Cattleya Lc Tropical Pointer repot advice
 

Hey all,

I picked up this catt this summer from a gathering of the MN Orchid Society. It was in spike and bloomed very nicely about a month later. The seller recommended that after the blooms were done that it should be repotted. It's growing out of the pot in 2 directions and the medium looks pretty gnarly, old bark I believe but more roots than anything in the pot. See below for pics.
I have seen other sources say to wait until there is new root growth to repot, but I am really having issues with being able to tell if it needs water because of the medium being so bad(?). After my last few questions I think I can guess the answer, to just go ahead and do it, but looking for confirmation that I am not going to do something bad if I do!
It's currently in a 4" pot, I'm thinking a 6" pot will be needed to contain all the overflow.
I'm fine with holding off as well, will need to increase water frequency since it seems there isn't much in the pot to hold onto it!
Thanks for taking a look, any comments/advice appreciated.

That medium looks bad enough that I'd suggest go ahead and repot. Don't worry about getting all of the old medium off - leave anything that is stuck to roots. Just get rid of what comes off easily. You can help to separate roots from the walls of the container by gently squeezing it - if you can't get it loose that way, don't hesitate to cut the pot. (There are some really good-looking roots, you want to preserve them) Then into a larger pot, add some large bark, tap to settle it in around the roots. Press gently with your thumbs away from those long roots. It is important that the plant be held firmly in place so that it does not wobble (which can damage newly-emerging roots) but beyond that, you don't have to pack the medium.

Thanks Roberta, got it moved to the bigger pot. Felt like I left a lot of the old medium, but the roots were everywhere and had lots of medium stuck to them. Seemed like a lot of dead roots as well, but I left those alone. I'm pretty sure I've gotten a little crazy with root trimming in other repots so held off a bit on this one. We'll see what happens!

Sounds like you have it under control! What I have found, when I left dead roots and old medium behind, the next time (2-3 years later) when I repotted the now-healthy plant, that I could clean that old stuff, with no harm - because the plant had a chance to grow some new roots. Especially when you pot "out of season" - when it's not producing new roots right away, it pays to be gentle, disturb what it does have as little as possible.

Farley ... one orchid that I recently acquired had an opened sheath and big flower buds inside. It's a catt ... the Rlc. Nakornchaisri Red. It was growing in bark the day I received it.

I immediately repotted in scoria ... my usual procedure. Sprayed the whole plant with Mancozeb and removed all the bark from the roots prior to the repot. Then let the roots dry out a bit (eg. a few hours) in the pot for any cuts/breaks to seal themselves up naturally. Then water the media.

This was all done two days before a nine day holiday trip. The buds were still in the fully enclosed sheath on the day of the trip.

When I got home, this orchid was not only in spike .... but was also opening its two flowers. Half opened on that night I got home.

This suggests that some orchids can keep functioning nicely if they're kept in suitable environments even if significantly disturbed. I wouldn't recommend doing what I did just for fun though. I just did it as it's my procedure I follow for my purchased orchids.

I believe that if lots of mainstream orchids receives what they need (water, warmth, adequate light, oxygen to the roots, some nutrients etc), then they can just keep growing nicely without issue. The same applies for an orchid growing in degraded media or water-logged media getting transferred to suitable fresh media. An improvement in health and growing activity can be expected if the other growing requirements are good.

It's looking good for now, though a repot in a year or so is probably going to be in the works when it puts out new growth. The best roots had circled the rim of the old pot so I couldn't get the oldest canes against the back of the new one, too many roots in the way. Also, the 2 directions of growth are going about 60 degrees from each other, so they are both less than an inch from the edge of the new pot. At least they have some elbow room now and we'll see how it responds!

---------- Post added at 08:52 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:32 AM ----------

I see what you mean! From my most recent experiences I have figured out that I should use my (limited) instincts and if I think something is off I should try and remedy that. The plants that I have repotted haven't had any major setbacks, it's the ones that were supposedly in good shape already that I didn't do anything with that I have had issues with. Now that I know what is in each pot for sure as far as medium and roots I can give the best care and not be guessing about it. Now I cringe when I see advice to not repot when in bloom/spike, especially if it is pretty obvious it's needed!