How can I divide and repot my Cattleya.

[Rishad Kalarikkal]

Hi.(Im a newbie).Please help me to find how to divide and repot my cattleya.It is looking like as if it is crowded.it has been potted in the half of a coconut shell.but now its root are running all into the shell piercing the coconut husk.Now I could find roots comming out of the shell from nowere making it impossible to take the plant out of the shell without cutting all its strong roots.Which I could never do to my child.More over the plant had grown to the edge of the shell and it is now bearing 6 new growths (after the rainy season in my place).And three of them are small and are all from the bottom of a single bulb.Im so confused about how to handle all these stuffs together.(Sry my English is very ).
Any help would be much appreciated.
Thanks

[butt0n]

Cattleyas don't mind being a bit crowded...about how many growths total are on the plant. Also, is it possible to post a picture of it?

[solay]

I wouldn't try to remove it from the coconut shell since that will damage a lot of the roots. You can put the whole thing into a basket or larger container with some bark or coconut husk pieces around it. Just a suggestion. I'm new to Catts. myself so wait for more advice before you decide.

[kmarch]

If the roots are into the shell you may need to break up the shell to free the plant. If it has 6 bulbs I'd wait to divide. Larger plants tend to be more vigorous and bloom better.

[Rishad Kalarikkal]

Im afraid it would take some time.Sorry for the inconvenience.I would try to post it as soon as possible.The picture below is that I took on July 2008..

[Bolero]

It looks like it still has room to grow there, I would wait as well before repotting. It looks really good to me.

[Rishad Kalarikkal]

I have this Cattleya for about 18 months.But it have not flowered after that.It was not bearing any flowers when I bought it.So I dont know whether it had ever flowered.How much long it would take for a Cattleya to fower normally.

[butt0n]

Cattleyas flower from new growths...so expect to see them whenever your growing season is. Also, they like high light, but not direct light.

[fred]

I would not divide that one I would recommend a re pot more than dividing the plant as Bolero has said there is Quote] It looks like it still has room to grow there.

[E-Jag]

This seems like a good time to ask a catt question I have an interest in - can they be grown bare-root in a wooden basket, such as a vanda might be? I was recently gifted a Blc. Chunyeah (Blc. Tassie Barbaro x Blc Kuan-Miao Cheri) which has gorgeous, huge yellow blooms with purple "tongue" (Jesus, Kevin, I'm sorry - no idea what that part of the plant is called), which will need to be repotted next year, and was considering the merits of bare-root, if that's feasible.

[digitalgate]

ok, here a good reason why i dont like to buy catt without flower. Sometime during
cloning or grown from seed. Catt refuse to bloom. If it has never bloom before then it will never bloom .
You have bought a good healthy plant but it has never bloom from the nursery. So
this is the main reason why they sell it dirt cheap. Most nursery owner i knew, do that all the time.But there will be alway bargain hunter think it is cheaper to buy non flowered plant.What they don't know is that it probably never will.

Sometime... quite rare... non flowering type bloom for me after 5 years.

[Rishad Kalarikkal]

Thanks Digitalgate.But Im ready to wait for as long as it takes.It is the only Catt I have got.It is hard to find a Catt in our stores.Now it is raining over here.good news for my new growths.
thanks.

[jerrymeola]

E-Jag

Cattleya grow just fine bare root. It is their natural growing condition. You can chose a basket or mount it on wood.

This summer I am getting much higher bloom rates on my wood mounted Cattleya Divisions than on the same divisions in pots. Normally I figure on two years from a division but most of mine are blooming within 3 months of the division.

[digitalgate]

i hope it help you, sometime buying a plant it is worth looking for plant that has a dried spike (hopefully it mean that it has bloom before) . I wish you success in growing orchid too.