Repotting - did I wait too long?
 

Hello all,

i have been meaning to re-pot my 2 cymbidiums this spring after blooming - since only one of them blooms (still waiting on the other's 1st time) I figured I would wait for that one to stop blooming, and re-pot then. However now I realize I might have left it too late - blooming was very late this year, and the new growths are pretty big already (you can see 2 on the picture - which shows the one which has not bloomed yet).

So my question is - did I leave it too late? Do I risk one more year in 3year old medium?

Thank you for any advice:-)

Jak

Plants are responding to the environment and not to the calendar. If they bloomed later this year, the repot will be delay also.
I would repot now.

Nah, just thump it out of the pot and upsize the pot.

For Cymbidium the size of the new growths is irrelevant. While repotting in early spring is preferable in terms of uninterrupted summer growth, it is by no means important.

I repot plants at any time of the year (whenever I have the time). And, for larger plants, there are often multiple new growths at different stages.

I have actually found that potting Cyms a bit later, not right after bloom, increases the chances that they will bloom the same year (and not skip a year as they sometimes do) Just be really careful with those new growths - don't be too aggressive when cleaning off old leaf sheaths since tender new growths may be hiding there. I repot Cyms at least into August (where I live, they'll still have about 2 months of warm weather to get established... you may need to stop a bit earlier based on that criterion)

Thank you all for your informative replies!

I apologize for my late reply - I wanted to already reply with pictures of the re-pot, but I had to move it out to next week.

Jak

Hello all,

finally I got around to repotting - only one so far, today I plan on the other (the Tracyanum).

My observations:
- the roots were everywhere in the pot :-)
- I could not untangle them without hearing slight "breaking sounds"
- it was 3 days after watering, so the medium and roots were still moist
- not sure I re-positioned the bulbs well in the pot afterwards - they have ~1inch left to grow, which I hope is enough for 2 years before i repot again
- I repositioned the plants, so they get only morning direct light (about 1.5hr less daily)

My worries for the Tracyanum:
- it has roots growing out of the medium, so even more roots to untangle!

Thank you all for your help - I will post as well the Tracyanum pictues and experience once I feel brave enough (hopefully today) to repot.

Jakub

Looks good! One overgrown Cym is plenty to do in a day... it's hard work!

To make life a bit easier... First, don't worry about getting all of the old medium... plant doesn't have to be sterile. Then, when faced with a monster plant, I have had success blasting old medium out with a hose . Alternate the hose with getting in with fingers to get out anything that has been loosened. Some roots will be broken, no worries, there are plenty! If you're dividing, you can also get to the inside better once you get the mass opened up. I use a small serrated-edge knife to help get through the rhizome. It is messy.:D

Thank you Roberta - the hose is most definitely a good idea - I can imagine it working very well, eventhough I was performing the repot at my apartment, so I couldn't try it out:-(

The Tracyanum was overall much easier to untangle - the roots were finer (even thought the plan is larger per pseudo-bulb), and more springy (not as tender). Also the bottom half of the roots were mostly dead (overwatering, or just old medium perhaps?).

In any case the deed is done - thank you all for your support - I will be much more confident next time around (or not depending if I just killed my plants :-D ).

One last question - can I start with fertilizing right away, or should I wait for the roots to heal up before doing that? If so how long?

Thank you,
Jakub

p.s. for easier viewing of the pictures - the brown pot is what the Tracyanum is in now

It looks great. You can start fertilizing... along with the existing roots, it is putting out new ones too. Cyms aren't fragile. I know people who let them dry for a week or so, I just put them back where they were so watering and fertilizing happen along with the rest of the collection and I haven't see any ill effects.

One thing... does that decorative white pot have drainage? If not, consider not using it. Cyms like to be damp, but don't like wet feet from standing in water.