my Phal has rooted to its terracottra pot: advice!

[hrothgar]

About a year ago I re-potted my very stressed phalaenopsis into a terracotta pot, at the time it had only three viable roots and was growing a keiki.

Since then, things have gone well, the keiki has gotten huge, and it seems to be growing lots and lots of roots.

However, I have not seen any blooms in over a 1.5 years, in hope of helping the plant along, and getting some sun on the roots I bought some clear plastic pots to re-pot in and maybe try to separate the keiki, and have two orchids!

Went to re-pot today, and my orchid has rooted into the terracotta, in a pretty big way! I've even got some roots growing through the slots in the side of the pot

So I'm looking for advice on how to separate the plant from the pot, if that's even possible, also, any information on how to separate the basal keiki would be appreciated.

Any input is welcome, pics are attached, thanks everyone!

[WhiteRabbit]

you can also just break the pot - with soaking, you may be able to get some of the clay from the roots, but you can leave whatever bits the roots don't want to let go of - doesn't hurt the plant.

you can also soak the pot in slightly warm water for a half hour or longer - then use a butter knife, or blunt side of a knife to gently try to pry the roots from pot - tho it's easy to damage roots


I don't think it's advisable to attempt to separate a basal keiki - they don't simply twist off like keikis on spikes. If the mother plant is fine and continuing to grow, then you just get twice the blooming potential from 'one' plant


\\gl

[mmursuli]

Originally Posted by WhiteRabbit

you can also just break the pot - with soaking, you may be able to get some of the clay from the roots, but you can leave whatever bits the roots don't want to let go of - doesn't hurt the plant.

you can also soak the pot in slightly warm water for a half hour or longer - then use a butter knife, or blunt side of a knife to gently try to pry the roots from pot - tho it's easy to damage roots


I don't think it's advisable to attempt to separate a basal keiki - they don't simply twist off like keikis on spikes. If the mother plant is fine and continuing to grow, then you just get twice the blooming potential from 'one' plant


\\gl

[dounoharm]

i would just snip the roots....dont break the pot....te plant looks like it has enuf roots it wont miss a few...or you can use the butter knife routine, but i have found that i end up with more damaged roots doing that.....use physan to sterilize the cuts and pot on....

[stefpix]

why do you need to repot it?
I would just add some medium so teh new roots maybe will just grow inside. I agree, why divide a basal keiki? I have a mini phal rescue that is a bunch of basal keikis clumped together. I hope they will all bloom at once or sequentially.

[nenella]

Originally Posted by WhiteRabbit

you can also just break the pot - with soaking, you may be able to get some of the clay from the roots, but you can leave whatever bits the roots don't want to let go of - doesn't hurt the plant.

you can also soak the pot in slightly warm water for a half hour or longer - then use a butter knife, or blunt side of a knife to gently try to pry the roots from pot - tho it's easy to damage roots


I don't think it's advisable to attempt to separate a basal keiki - they don't simply twist off like keikis on spikes. If the mother plant is fine and continuing to grow, then you just get twice the blooming potential from 'one' plant


\\gl

As said above ...IMHO I would also leave it alone and not divide ..either soak roots for a very long time ..24h + .. to get those roots off the clay(they do not look particularly stuck); or fill up the pot as suggested (by breaking pot & leaving bits stuck to roots,& /or plant in smaller pot... Keep us informed on what you decide ..
Good luck !

[hrothgar]

Thanks for all the info,

That settles it, the keiki stays. I'm going to go ahead and break the pot, soak, pry, and snip only if necessary, I just really want to get this into a clear pot so that the roots get light and I can keep an eye on them. Also, the roots coming through the pots vents keep getting damaged.

A couple follow up questions if no one minds:

Is the mother plant ever going to grow more leaves? I see regular growth out of the keiki, but the mother hasn't grown since last year, and actually lost one of its top leaves recently.

Some of my roots coming out of the pot look healthy but shriveled, Is this a hydration issue, what can I do?

[stefpix]

those roots may rot if you put them in a plastic pot with medium. To me they look fine, maybe they need a bit of more frequent watering. I would put that pot inside a pot that fits snugly and just add some pieces of moss or coco chips on top of the roots just to keep humidity a bit longer, but i think those roots are aerial roots that will sulk if suffocated in a pot filled with medium. I am talking from direct experience.

[erna]

Originally Posted by stefpix

those roots may rot if you put them in a plastic pot with medium. To me they look fine, maybe they need a bit of more frequent watering. I would put that pot inside a pot that fits snugly and just add some pieces of moss or coco chips on top of the roots just to keep humidity a bit longer, but i think those roots are aerial roots that will sulk if suffocated in a pot filled with medium. I am talking from direct experience.

I agree

[OrchidLife]

I'm a newbie so I probably don't know what I'm talking about but if my phal looked that happy in it's pot - I don't think I'd change a thing