?? Please watch the video??

[Wynn Dee13]

Yes we have discussed this discussion to death. I do stand on my opinion but I also respect everyone else's. So that said I am only going to help Shin if he needs it and stop arguing about opinions. I only came here to learn, meet some new friends and hopefully help others as well. I have no hard feelings against ANYONE and I hope everyone can forgive me if I offended anyone at all. I really hope we all can be friends.

[The Mutant]

I won't side with anyone in this thread, I just wanted to share that my friend had to do this to her monster Phal (more known as Phalzilla), due to running out of pots deep enough for the monstrous root system and stem. The problem was that it kept falling over, being so high above the pot it was in, that it was either loosing the Phal due to it keep falling off the windowsill, or trying this rather desperate measure to be able to keep it. She cut it in half, thus removing, not only healthy roots, but also healthy leaves in the process. The Phal got very, VERY depressed and she was worried it wouldn't pull through.

Today, it is blooming for the first time since this ordeal. It pulled through in other words. It has a mass of leaves and roots, as it has always had, but instead of five spikes, it "only" has two.

In other words, I understand why this method, no matter how much it hurts the Phal owner in question, might be necessary at times. My friend didn't really have any choice since if left alone, the Phal would have died (despite it being very healthy when she did it), but I honestly don't know if I could've done the same if I had been in that situation. I really hope a situation like hers NEVER arise where I'll be forced to make such a decision.

[Wynn Dee13]

Thanks Mutant for your story. I'm really glad your friend had a happy ending! I would imagine that would of been tough to do especially cutting it in half! But sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do in desperate measures. That was brave of her to take the chance and try to save her beloved Phalzilla! I hope I will never have to do that either! Although I'm sure it was quite a sight with five spikes! I'm sure Phalzilla will be there again one day with five spikes but this time it better stay in its pot!

[The Mutant]

Oh, the five spikes were nothing compared to the time it decided to go for nine! Five spikes was the norm before the ordeal so one day it might start having that many again. Hopefully she'll never have to do it again, I know it would break her heart if she lost it since it's her oldest Phal and the most vigorous of them (hence the name Phalzilla). It's time to re-pot it again since it's climbing out of it's current pot at the moment, but fortunately enough no cutting will be necessary this time.

[Mira-Claude]

I do resent being called stupid, thank you very much, but I decided a long time ago to stop posting here and end the fight. If you haven't already noticed.
I was never insulting. I was just trying to understand. I might be a bit melodramatic as is my personality. I am born that way, deal with it or ignore it.
And after much research, much more than is worth posting here I have found a few things;
1) Many orchids will not forgive such massive root damage and therefore one has to be careful when and where to cut. Research of the parentage or the specie should be done before hand.
2) The utmost reason to cut roots, healthy ones, should be the fear of damaging said roots when repoting. Because even more dangerous than root loss in a fungal or bacterial infection.
3) Cutting roots of any healthy plants as the side effect of keeping said plant small or smaller than it would be otherwise.
4) When cutting to many roots it takes even longer for the plant to root bound to it's pot, making the growth following slower. Therefore, once again, one should be careful not to remove to many.
5) Massive trauma can force an orchid to flower for survival reason. Flower, henceforth, are not a good indicator of the plant's strength. It can be quite deceiving.
6) Whenever a vandaceous is losing leaves at a fast pace, there is a problem, most of the time starting at the roots.
7) For those who don't know it intestines works just as roots does; they absorb water and nutrients. Maybe roots grow back and it was melodramatic, but the comparison still stands.
Thank you for reading.
Sorry for those I offended. This was my last post here.
Have a nice day everyone, and may your orchids thrive!

[Call_Me_Bob]

Originally Posted by Mira-Claude

I do resent being called stupid, thank you very much, but I decided a long time ago to stop posting here and end the fight. If you haven't already noticed.
I was never insulting. I was just trying to understand. I might be a bit melodramatic as is my personality. I am born that way, deal with it or ignore it.
And after much research, much more than is worth posting here I have found a few things;
1) Many orchids will not forgive such massive root damage and therefore one has to be careful when and where to cut. Research of the parentage or the specie should be done before hand.
2) The utmost reason to cut roots, healthy ones, should be the fear of damaging said roots when repoting. Because even more dangerous than root loss in a fungal or bacterial infection.
3) Cutting roots of any healthy plants as the side effect of keeping said plant small or smaller than it would be otherwise.
4) When cutting to many roots it takes even longer for the plant to root bound to it's pot, making the growth following slower. Therefore, once again, one should be careful not to remove to many.
5) Massive trauma can force an orchid to flower for survival reason. Flower, henceforth, are not a good indicator of the plant's strength. It can be quite deceiving.
6) Whenever a vandaceous is losing leaves at a fast pace, there is a problem, most of the time starting at the roots.
7) For those who don't know it intestines works just as roots does; they absorb water and nutrients. Maybe roots grow back and it was melodramatic, but the comparison still stands.
Thank you for reading.
Sorry for those I offended. This was my last post here.
Have a nice day everyone, and may your orchids thrive!

bacterial infection can occur if you cut roots and fail to seal them or use cinnamon as well. just another point to keep in mind :P

[Wynn Dee13]

Originally Posted by Mira-Claude

I do resent being called stupid, thank you very much, but I decided a long time ago to stop posting here and end the fight. If you haven't already noticed.
I was never insulting. I was just trying to understand. I might be a bit melodramatic as is my personality. I am born that way, deal with it or ignore it.
And after much research, much more than is worth posting here I have found a few things;
1) Many orchids will not forgive such massive root damage and therefore one has to be careful when and where to cut. Research of the parentage or the specie should be done before hand.
2) The utmost reason to cut roots, healthy ones, should be the fear of damaging said roots when repoting. Because even more dangerous than root loss in a fungal or bacterial infection.
3) Cutting roots of any healthy plants as the side effect of keeping said plant small or smaller than it would be otherwise.
4) When cutting to many roots it takes even longer for the plant to root bound to it's pot, making the growth following slower. Therefore, once again, one should be careful not to remove to many.
5) Massive trauma can force an orchid to flower for survival reason. Flower, henceforth, are not a good indicator of the plant's strength. It can be quite deceiving.
6) Whenever a vandaceous is losing leaves at a fast pace, there is a problem, most of the time starting at the roots.
7) For those who don't know it intestines works just as roots does; they absorb water and nutrients. Maybe roots grow back and it was melodramatic, but the comparison still stands.
Thank you for reading.
Sorry for those I offended. This was my last post here.
Have a nice day everyone, and may your orchids thrive!

First off I didn't call you stupid, I called your statement stupid. Like you said it was very dramatic. Anyway I also apologized to everyone already.

[mattryan]

Mira- please don't take anything said here personal. Posting here is supposed to be informative and although sometimes it can get heated I am pretty sure no one wanted to affend anyone and if they did they should be moving on. We all started posting here to learn more about our hobby or new business venture. There are alot of very helpful people here and you must take opinions with a grain of salt, because as I stated much earlier we all come from various places in the world. So what might work for one maybe not so much for another. So please reconsider you have as much to offer to us as we to you.

Cheryl