Long overdue Cattleya repot - advice wanted

[wiyosaya]

I am attaching some pictures of a Cattleya that I have had for many years, and it is long overdue for repotting. One of the pictures is the plant in full flower from its blooming this past fall. Procrastination has gotten the best of me. I am looking for advice of what to do, and how to split this. This will be my first experience with something of this nature. If anyone has any suggestions, I would like to hear them.

I have some orchid bark lying around, however, it is currently in sphagnum moss. I tried the bark once before, but it seemed like I had better results with the moss, so I am reluctant to switch at this time. I would also be interested in your thoughts on changing the media for this repot. I hope to repot within the next two weeks.

Thanks in advance!!

[Roberta]

Where do you live? What are your growing conditions? I suspect that any sphagnum that was in the pot is long gone - or if anything is left, it's just fibers. So it's well-drained. Also, lots of roots are outside the pot (probably most of them... so if the ones in the middle are dead it doesn't matter because there are plenty of new ones. Catts do need excellent drainage, this plant seems to have take care of the issue itself.

For a start, the time to repot is when the plant is just starting new roots. If it isn't doing that, I suggest that you wait until it reaches that point. New roots establish quickly into new medium. (And I do think that bark is the better medium - that pesky drainage thing...) As far as how to manage this beast, others will have some good suggestions. But the most critical thing is to wait until the plant is just starting new roots.

[estación seca]

I agree with waiting until you first notice root nubs. Repot when they're as short as possible.

If you're not space limited you could just drop it into a larger pot, leaving a 2"-3" / 5-7.5cm gap all around. Backfill with large medium.

If you must divide it, decide where you want to make the cuts. Take it out of the pot. You might need to use a butter knife down the inside of the pot to loosen roots. Use a garden hose outside with the strongest water pressure to rinse off as much old medium as possible. Make the cuts. Use your fingers to work the roots until you can pull apart the pieces.

[Keysguy]

As others said....wait until you see those new bright green root tips forming.

Step 1- soak the hell out of it for an hour or so before you do anything. That will make the roots more pliable and they will be easier too get off the pot.

Step 2- that looks like a clay pot. It will probably be way easier to sacrifice the pot at this point and you'll end up doing less damage to the plant. Just pop it easy with a hammer a couple of times. I suspect there is so much internal pressure on the clay that it will snap apart pretty easy once you get it started.

Step 3- gently work the roots off of the shards of clay as best as you can. I use a very dull old round ended butter knife. Don't use sharp edges and make sure whatever you use has been sanitized with alcohol, bleach or a good hot flame. If you opt for the latter, let it cool off before you go to work.

Step 4- you should be able to see some areas that would make easy natural divisions. If at all possible, just try and pull those apart with you hands. Try and get at least 6 pseudobulbs per division.

That flower looks familiar to me, what is it?

[Diane56Victor]

Looks like Rlc. Hawaiian Lighting Fiesta. I just happened to see picture of one for sale this morning.

[Roberta]

I would not worry about getting the shards of the broken pot off the roots... bits that are still attached will do no harm, removing them may damage roots. Same for old medium that may be stuck on - by the time you have washed the rootball with a hose, you will have cleaned off anything bad clinging to roots. So take what comes off easily, but don't worry about the bits that may cling. Root preservation, especially the newer ones, is more important than getting it completely "clean".

[Keysguy]

Sorry--- got the dinner call and didn't get to finish my above recommendations.

If the hand separation approach doesn't work, use a really sharp sanitized knife and try to avoid hitting the pseudobulbs. (You wont be able to avoid chopping some by the looks of that) And when all else fails, as I have told folks before on this forum.....go to the sawzall with a sanitized blade.

Once you have it apart. I treat all the open wounds with a cinnamon paste, pot them up and you should be good to go.

---------- Post added at 07:04 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:02 PM ----------

Agree totally with what Roberta said about the small stuck pieces of pot. They'll make for good drainage in your media of choice.

[wiyosaya]

Thanks to all who have replied.

I am going to repot this weekend. I was busy looking for new pseudobulbs as a sign to repot, and I missed, until this past weekend, the new roots which are about 4 - 6 inches long at this point. I have the book "Home Orchid Growing" by Rebecca Tyson Northern and even though it is now the second best time to repot, according to the book, I'm going to do it this weekend, anyway. Otherwise, I'll be procrastinating another year.

I am also going to divide it. I figure I will have to do so at some point anyway, so I will attempt to get six pseudobulbs. I want to also get rid of the pseudobulbs that have burned leaves. I will use cinnamon on any injuries.

It is in a clay pot, so I might end up breaking it, and I had planned on soaking it prior to the repot attempt.

Originally Posted by Roberta

Where do you live? What are your growing conditions? I suspect that any sphagnum that was in the pot is long gone - or if anything is left, it's just fibers. So it's well-drained. Also, lots of roots are outside the pot (probably most of them... so if the ones in the middle are dead it doesn't matter because there are plenty of new ones. Catts do need excellent drainage, this plant seems to have take care of the issue itself.

I'm in upstate NY region 6b.

Thanks again for the suggestions/tips.

---------- Post added at 01:39 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:34 PM ----------

Originally Posted by Keysguy

That flower looks familiar to me, what is it?

Flower? I am not sure what you mean. I know there are flowers on the cat in the picture I posted. I bought the plant from Lowes many years ago. It was a Better-Gro cat.

[Roberta]

Treat those little green root tips carefully, they are VERY fragile, and if broken won't continue to grow. They may branch, however.

Also be sure that each division has at least 3 pseudobulbs that are firm and green. (Leafless or burned leaves is OK, they're still reserves) 4 or 5 is better. Small divisions tend to be weak... so you want to give each piece the strength that comes from bulk.

[estación seca]

Given that the roots are so long I wouldn't take it apart now. I would drop pot it into a larger pot and repot the next time it makes roots. Just another opinion.