Need help repotting SVO L. Mantiqueriae Division

[realoldbeachbum]

Thank you all for the advice.

I "tickled out" as much bark as I could, then put it in a slightly larger pot with orchiata in bottom and around sides. No damage to roots.

I am not experienced enough yet to divide an orchid; gives me the hebbie-jebbies when you folks discuss "cutting the rhizome"!!!!

[Roberta]

No hurry to divide... maybe in a couple of years. A large strong plant is better than several smaller weak ones, in my humble opinion. More growths, more flowers! Eventually it will walk out of the pot in several directions and be a candidate for dividing, when there are too many old leafless pseudobulbs taking up room. But not for quite awhile. By the time it gets to that point, you'll be an old hand at orchid growing. (Remember, we're talking about a few years... orchids teach patience) Enjoy the plant!

[SouthPark]

If it is a one-off kind of orchid - not readily available etc, then dividing can sometimes be beneficial. But definitely good to practise on readily-available ones first, and to ensure satisfactory growing conditions after the dividing.

Dividing to make back-ups can be advantageous ----- eg. backups (eg. a non-virused orchid backed-up can help overcome a possible virus that comes around later ------ if one gets a virus or nasty disease, then the other may not get it).

And the reason for practising adequately on readily-available orchids is ---- I've seen or heard from people that something didn't work out right due to not having suitable growing conditions after the divide (after the potting of the divisions) ------ leading to an unwanted outcome such as both divisions not making it.

[JScott]

I also agree that there is no hurry to divide. A larger plant is a stronger plant, and a nice big plant will put on a great show when it blooms from all the many leads you will have on a big plant. I like to let them get as big as they want and I don't divide often. I love a big plant with lots of flowers at the same time. Once the plant gets too big for a regular pot, I use bulb pans to keep the media at the center of a deep pot staying too wet while the rest of the pot dries out, because I think that is the biggest downside to letting plants get huge. The wider a regular pot is, the deeper it is, and pots that are too deep are terrible for the roots.

The only time I divide is when I can no longer accommodate such a large plant under my lights in the winter. I currently have a Lc Dinard 'Blue Heaven' that is in a 16 inch bulb pan. It just takes up too much space under my lights, and I have plants in windows right now that would benefit from being under the higher, longer light intensity of my T5s, but that Lc Dinard is just taking up so much room under my lights. I think it is time to divide that one. I think I can get four or maybe even 5 big divisions out of it, so I am about to divide that one, but only because I have to. If I had the space, I would let it keep going and get just as big as it wanted to.

[Roberta]

Once you decide to divide, it is very important to do it on the plant's schedule (when it is just starting new roots) , not yours. While some are more forgiving of being repotted/divided out of season (mostly those with more than rooting period) you especially don't want to risk a plant you really like. Especially with dividing... you want to give each division the best possible chance to succeed.

[SouthPark]

For beginners ....... totally agree. It does depend on how you look after and/or manage the orchid - growing environment, growing method, etc.

In general, for beginners ------- go with the method of waiting for root-growing activity when doing a division.

[Roberta]

A note for those who don't follow the "wait for rooting" advice and claim success... Since there are some orchids that are less fussy, those will succeed. The picky ones just die and get forgotten. (Human nature to remember successes more than failures) So the collection becomes those that tolerate what one is giving them... success rate increases in that self-selected population. There are people who say "pot in the spring" ... they will grow well the ones for which potting in the spring is appropriate. The ones that root in the fall are likely to just be absent from their collections.

[SouthPark]

Note - there is often more than one way of doing something successfully. A helpful consideration is to have some idea about what the system is doing.

If the system appears to be doing nothing, then dividing an orchid is highly likely going to mean that the two halves are going to do nothing for a while ----- because the system was just resting in the first place.

It doesn't mean that either half is going to die or have any downturn in health -------- provided that they get treated appropriately (satisfactorily) after the division is done. We just need to provide satisfactory environmental conditions as usual for them to stay alive and healthy.

Originally Posted by Roberta

Human nature to remember successes more than failures

Just like orchids --- where there is such a wide variety of orchids ........ there are a wide variety of human behaviours. Not all humans merely remember successes and forget the failures.