Angræcum sesquipedale re-potting help needed!

[Jacques]

Hi! My Angræcum sesquipedale is about 40 cm high. I have it now for 2 years growing it outdoors in summer and indoors in winter . I know it becomes a big plant and is most probably still too small to flower. The plant nearing it's re-potting but I read somewhere that it's roots hates to be disturbed. It is growing in a medium of gravel and rock wool. I don't want to kill it out of stupidity , please help.

[Roy]

If the mix is only gravel & rockwool it probably doesn't need repotting. There is nothing there to break down. If you can, remove the plant from the pot and check the rots, if they look good, slide it back into the pot and leave it alone.

[Jacques]

Thanks for your help but what must I do if the pot becomes to small. I'm also wondering if it must be mounted or stalked?
Thanks for your help.

[TylerK]

I had similar qualms earlier this year before repotting mine, and it was in decaying bark. Nothing bad happened to even after I removed all the old bark and repotted in hydroton, and it started growing new roots and leaves right away.

Like Roy said, you have nothing that's going to break down, so if the pot gets too small just take the plant, and all the potting medium around it, out of the pot it's in now and put it in a larger pot or basket.

I have never seen anyone grow it mounted, though I have seen pictures of it growing bare root.

[Roy]

If the plant likes the mix its in, use the same mix when you pot it up. The plant is probably flowering size as it is and somewhat mature, what size pot is it in now??? The plant does best for me and most growers I know, it a pot, not mounted.

[Jacques]

Originally Posted by Roy

If the plant likes the mix its in, use the same mix when you pot it up. The plant is probably flowering size as it is and somewhat mature, what size pot is it in now??? The plant does best for me and most growers I know, it a pot, not mounted.

The pot is 5 inches in dia. by 5 high and made of transparent plastic. If I look at the base it's almost a solid white mass of roots.

[Roy]

Thats a very small pot for that plant, I would move it up to a 7 or 8 inch pot and let it go for a few years
provided you use the same mix.

[Jacques]

Thanks I appreciate the help.

[catwalker808]

Just a word of caution. The moisture retention in a big pot is quite different from that in a smaller pot. You mention that you are using gravel and rock wool. I assume that's pea sized gravel. In a smaller pot, you probably get the appropriate draining and evaporation, however, in a large pot, the pea gravel and rock wool combination may become wet in the center of the pot, since the increased depth of mix insulates the center from drying out. In a large pot, it might be advisable to use larger aggregates.

Rock wool does not break down, however, over time it does tend to retain increased moisture ... probably from filtering and retaining any tiny organic matter or minerals from water or fertilizer. It can become a little soggy.

[Jacques]

Thanks! I did not think about that.