We're gonna need a bigger pot - Too Tall Phal

[Skippersmom]

So okay. perhaps I missed a repotting cycle - or six. This Phal was tall about 4-5 years ago when we finagled it into it's current giant pot. It's been very happy. This year had multi-spikes and we had months of blooms. But it's top heavy for even this big pot.

The original main stem probably went all the way down to the bottom of the pot to spare as many roots as possible.

Now, when I unpot 'Audrey II', it will have about a 14+ inch stem with roots all along it (assuming that there is no rot). So about 7 inches above the medium and 7 inches in the medium. I probably can scrub and sterilize out the current pot and reuse it, but how much can I cut off of this huge stem? I've seen comments, I believe in other places, that Phals will tolerate losing quite a bit of the old stem. I've resuscitated other Phals with one tiny root. But 'Audrey II' seems to have mostly air roots above ground.

Thank you in advance for your thoughtful (kind) responses.

[Roberta]

If most of the roots are air roots, I would not be surprised if roots 'way down the stem were no longer good. When you get it out of the pot, you can see what the bottom of the stem looks like... it is probably a candidate for a bit of a haircut. You certainly have no shortage of good roots, so you could still give up a few to shorten the stem. That looks like one very happy plant. "Feed me, Seymour"

You probably don't need to be too OCD about cleanup of the existing pot, since it will be the same plant going into it. (More of an issue if you were going to re-use it for another plant) So just clean it up for a fresh start but no need to sterilize unless the plant was having problems (which it clearly isn't, it looks very healthy)

[Skippersmom]

Thank you! That is in keeping with some of what I retained from prior readings but needed some reinforcement before I went chopping away. Also, good pointer about cleaning the pot - yes - would not appear that the pot would be harboring any disease, so a nice 'bath' rather than surgical scrub is probably sufficient.
Cheers. Sue

[Skippersmom]

An additional issue with this plant.

By the time we actually pulled it into the house for the winter, it had multiple spikes, including one off of one of the keikis. The keikis do not seem to have much for roots of their own.

The plant now seems stressed as I don't think the root system in medium is adequate to hydrate the whole thing. I'm sure it will flower but will be less showy and shorter lived display than last year. I understand that. However, look at the original pictures. In order to separate the keikis from the main plant and from each other, means literally cutting them off from all roots currently in the medium.

Seems I will need to probably pop them in water with either weak kelp max or a rooting hormone to wake up the air roots?

I can start a new post with new pictures if that would be helpful but cannot seem to find a way to add pictures now.

Thank you in advance for thoughts.

[Roberta]

Don't cut anything, just keep up the watering, The keikis (or basal growths) get their hydration from the root system of the mother plant. (They are not separate plants!)

[estación seca]

Yes. Rootless Phal growths, if separated, rarely will make roots. They generally die.