Repotting/Dividing an overgrown catt (Robert Strait)

[FLBob]

While an orchid is growing well I'm hesitant to disturb it for a repot. I put it off as long as I can, sometimes for waay tooo long.
My Robert Strait is a perfect example, here's a shot of the plant




As you can see this plant is happy, but it's out grown the pot and most of the new pseudobulbs are growing outside and the roots have totally wrapped around the outside of the pot.




My goals are:

1. to remove the orchid from the pot
2. decide if I keep it as one plant or divide it into multiple plants
3. save the pot ( a minor goal but with the cost of clay pots a goal none the less)
4. do as little harm to the plant as possible.

To begin; early this morning I placed the plant in a 5 gal bucket of water. I added a bit of fertilizer and since I just received my worm tea a bit of wt was added to the water. the plant has been soaking for about 3 hours now and I hope that the roots will be pliable enough to make this process possible.

Shot of plant soaking in bucket




Wish me luck. (say a prayer for Robert Strait)I'll take a few shots of the process, and the final results.

The surgery begins....

[FLBob]

So after about 15 minutes with a butter knife I've removed the roots clinging to the pot from the pot. I'd like to say that all the roots were undamaged, but I lost a couple of green tips and a few root that grew back into the pot had to be shorten.

Here's a shot of the roots free from the pot



I placed the plant back in the water to soak more before attempting to free the plant from the pot.

[FLBob]

Well the pot didn't make it. But now the plant is out of the pot with the vast majority of the roots intact. I tried to pull the plant from the pot and just felt that the plant was more important than the pot. Sooo I called on mr. hammer.

Here's the plant free of the pot

[FLBob]

I need to remove all the old potting media, so I pull out the garden hose and spray the roots. I work the roots with my fingers to separate the roots and loosen the old media.

Here's the plant with most of the media removed.



I looked to divide the plant and found one easy point to separate. I use a sharp knife and cut through the rhizome.



Where I cut, I sprinkle with cinnamon. Most times I will add a pint of bleach to my soak water to kill everything that could harm the plant. Since I'm using worm tea in the soak I decided not to use the bleach. The cinnamon should help to protect the plant.



Now I need to repot/mount the 3 pieces. I think I'll mount the small piece on some cork.

[florchidlvr88]

Well done Bob! Thanks for the how too.

[Fishmom]

This is a great set of pictures, much appreciated as I have an overgrown cattleya that I will be repotting after it blooms. Do you really mean that you use a pint of bleach in a 5 gal. bucket of water? That seems like a lot, though I imagine it really would take care of any bugs or fungus. Is there really no effect on the plant if you are soaking it for several hours?

[FLBob]

I add the bleach after I've divided the plant, and let the divisions sit in the soak for a few minutes. I let the divisions rest a few minutes and then hose them off. Sorry I wasn't clear. The bleach will kill any badness.

[kmarch]

Its a fantastic tutorial on how to repot/divide an over grown cattleya. I'm going to make it sticky and adjust the title. Thank you so much for this!!!

[FLBob]

Well the job is now done. I have 2 pieces in baskets, one in a tube of cork, and a little piece on a slab of cork.

To put the orchid pieces in the baskets I first place a piece of filter cloth in the bottom of the basket.
The purpose of the filter cloth is to keep the potting mix from falling out between the slats.


I then place a layer of large charcoal and aliflor on the bottom.



Then I'll place a mound of my potting mix in the center of the basket. I use a large potting mix with my larger catts. I want a well drained mix that will not breakdown during the Florida summer rains. My mix is charcoal, aliflor, and large bark chunks.



I place the plant on top of the mound and place the media around the outside edges, working it up under the plant and around the roots. When I'm done the plant is secure in the basket, you can just about pick the plant up by it's pseudobulbs. If I'm unable to secure the plant with the mix alone I'll use a piece of bamboo under the top slat across the rhizome and under the slat on the other side.

Here's the final results



BTW - The little piece on the slab of cork is attached using gorilla glue.

[mayres]

Any pics of this plant blooming? I have a smaller version of this plant and it is one of my favorites. Great set of pics to illustrate all that you did. THANKS for posting.

[lmartiny]

I have a couple of questions. Is that special filter paper for orchids? I lose bark mix through the bottom in recent repots. The bamboo through a lower slat also a great suggestion as I'm struggling keeping a phal upright in new mix.
On the bleach. If it is safe to soak as such, then does that mean it would be safe for me to dip a large, bulky mount with dens and a phal into the pool to water it? Or a very long Vanda?
Also, I've got an oncidium that I think needs a repot that is in a basket. When I can, I'll post some picts in a new thread and will look forward to the advice.

[FLBob]

Imartiny - The filter cloth is just landscape cloth, I bought it at Home Depo years ago. I use it for sooo many things.

I think that pool water would be safe. The water coming from the city as about the same amount of chlorine that's in my pool.

Mayres - I just checked and can't locate a photo of Lc. Mem Robert Strait 'Blue Hawaii'
I know I took photos back in Oct. when it was in bloom.

[rodbender]

Great tutorial and great job with the pics!! Well done

[Danelady]

Thanks for this tutorial.
I also have a catt that is growing outside the pot. There are a lot of roots covering the outside of the pot as well. This is my first, and so far only, catt and I have no idea how to go about repotting it!! This has helped a lot!!
I do have one question. When is the right time to repot? It was in bloom when I got it a couple of months ago. The leaves are still growing, though it has not bloomed for me since I brought it home. None of the roots have green tips.

[articuno75]

Great tutorial. I wished there was something like this sooner. It might have come in handy and could have even probably saved my monster sick Catt that I had. Now I have only small divisions of it. This is a great information piece that I know will be very valuable.

[jerrymeola]

Here are the flower pictures of two cultivars of Robert Strait..





A well done tutorial of one method of re-potting. There are many different ways to treat re-potting and this is probably the most common for hobbyist.

Try using coffee filters as a bottom in baskets to keep the bark in the basket. I personally use sphagnum in a very thin layer but many people would not feel comfortable with sphag.

Obviously this method would be too labor intensive for commercial use. Unfortunately we remove the plant with much more root damage and too often there is much more in rotting roots than FLBob's excellent plant. After removing rotted roots there may not be much left.

After cutting the plant into as many divisions as desired, the pieces are left on the bench (or in crates) for several days or weeks depending on how busy we are. The roots are left to dry and be cauterized by the sunlight. The plant responds by initiating new roots.

I am not suggesting anyone use this method, it is scary for a hobbyist. I only wanted to point out the ability of orchids to handle much harsher methods.

[FLBob]

I used sphagnum on the bottom of the second smaller basket. I showed the filter cloth because it's what more people I know use. I've also seen screen and a fabric web material used.

Danelady - I really don't know what is the best time to repot, I've heard many opinions.
I prefer to repot after the plant blooms. I think repotting tends to shock catts a bit so I want them to bloom first (some of mine only bloom once a year).
I've also learned that if a plant starts to appear stressed that the most likely problem area is the potting media. So if there is no other obvious reason for the stress I repot.

[Danelady]

Thanks. Mine has some new growths going. I moved them closer to a light source so I'm still holding out for blooms?? I think I may repot in the spring when I'm ready to put them outside. The medium is densely packed, so I know it's time. I just have to decide if I want to put the whole thing into one bigger pot or divide the plant.

[trinigirl]

This is a wonderful tutorial. I am going to try repotting an overgrown catt into a basket as shown. I tend to have a problem with rotting roots on catts here in Houston, so a basket should hopefully work better than a pot.

[NancyG]

What a beautiful plant.Thanks for the demo, very helpful. Hope it blooms for you soon.

NancyG

[FLBob]

trinigirl - you may want to look a using different potting media. A lot of the bark mixes don't hold up well. I've switched to a mix of charcoal and aliflor with large bark pieces because the smaller mostly bark mixes broke down in less than a year.
A local orchid grower Jeff Higel of Orchids Etcetera makes a mix that doesn't break down at all, I just started several of my plants in it. It does so well for him that he just up pots the orchids he's growing in it. I liked working with it so much I've decided to move all my Oncidiums to it.

[lissie0113]

This is such an awesome post! thank you! but may i ask, what is the cinnamon for? how do you/where do you use it? also, i just came from my favorite orchid spot and picked up some Superthrive, which i have never used before. Is this something that can be used in addition to worm tea?

[fred]

here you go Melissa this link will help you
What is the benefit of Cinnamon?

[lmartiny]

Jerry, The coffee filters were an awesome suggestion. I just used them for repotting my newcomers into baskets.

[Kayla]

I will be coming to you when I need some help repotting...which may be sooner than I think

[Raptuserum]

Hi guys, newbie here, this thread is of a great help!! My catt walkeriana is jsut about to bloom, I'm planning to divide it after the last bloom, pot's getting too crowded!

Kudos guys, happy and healthy orchid divisions!

[CharliesAngel51]

This is a great tutorial . Great job!!.

[Witchypoo]

Thanks FLBob for that great post with all the pics. I have a couple of cattleyas with more growth outside the pot than inside, so come the warmer months I will invite Mr Hammer, Mr Butterknife to a working-bee and see how we go.
WP

[Zsophia]

Hi,
I am new here and new with orchids as well. My question is the chorcoal - is it a special chorcoal or it is what you buy for BBQing? If so what kind do you recommend? Can you use only charcoal for outside living Florida Orchids? Thanks for you post I learned a lot!

[FLBob]

Originally Posted by Zsophia

Hi,
I am new here and new with orchids as well. My question is the chorcoal - is it a special chorcoal or it is what you buy for BBQing? If so what kind do you recommend? Can you use only charcoal for outside living Florida Orchids? Thanks for you post I learned a lot!

The charcoal is most definitely NOT the type you use for BBQing. It's a horticultural charcoal.
Charcoal is used in many orchid mixes, and used by many growers.

[OrKid]

Hi Everyone, newbie here. Thanks for all the tips!

[exasperatus2002]

Great job!!

[rschluss]

thanks so much for this great tutorial!