Dendrobium roots - repotting

[Jaykay]

Hello,
When I re-potted my Dendrobium this year, the roots were not in the bark medium, instead they all ran between the bark and the side of the pot. Does this mean anything. Also I find re-potting is really difficult. How do you get the roots through the bark? It doesn't shake down like soil.
Would appreciate any replies.

[digitalgate]

going through the bark would be very tough. I have not seen that happened as orchid root is like to grow on the surface. Dendrobium is a latin word for tree orchid. The roots cling on the bark and anchor the plant. May be you should get a smaller size bark to the root to cling to the pot instead?

[janet_a]

the way i do it:

put a spoonful (handful, bunch, whatever your measure is ) of medium in the bottom of the new pot.

stuff the (cleaned off) dendrobium roots into the pot, holding the plant roughly where you want it to eventually end up.

spoon medium into the pot. when it's at the top, start stuffing it down among the roots with your fingers on your free hand. don't be really rough, but you don't have to be overly gentle, either; the roots are fairly tough.

spoon in more medium. work it down with your fingers. bang the pot on the ground/table/counter/whatever to settle the medium. lather-rinse-repeat until the medium's about a half inch or inch below the pot rim and the plant is firm in it. (there are growers who then pick the plant up by the leaves and swing it to see if any medium falls out of the pot. i do not recommend this. )

let the roots grow wherever they want. mine often grow theirs out and over the pot and the medium. i have a photo on here somewhere... i'll see if i can find it.

[syndywindy]

When I've repotted my dens in bark, I've done the same as Janet. Alittle bark, alittle poking with the fingers, tapping the pot on the table to help the bark settle. Also, Dens like to be somewhat potbound, so you should use only the size pot needed. Right now my dens are in S/H and doing great.

[janet_a]

ah, here it is:

http://home.comcast.net/~janet_a/denroots.jpg

that was a big antelope type i had for several years that just liked growing its roots over and out. when i repotted it into a larger pot, i stuffed all those aerials into the pot.

had to dispose of the plant (four feet tall at that point) a few months ago; cymbidium mosaic virus.

[kid a]

I use the eraser end of a pencil to push the mix inbetween hard to get through spaces between the roots I also gently band the post on the table to help it set once its in those tohose hard to get to places

[11Orchid126]

My den's roots were so thick, entwined, and completely pot bound that I discovered that it was impossible to try to separate them and get out the old bark. I was killing the plant when I tried. When I did manage to separate them a bit there was hardly any bark left and it wasn't worth doing the damage. So once I learned that dendrobium roots don't like to be disturbed, I just potted them up to a slightly larger size pot, and proceeded like Janet and Synda suggest.

[davetheorchidaddict]

When studing Forestry I had to study trees, Dendrology, so that is what the name means, they grow in trees. I do not use any medium with my orchids, I will use chunks of wood in a wood basket and they grow well. When I find a plant with roots plastered to the edge of the pot or growing out of the pot it tells me that it does not like the medium and growing in a pot. I have also mounted some Dens on cork bark or cypress or cedar mounts. I always face them the same direction because in the forest attached to trees they always face the same direction, I believe turning them in different directions confuses their growing system.

[orchidlover55]

Janet you don't have it anymore? That is so pretty. Why did it do that? Is it because you repotted and put the roots inside the mixture? That is scary because I would just be sick over that , that is one of the prettiest orchids I have ever seen with all those roots. I am so sorry you lost it. I am just asking because I want to be careful with mine and not do the same thing. Thanks for sharing that info, alot of people can learn from that.

Jaykay, I don't want to miss out on saying to orchidgeeks and thanks for posting this thread I needed to learn from this too.