need advice!

[Flaorchid]

I recently bought a vanda orchid from lowes. it came in a small wooden basket and I thought it needed a slightly bigger one so i repotted it. i had to tear some stems that were attached to the old basket. only after that did i read that i should have soaked the roots in water to prevent that. how badly did i set it back and what can i do to promote new stems?

[pikevi]

Hello Flaorchid,

Welcome to the forum.

I am new to the forum. But my lay-opinion is that it may depend on the extent of the damage. I am also wondering if you mean 'roots' when you refer to them as 'stems'.

And if you can post a photo it may help the experienced members to give you a definite answer.

Good luck with the Vanda.

[jerrymeola]

Vanda roots grow very easily and will grow back fairly soon. Next time you see a large Vanda in a basket six inches or larger look in the center and you will see that the 4 inch basket is still there. Normally dealers just add a bigger basket without removing the old basket.

I mount my Vanda on wire hangers rather than baskets. When I wanted to order them from Thailand without baskets, they said they did not have any but to just cut the roots off and remove it from the basket. Cutting off all the roots will not kill the plant.

[Flaorchid]

thank you again and yes i meant roots...not stems!

[pikevi]

hi,

If Vanda roots will grow fairly rapidly why is it suggested to keep the old baskets intact (so roots are not damaged) when remounting them?

Is it okay to try and romove the old 'plastic' baskets as carefully as possible before "re-potting"? Or is it a definite 'NO'?

Thank you

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

Jerry is talking about a wooden basket in a wooden basket, not a plastic basket in a wooden basket. Placing one basket inside another is a quick way of up grading for a plant that will not be growing in a mix. You can cut the plastic basket into pieces to prevent damage to roots. I would not recommend that the beginner start life out for a Vanda as rootless. Leave that for the experienced grower with high humidity.

[pikevi]

Thanks Cynthia.

Point noted.

I just 'basketted' a Vanda after removing the plastic basket. It took me a while to extricate the roots from the sides of the basket as well as from the mesh. There was a little damage to a few roots and I hope it is not severe.

I will post both photos tomorrow since I am exhausted after spending hours trying to remove the roots from the plastic

[pikevi]

Hi,

As promised here are the 'before' and after' photos of the Vanda.

I hope I did not make a mistake is selecting a huge basket . I could not get any pot that would have accomodated all the roots.

[jerrymeola]

I always recommend with reading advice to understand why the specific advice was given.

Avoiding damage to roots will never hurt a plant while cutting large amounts of healthy roots needs to be done with care and experience. So advice to hobbyist is to avoid damage, while commercial growers may do something else.

Plastic pots do cut easily into small pieces and can be removed easier. I cut all the plastic pots off mine to place them on hangers instead. When I do this I may cut off as much as 60% of the roots, because I determined that they were old, useless and ugly. That comes from experience and the need to have a better looking plant for sale.

Flaorchid
Your root structure in the original pot was beautiful to my taste. I would never have hidden them in a bark basket. Those roots had been growing for years in air and now they are contained. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder so do what looks best to you.

My Ideal orchid is roots like yours on a hanger that makes it looking like it is floating in air.