Help! Long overdue re-pot, rotten roots, phals and cymbidium growing conditions
 

Hello, I am new to this forum and am very happy for any help that I receive. I have three phalaenopsis (one of which was just recently purchased) and 1 cymbidium, all of which I recently re-potted. The poor cymbidium was in the same pot for several years, so by the time I finally go around to re-potting it, all media was gone and it was a giant ball of roots. I cut back the ones that were a bit rotten, but couldn't break up the mass much, so I just put it in a larger pot with new bark media. Was this an okay move or should I have made more effort to break up the pseudobulbs?

I also have two phals which I've had for years, and suffered a major loss of both leaves and flower spikes last year when they froze as I moved across the country. They were coming back (slowly), forming new roots and looking okay, but I decided to re-pot as they both had been in the same bark media for years. One of them (clay pot) actually had a tiny leafy growth at the base (keiki?) which I didn't notice until I had already shaken it free from the media it was in. I don't think that survived. One phal (photo 1) had aerial roots that now have rusty brown spots on them, where there weren't any before the potting.

The other phal I just purchased from Lowe's for $1 had soft and wrinkled leaves, but seems to be coming back from the brink of death. I did notice that some of the roots that were okay when I potted it now seem to be dying. Should I take this plant out and cut those roots off, or leave them alone for now and let them settle into their new pots?

I'm guessing that I probably need to be patient and allow these poor plants time to acclimate to their new media. But, any suggestions you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

:welcomeflowers:

Getting through the mass of Cym roots can be quite a job! You can cut off the bottom 1/3 of the root mass, which helps a bit; Then I use a chopstick or similar instrument to poke into the mass, and wiggle it around, to help loosen things up. I also use the jet setting on a hose sprayer attachment, and repeat ;) There are usually dead roots in the center. Now, Cyms are pretty tough, so I don't think yours will die, or suffer for not having done so, but I think in the future you should do so. It looks like it could have gone into a smaller pot (usually, leave room for 2-3 years new growth) - but, I have some Cyms (divisions given to me), that were over-potted, and I just left them, and they've been fine. It is important that the pot drains well.

Links to Cym care/culture here: http://www.orchidboard.com/community...ure-links.html

The first Phal looks ok, I think ... Exposed roots may have gotten minor damage, or dry spots. The other, I would suspect (tho may be wrong), that it should go into a smaller pot - you want to use a pot that you can just get the roots into without having to force it.

You may wish to read the first few - several pages of this thread: http://www.orchidboard.com/community...ends-here.html