I was thinking 4". Here's the thing, Designer, we can all suggest forever...But, in the end, you will have to make mistakes in order to learn. So, rinse and soak and pot and we'll all be here to hold your hand for better or worse. In a year, you'll be giving others advice.😎

Okay, thank you! I apologize for being annoying.

You are NOT annoying...You are concerned, just like we ALL started out as.

---------- Post added at 02:19 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:19 PM ----------

And let us know how it goes!

I will, dolly. Thanks!

If you need support, pm me. It's in the left hand menu.😀

It's not annoying to ask questions... but you may have noticed you get many different answers with different recommendations. It can quickly become very confusing. I handle situations like this by picking the clearest and simplest advice I'm offered.

Once you have more experience growing plants, and seeing how they react to things you do, you will understand why different people recommend different things. Each of these recommendations works well for the person who wrote it.

However, we all have different growing conditions and each of us has a tendency to make mistakes in the same way each time. Some people always overwater their plants; others always underwater. Some people only prevent being murdered by their spouse by spending the whole day with the plants, and others by spending as little time as possible. The best potting situation for the plant comes down to your conditions and how often you can look at your plants.

Yep. In an ideal world, you would have winter pots and summer pots. However, that simply isn't possible. I have stuck all my orchids, except the large Phals, the Paphs and phrags onto mounts. The small phals are on mounts, and I have to say, the impression I get is that mounts are best. They have some moss to retain a bit of water, and they look so much ore natural. OK, they do need watering more often, but the very method of making them go longer between waterings in the summer makes them more vulnnerable to rot in the winter.
I have 100 odd mounts, and it takes me about 45 minutes to water them.

In your case I think you are wise to shun moss in pots, hell, I don't trust myself with it.
As was posted above, you will kill some orchids. The only way to avoid that is not to keep them at all.