as much as i wanted to mount this SLC in moss on bark, i lost my resolve and defaulted to the medium i am most comfortable with: bark.
SLC Love Castle Kurenai has finished blooming and is ready to repot. i was hesitant at first but glad i did so after discovering how root bound this plant was. below is the process:
01 shows the SLC and the new home it will go to. the new pot is one size up.
02 unpotting the plant, i realize this is a pot w/in another pot. the bark mix was filler only.
03 pulling out the plant shows the full extent of root mass. the roots are so crowded it's taken on the shape of the plastic pot.
04 different angle showing root growth from the newest PSBs.
05 at this point, the challenge was extricating the old medium from the roots. the root mass was wet well and i had to pry the old decomposing bark from the plant.
06 another view, newly cleaned...
07 i filled the center of the plant w/ new bark instead, rather than forcing the tangle apart.
08 the SLC is placed into its new pot and the surrounding area filled. it is at this point, i make sure the old PSBs are closest to the rim of the pot, leaving the newest PSBs with enough room to expand horizontally.
09 process complete, i drench the plant to wet the new medium and give the SLC a chance to drink.
10 the finished product. i may add a small amount of sphag on top to help keep the bark moist.
hope this helps a few folks thinking of repotting their SLCs and the like.
i'm hoping to get new growth and new blooms by next year
