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.....