Cattleya Amethystoglossa - Repot or Wait?
 

Hello all. You guys helped me so much with my zygos and I’m back for some advice on my C. amethystoglossa “XXX”.

It’s my only Cattleya and I’ve had it for about 6 months. It lives in a SW bay window and I gave it supplemental lighting over the winter. A few months ago it started putting out a new growth. That developing cane is about half the size of the mature cane it’s a growing off of. A second new growth is starting to break through as well. The first growth is starting to put out roots.

I read through a ton of posts on here and know that you should only repot when new roots are growing. The new cane is right up against the edge of the pot. I’m torn on whether I should repot now or wait until next year when new growths would be climbing out of the pot. It’s potted in chunky bark that looks okay but the pot it came in is opaque so I don’t know what it looks like inside the pot.

I’ve attached some pics and would appreciate advice/opinions on whether to repot now or wait until next year.

Thanks again!


Annie

Sorry about the picture orientation. Seems only the 1st one posted right side up.

Doesn’t really matter when you repot as long as you don’t damage a ton of roots.

Mine needs to be repotted. I haven’t gotten around to do it yet because I’ve been busy. 😂

I repotted my Cattelya bicolor about 1 week ago and it had no new root growth. Looks fine to me.

I think the advice of repotting when new root growth occurs is partially a remnant of when there was the practice of cutting old roots down. If you don’t indiscriminately cut old roots regardless of whether they’re dead or not, it doesn’t matter when you repot.

Cutting dead roots are fine. Cutting old living roots is a big no-no.

Tip the pot sideways over and gently shake out some loose bark so you can see what it looks like below. If it won't come out of the pot don't remove it. If the bark looks good you can replace it and wait. Otherwise you could repot. The least harmful way to repot would be to drop that entire pot into a new, larger pot, and backfill with large bark.

Water thoroughly when repotting to make roots pliable for repotting.

That green root tip is longer than what I'd like to see when repotting, but not terribly so. Also of importance is that the new growth fits comfortably (maybe snugly) in the existing pot so I don't see a reason for a new pot if the media is still good. I'd wait until the next new growth, which would probably in August or September.

Id do it now, but be careful about the new roots. If the bark is good i would just leave the whole root ball intact and just add enough to fill the gap in the new pot

I have the same clone! Mine hasnt bloomed but i think th3 next growth will have a couple flowers probably. Looking forward to seeing yours if it flowers!

I’m normally not too worried about repotting at the “wrong” time but I read so many posts saying this particular Catt will basically die just to spite me if I don’t do everything right :rofl:

---------- Post added at 09:47 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:39 PM ----------

Thank you! I moved some of the bark and it looks pretty good inside the pot. Now I’m debating between making sort of an orchid pot nesting doll set up or removing the plant from it’s current pot without disturbing the root ball, putting it in a transparent pot, and adding more bark. I’m still a noob and like to visualize what’s happening at the roots.

---------- Post added at 09:52 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:47 PM ----------

The root growth is definitely part of my concern and why I am considering waiting. I watched a few of your videos on this plant and read your recommendation to repot when little root nubs were just emerging. I saw them
just starting, then was traveling for work for 10 days, and came home to this. The growth rate kind of took me by surprise.

---------- Post added at 10:05 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:52 PM ----------

I think I’m leaning towards this. I have two phrags that my cat decided looked better on the floor than in the window sill. I just picked them up, left whatever media was still around the roots, put them in new pots, and added more media. They didn’t miss a beat and both are spiking now. Hopefully, this guys will be cool with it too. Minus the getting attacked by my cat part.

I hope we both get this plant to bloom! My kid fell in love with a blooming one he saw when he went to a nursery with me. He told me, “mom, we had to have one!” I’m so excited that’s he’s getting into growing orchids with me. Way better than minecraft imo :biggrin: But now I feel extra pressure not to kill it ha ha.

Please share pics when yours blooms!

Hey so this plant is called 'XXX'

I have always assumed this is because the plant is 3n but im not sure. Does anyone know if this is right, or where this name comes from?

Oh, that's an interesting question! I assumed it was called XXX because it was so sexy. Seriously!