Should I take more roots? Repotting Phal

[dooleycrew]

I am following the step by step instructions for repotting an orchid. I will plan to soak this in peroxide, since most of the root mess happens to be in the center of the plant.

I bought this orchid a few months ago at a local nursery. I do not know if he had ANY idea what he was talking about - He stated that this orchid would be fine for a few more years in this pot. The roots begain to overflow the pot, I assumed it needed to be repotted.

Question:
Do I need to take more roots off of this orchid? It seems to be a lot I have already taken.

I plan to fertilize this orchid on a weekly basis. I am repotting in bark, with decorative marbles on the bottom... (the small clear ones) - I washed the pot and marbles... also soaked those in peroxide.

The bark did sit overnight in water...

Thanks for the help!

Michelle

[-K-]

Originally Posted by dooleycrew

Question:
Do I need to take more roots off of this orchid? It seems to be a lot I have already taken.



Michelle

As in cutting off roots
What roots have you been cutting off

The only time you would want to cut off roots are if they are brown, mushy rotten ones!

[dooleycrew]

I cut all of the brown mushy ones... and the ends that were mushy. I put cinimon on all the ends that I cut.

[-K-]

Originally Posted by dooleycrew

I cut all of the brown mushy ones... and the ends that were mushy. I put cinimon on all the ends that I cut.

Phew!!! thats a relief, got scared for a sec. for ya!

As long as you got off all the mushy dead roots you should be fine! Good call following the potting thread, post a photo when you've got it all potted up. If your still concerned about the roots, post a pic of them and the folks here will help out...

[dooleycrew]

I had to go up in pot size... the span of the roots after cleaning would not allow the plant to fit in the old pot without damaging good roots. I put a lot of marbles in the bottom for the plant to still stay somewhat confined. I used a mixture of bark (lots of bark) and charcol. I have two different feeds for the plant - one is designed to promote growth and is added until the new spike starts to bloom and the second is designed to promote healthy bloom cycle. What you see in the pictures is the orchid already trimmed.

I gave it a good water after all of this, and will be dumping the excess water several times until the orchid is well drained. I will feed it probably soon today. While the bark and roots are still soaking up the water and new bedding. I'll post pictures of the potted plant in a little bit.

[Phalcycle]

Most people like to give phals a big trim, and cut a lot of the roots, so the plant will gorw more.
I dont not do this though! What ever is healthy stays and whatever is rotten gets cut

[11Orchid126]

If you say you've taken off a lot of roots, the plant should be able to go back into the original pot. Orchid roots like to be snug in the pot. Too much room means that the medium will stay wet too long and cause the roots to rot.

[dooleycrew]

A lot of roots grew out of the pot, making the root base too large for the old pot. The new roots once cleaned up did not fit without possibly damaging some. Guess I didn't cut as much as I thought. It just SEEMED so much! The pot it went in is only a bit larger. (but deeper, so I added a bunch of decorator marbles to the bottom to fill in the depth issue) I tried to put the orchid back in the orginal pot, but when I started to put it back in, the roots would not bend to allow it to go back in. I tried to curl them a little, but felt the pressure and worried that they would snap. The roots feel like a green bean, and bend about as well!! Some of my roots are over 6 inches long, and the base of the root ball seems to be quite large also. It filled my hand while cleaning it.

[Ron]

Most people like to give phals a big trim, and cut a lot of the roots, so the plant will gorw more.
I dont not do this though! What ever is healthy stays and whatever is rotten gets cut

a photo will tell the story about how much roots to cut of, if done it the warm weather and the plant is healthy. I like to cut all the older roots off, that is usually roots older then 18 months or so.
all the dead and damaged roots, I just bought 4 big Phal. amabilis plants in 6 inch pots, after pruning the the roots I put them back into 4 1/2 inch pots I regulary use.
This is in the middle of an aussie winter but they sit on a hot bed.
New roots are already growing after 5 weeks.
this is how they should react after repotting.
Best of luck
Ron

[kmarch]

Only take the dead ones off. Leave the rest.

[orchids4me]

Hi, I got what you've said. My question is what type of pot did you use... Clay, plastic ? Can you post a pic of it potted up for us?
Thanks
Emmaye

[dooleycrew]

As soon as the camera gets back from vacation... hubbie took it on a backpacking trip for 5 days... I did not use a plastic one, I used a ceramic type pot. He will be back on Thursday night. Camera will most likely need a good charge, so maybe friday I can post pics. Will I know in a few days if it isn't happy in the pot I put it in? The pot it was in was a 6in in pot. The new pot is just a little larger - a 7in pot.

[dooleycrew]

Oh forgot to add, while potting in the new pot the roots are touching the sides... Is that ok? I have room for them to grow down.

[-K-]

It's ok that the roots touch the side, the roots of the ones I have in ceramic attach themselves to it

[11Orchid126]

The next time you repot, soak the roots for an hour or more to make them more pliable.

Also, be sure the ceramic pot has lots of drainage holes, or else the roots may rot.

[ldyedgware]

When do you know it is time to repot?

[Sarah_Racheal]

Originally Posted by Ron

I like to cut all the older roots off, that is usually roots older then 18 months or so.

I just wanted to ask about this way of repotting, do the roots eventually stop being as active over time? or does this help with growth?