What should I do?

[GregorK]

Hello

So here is my problem. I decided to repot this phal from my mother in law It hasn't been repoted for about 6 years at least. And its in the 12 cm pot(about 5 inch). there are roots everywhere. The pot is full of them, they grow from inside out. I will have to destroy that plastic pot to get the plant out.
Almost all of them are healthy. so now. what should i do? cut some of them off so that it will fit the pot. or should i leave them and pot them all in a giant pot? The plant itself is not that big though.

Best regards Gregor

[mattryan]

Boy oh boy you sure waited a very long time to re-pot. Unfortunately I see a lot of air roots and not many growing into the medium. I would cut off any hollow or rotted roots, clean up the plant then you can see what you have left to deal with. The problem with air roots is if you try to put them back into the medium they don't do well because they can't adapt. I would keep the roots growing out of the medium the same way after the re-pot. Just lower the plant and hope that you get new roots growing into the new medium. After you get sufficient roots in the medium you can cut off the aerial roots if you want to. You should re-pot every yr to every 2 years at the most, that way you can avoid what you have to deal with now because you can keep the plant low enough to the mix that the roots grow into it and also the mix doesn't turn sour. Goodluck!

Cheryl

[tucker85]

Another problem is that the main stem is getting too long. You can actually cut off a few inches off the main stem and the orchid will be fine. Pot the orchid in the smallest pot that you can comfortably get most of the roots in. You don't want a pot that's too large and has a lot of dead space in it. Good luck.

[GregorK]

Its not mine.. it belongs to my mother in law

Oh god... I dont know where to start. i just bought a very large pot. i wanted to put all the air roots inside the pot...
I didnt know that air roots dont fit in. so if i put them inside will they die?

If i only knew that before. Or ask at least.
Because I already poted 2 orchids with air roots that were just like that inside the pot ( but they were less rooted)

well inside the pot there is also a lot of roots and i think i will fill the 17 cm pot easily

Thanks for all the advices
regards
Gregor

[kindrag23]

whoaa...that is some serious roots....good luck with that one.

Also great post this leads to some interesting potting issues.

[GregorK]

ahhh dont mention it Ill let youknow about my progres

[GregorK]

Hello

so after almost 2 hours me and my partner finnaly did it.

i have cut most of the air roots, i also had to trim some of the roots from the pot.
If i wouldn't do that, I'd probably need a huge pot (30 cm at least)
I didn't cut of the main steam because if i did, i would cut of all the roots too. so I unraveled the roots, put them inside the pot, did a little twist and also put the main steam inside the pot. Not whole but most of it.
I hope this will be fine. hope it wont rot ?

looks nice now. I included some photos

Regards
Gregor

[Brooke]

Congrats - nicely done!

Brooke

[GregorK]

Thanks Brooke!
It was a tough one

[No-Pro-mwa]

What, what, wait a minute,are you really suppose to cut off the Ariel roots? I have never done that. I just re-potted one for my sister and I put what I could into the pot but didn't pack it tight.