Extremely root-bound oncidium
 

Hi everyone. I attempted to repot one of my orchids from my large Carmela's Orchids batch early last month. It is my "speckle spire snowflake" oncidium. I made the decision to repot even though it was in bloom because I could see that a couple of leaves were starting to pleat suggesting stress to the roots. I was watering regularly, so I was pretty sure it wasn't from lack of that. Anyway; it's a fairly large plant; lots of pseudobulbs and leaf growth. So much so, I can't even see to the bottom. Well, I took it out of the pot ... and the sheer amount of roots it had, lol. I have never seen such a root-packed orchid before. It was severe. I attempted for hours (not exaggerating) to try and massage and untangle them best I could. I could not get them all untangled. There was some moss tucked up in the middle that I tried my best to get out.

In order for me to have gotten it all though, I would've had to literally rip hundreds of good roots out. I went ahead and repotted in a bigger pot (I believe it is 6") and used repotme's oncidium mix.

Do you think it'll be okay in the new medium even though I couldn't get all of the old moss out? Do you think I should've sacrificed some good roots to fully get to the middle? It was so root-packed, I couldn't get a chopstick or skewer even half-way up to clear a space.

It's currently growing new leaves and an additional flower stem.

How often do you think I need to water? Do more roots signal the need for more watering? Any helps or tips are appreciated. This orchid is by far my biggest one. Thanks guys!

You did absolutely the right thing in prioritizing preservation of roots. On general principles (for all orchids) don't worry about getting all of the old medium out. The bad stuff pretty much washes out. the rest isn't hurting anything. The next time you pot (in a couple of years) more of the old stuff will be easy to get out. Oncidums do like to stay on the damp side - so just observe and you will get a feel for watering frequency. (How fast plants dry is dependent on your heat, humidity, potting medium, pot...and likely is different than mine) So getting it right for you will just take some observation. The pot-weighing trick works well... weigh it right after watering, using postal scale or kitchen scale. Then weigh in subsequent days. When the rate of weight loss declines (not that much more water to evaporate) it's time to water again. Let the Phals get to "barely damp", the Catts to "rather dry", Oncidiums and Paphs to "still damp".

Thanks Roberta. I've been watering based on weight currently, but without the scale as I can't find mine. Usually I use skewers, but I can't even fit a skewer in anywhere on this one. I'm relieved to hear that I made the right choice about the roots. Even with my massaging and attempt at untangling, I lost only a few of them. They are all pretty healthy.

Currently I'm watering by soaking for 15 minutes. Do you think that's ample enough time? If the leaves were pleating, that suggests dehydration correct? I wonder if I need to be soaking for longer?

Leaf pleating at this point is probably "old business" - once it happens, it doesn't "un-pleat" with increased water. More time for soaking won't make any difference - once the roots have absorbed all they're going to, giving more contact time won't give them any more. Drain it well (which will also pull air into the root zone... very important) That plant has an amazing root system. If new leaves still are pleated, you may have to water more frequently - especially if the air is dry (which will happen with winter heating)

I'd say Roberta's advice is right on the money. I'd also add that orchids don't seem to suffer when "pot-bound" so repotting doesn't technically need to happen until A) the plant is walking out of it's pot or B) when the media has broken down.

Pot-bound Oncs can need a lot of water, much more than orchids like Cattleyas. I could easily see watering one with roots like this and in bloom every day. The roots are mostly healthy, so the pleating was probably from not watering enough. When not in flower nor pushing flowers they need less water, but still should not dry completely. In warm weather I need to stand mature potted plants in dishes of water. I now keep them in semihydroponics.

oncidiums seem to have crazy roots, right?! of all the genera we have gotten, the oncs were by far the most difficult, and worst, repot jobs. phals are a piece of cake in comparison....so good on you for sticking it out and giving it a try!

I don't remove old medium from Oncs. I think doing so damages roots more than leaving it.

Lol, yes! WAAAY more labor intensive than a standard phal-repot.

---------- Post added at 04:00 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:57 PM ----------

I took your advice and have increased my watering on this particular oncidium. When I repotted it, I put it into a clear pot which is helping me gauge it a little better; now I can visually see the roots whereas before I was solely going on weight. I haven't seen anymore pleating, so I think you were right about it needing more water :)