That Creep Mr Rhizome :)

[tom499]

The two catts I bought for great prices have a down side i guess.

There in need of a repot, as the rhizome is well over the pot side for both.

From reading round I seem to have several options. I can remove the plant from the pot, repot in a bigger pot.

Or I can put the pot into another and fill the gaps will bark so not disturbing the plant.

Both plants look pretty root bound but im still worried about rot inside from medium breakdown.

Any advice would be great.

(I'll add pictures when I can, the attachments thing keeps timing out

[Tobi]

Hi Tom,
If there is a concern of root rot, I would repot into a larger pot that would accommodate
2-3 years of new growth. Pry out as much of the old media as you can and trim off any
dead roots. Position the plant with the oldest pseudobulbs to the edge of the new pot.
Spread out the roots and fill in with new media, firmly but gently pressing down as you
go along. You want to build up the media until the rhizome rests just on the surface
approximately 1/2 inch below the rim of the pot. Keep the roots relatively dry, give
it good humidity and keep the light more on the lower side for awhile until the roots
have time to get established.

[tom499]

Well im still unable to post photos

I've read in different places slightly different info on when to repot. A book 'Orchids care and cultivation' insists that psbulbs and roots coming over the side is a sign of neglect and repotting should be immediate, while other places say only repot in spring. Looking at the latest bulb i would say its building up for new growth so i reckon both instances apply. Just need to find a pot big enough!

[tom499]

Here are photos of the plant in question.

The roots are browner than they appear. But seem to feel more fleshy than mushy.

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

I think both are dead wrong. Spring is not the time to repot, only for plants that put out new roots on the new growth in spring should be repotted in spring. The time to repot is when the new growth just starts its flush of new roots, which can be any time from the condition of your current new growth, all the way to the time the growth is fully mature and ready to start another new growth. That could mean that a plant, repotted at the stage yours is at, could easily be near rootless, depending on the damage done in repotting, for up to 10 months. Not a good prospect. As for a growth over the side, it just helps to see when the new growth starts it flush of new roots.

[Leisurely]

I totally concur with everything Cynthia said. Does it not make sense that the plant will establish quicker if it is growing new roots when you re-pot it?

[MSPProductions]

I agree with Cynthia as well. I would just add that new roots can also come from the recently bloomed back bulb as well. Just keep an eye, you'll know when to repot.

[wieb]

My cattleya that I just repotted was also very root-bound, looking very similar to Tom's root-bound cattleya, pictured above. Mine was potted originally in a rocky, lava rock-type mixture and I was re-potting to a bark medium.

My first question is the same as Tom's -- should I have simply placed it in a larger pot and filled the space in around it with bark? In Tom's case, it look like his was already in bark and I assume he was re-potting in bark. Mine would have been bark on the outside with rock on the inside.

I did not think it would have been a good idea to have two different types of media with different water-retention, water-flow, & air-flow characteristics. So I attempted to tease away a lot of the small lava rocks buried inside the root-ball -- but I left quite a few rocks up there. I damaged some roots as I tried to open up the rootball, but for the most part all the roots looked okay when I was done. Then I tried to stuff a lot of bark up inside this cavity where the rock was prior to placing in the new pot. I am sure it is not nearly as tightly packed up in there as that lava rock was.

In Tom's case, bark-to-bark ... leave the bounded roots untouched upon re-potting or try to remove a lot of the encased medium which eventually would breakdown further?

In my case, rock-to-bark ... would you do the same as what I did, or would you have approached it differently? Thanks.

[tom499]

That is why I thought to repot now. The newest red growth is growing, and the 2nd newest growth is putting out roots.

The plant is totally root bound and from de potting I've found a mud like substance in the middle with brown roots.

Its in a new pot thats bigger, but to make up for it theres a good layer of polystrene pieces to help drainage.

[tom499]

BTW I didnt cut off all the roots, I figured if they were healthy I leave them on like other orchids.

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

Tom, is this the first roots to come from the recently mature growth? If so, now is the time to repot. If you are only seeing roots growing from older roots, it may not be too good to repot now, but you will just have to wait and see how things go. If you did not remove 100% (or 98%?) of the old bark you are probably going to have to keep an eye on the older section and be prepared to repot again in a year or so. If you removed all the old mix, you should be good for about 3 years.

I would say that one should never remove all roots unless one lived in a very tropical climate, and even if I did, I wouldn't do that.

Wieb, you don't ever want to have dissimilar mixes in different parts of a pot. You'll never get the watering right for both at the same time. A few chunks of rock here and there won't hurt things, just be sure you are checking the moisture level in the bark, not in a denser part of the rocks.

[kmarch]

A few thoughts:

1) Orchids over grow pots. It's a fact of orchid life. With Cattleyas, which can grow 2 or more cycles in one year, an over grown plant could be as simple as choosing not to repot for as little as 6 months to a year. I disagree that an overgrown plant is the emergency, the sign of neglect, the book makes it out to be. Especially since some cattleyas can grow so freaking fast. Your plant looks healthy and the roots look good, at least what I can see form the pic. No emergency from what I can see.

Therefore normal repotting seems to be in order.

2) When they say pot in spring, I think they are saying repot when thenew growth cycle starts. This is the time Cynthia (and others) prefer, when new roots are coming.

3) I dissagree that the ONLY time to repot is when new roots have started. I regularly repot my Cattleya Alliance orchids after they bloom, when they spend a few weeks doing nothing before new growth starts. Some says this damages roots and sets the plant back: in my experience this is simply not true. My cattleyas do not miss a beat. I also do not like the idea of repotting when there are tender new roots to be damaged. Damaging these roots will set your plant back, so why risk the damage if it is not necessary?

[tom499]

From reading around It seems different people all have different views.

The plant seems very healthy and I've been able to keep alot of the roots, with some new ones growing, and it has a semi mature growth which will hopefull root soonish.

I spent over an hour with a washing up bowl of tepid water and a waste bucket carefully removing as much of the old bark as possible, and its now in a bigger pot with a bottom of polystrene and the rest is medium bark so it should be good for a year or two.

Is there anyway to control the growths? I see some catts growing in straight lines, while others will grow in all directions. Would be better if Catts would fill the pot in all directions, otherwise in 2 years I'll be using a windowsill planter!

Thanks for all the help guys, you make orchid books look like just a pretty front cover

[kot444]

First, Merry Christmas to all.
Second, my two cents to time to repot. I've got this catt in beginning of September in bud, it was outbound and three last grows were hunging in the air with plenty of areal roots, but after finishing flowers it was sitting for about two months doing nothing only roots were drying and drying (my humidity isn't so good as in greenhouse, I suggest) and I felt I was about to loose the plant. So I repotted without any new growth and any new roots and also had to trim all dried areal roots. As plant grows in one direction, I didn't put in big pot but used blueberry basket (Tom, like your suggestion about windowsill planter, I'm almost there too). In two weeks after repotting there were new growth and a lot of new roots not only from last flowered growth but two growths back also.
I read somewhere that it is possible not to divide cattlea but just cut the rhizome somewhere in the middle right in the pot to force the plant to produce additional grows. Is it good idea?
Natalia

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

You can cut (sterile cutter) half way thru to stimulate a growth further back, but I would do this no further forward than at the back of the third mature growth back from the front.