Wooden baskets engulfed by large cattleyas - is Repotting even possible?

[piping plover]

Originally Posted by DirtyCoconuts

And thank you for the excellent photo essay. It is so great to be able to see everything as described.

I’m a simple man who likes his pictures books, what can I say lol

You're welcome. I am the same way. I like to see visual step by steps too. When I attempt to do some new gardening task that is new to me, I try to remember to photograph the steps just in case it may have interest to others with a similar situation or puzzle to solve. Thanks again for your interest and for the kind words.

[piping plover]

So, this time it was my Brassia Edvah Loo ‘Nashida’ that was set to into a larger wooden basket. Makes for a very heavy basket. I needed to be careful as this plant was blooming at the time, roots were not disturbed, however.

[DirtyCoconuts]

Wow. Those are NUTS

[piping plover]

Originally Posted by DirtyCoconuts

Wow. Those are NUTS

Thank you!!

What is so weird is that I have this plant for over 4 years and it never bloomed. Then I started a new job 400 miles away from home in winter this year and could not take my orchids. Anyhow, relatives kindly cared for my plants but I almost lost my entire orchid collection in 3 months from lack of water. With Covid travel I couldn’t travel home. The weird thing is that brassia was neglected enough to be happy and bloom. Go figure...

[Roberta]

Originally Posted by piping plover

The weird thing is that brassia was neglected enough to be happy and bloom. Go figure...

Aha! You have found the secret, fear works... a little stress convinces the plant that it had better hurry up and reproduce. If things are too ideal, they can get lazy and do a lot of roots and leaves.

[SouthPark]

Originally Posted by piping plover

Unfortunately, I lost the name tag eons ago and can’t tell anyone the name. The most reliable bloomer though.

Maybe it's just still embedded somewhere inside the bark pieces inside the basket somewhere!

[piping plover]

Originally Posted by Roberta

Aha! You have found the secret, fear works... a little stress convinces the plant that it had better hurry up and reproduce. If things are too ideal, they can get lazy and do a lot of roots and leaves.

Thank you Roberta! That makes sense to me and I will remember that. I had to drive back just as it was opening blooms and was never able to experience the fragrance of the flowers. I hear they are very fragrant. Oh well, will have to catch it after the next stress event flowering.

[SouthPark]

Could always compare against Lc. Stephanie Staser.

[piping plover]

Originally Posted by SouthPark

Could always compare against Lc. Stephanie Staser.

Thank you! I’ll look that one up. Here’s a photo of when it fully opened.

[piping plover]

Cattleya Orchid roots *attacking* my baskets again. I know, I know...being facetious . It’s been a year since that first re-basketing project. As you can see from 2nd photo below the roots have descended down to the new outer basket. My hope was that the old and new baskets would bind together with new roots and now the roots are adhering to the new basket. The first photo was a year ago when newly repotted.