Oncidium repot or ......

[The Orchidist]

I have an older mature plant looks like its a few years old and has about 8 bulbs that have spiked a few times over the years , the leaves and everything about the plant look fantastic with some leaves standing straight up 12 " high
when i took out the clump to repot , the roots are so clumped together and compressed , i was unsure if i should pull the stuffing out from the centre , so i just took the mass clump and put into larger pot and used fresh bark and coconut husk..

Should i have taken the time to separate all the roots and flush them , I feared of breaking them . or keep it the way i potted it and hope the roots will expand out in its new media ?.. or perhaps i should seperate plant in sections and use 2 pots instead of one .

thanks for your response ...

[MrsSky]

Do you think that there might be a mass of moss or very old, broken down iffy chips in the middle of the roots? I would clean it out. If you are not sure try to gently pry it open a bit. Even if you decide not to clean it out, a little poking shouldn't hurt. Many oncidium hybrids are very stout plants.

[The Orchidist]

It seems to be a mix of super tight moss encased around the entire mass .. I wonder if i take the entire mass and just soak it in water for a few hours it may be of some help . perhaps soak it in water with some nutes ?.. or would that be too much stress on the roots .

[RandomGemini]

I just soak them in water for about 15 minutes. That should be enough to soak through most of the moss. Then you can gently pry the moss apart with your fingers. If you feel the need to get OCD about it, you can take a pair of tweezers and start pulling the moss out that way. It will take a while.

[WhiteRabbit]

If it seens to be packed sphag, I would try to get out as much as possible. Soak the root mass, use a skewer (or like tool) - work it into the mass and gently wiggle it. Do that a few times, and stuff will loosen up. Continue as needed.

[The Orchidist]

thanks for the suggestions , i will give it a good soakin in the morning , I am going to do a small bark/ coconut husk as my media , is it safe to seperate the phseudo,s into a batch of 4 or leave them as entire batch ?. what is best method and i am assuming sharp sterile razer blade is best for seperation ?..

[Sharry]

A big Sharry baby that I have, develops a tightly packed root ball. I wedge a small net pot in the bottom center of the root ball to keep it aerated.

[The Orchidist]

I have made the seperation into 2 plants with 4 bulbs per pot , I had a heck of a time wiggling and pulling all the moss out , but with delicate movement almost all broke free , I placed them into clear pots with a mix of coconut chips ( large) and abit of sphag moss , but now the roots are free and i decided to direct the roots outwards toward the sides so i can monitor them and they have plenty of air now , I just hope they are not shocked since i took away the tightness of the root ball .

[RandomGemini]

They probably are shocked a little bit, but as long as the plant wasn't blooming, and you don't intend to move it around a lot, it should be just fine. I think dividing it was probably a good idea and four bulbs to a pot is just about perfect. You don't want fewer than three when you divide an oncidium.

Got some pics? I'd love to see your plants!

[kindrag23]

Ummmm could we see some pictures?