Do catts like to be pot-bound?
 

I got a C. Bright Circle (Bright Angel x Circle of Life) on Valentine's Day. She is climbing out of her pot, and i just noticed the beginnings of new growth, so it's repotting time! She was extremely pot-bound, to the point that some of the outer roots were smooshed flat. I put it in a 4" round pot (it was in a 4" square) but it still seems tight. I have a 5", but that looks too big. How pot-bound do catts like to be?

I'd move it to the 5" pot if the 4" still seems tight. You want to have some time between repotting and I think the 5" pot will give you a year or so, if the 4" pot still seems tight to you.

You know good question, I'm not so great with Catts. I think I can safely say that at least some of them do. One thing though that I've noticed - after I foolishly repotted a bunch of mini Catts regardless of whether they were growing new growths or not - is that some Catts don't take kindly to being repotted period.

After much worrying on my part as to why I killed half of my mini Catts I think in addition to under-watering (but then somehow winding up with rotting new growths) I repotted them at the wrong time and most of them were over-potted. I even had to repot a few yet again. That said one - Blc. Laughing Boy - is majorly overpotted then recently I've noticed it's put out many new roots that are actually quite long (given they have so much room to travel). I may still want to pot this down b/c I think it's safe to assume that Catts do like to be somewhat compact however if it doesn't like to be disturbed I'd almost rather take my chances with the big pot. Just some thoughts, good luck, I'm sure someone more experience (and successful) with Catts will come along with great advice.

This IS a good question. Is there any advantage to Catts being pot bound?
I have read that some Catts are ultra picky, and a repot at the wrong time means no flowers for a year!
Remember that bigger pots mean deeper pots, and deeper can mean very bad news as it is much further for air to travel in, and much more risk of compacted, rotting media.
Catts are epiphytes, and ideally should be mounted roots free and watered appropriately. The further you move away from this, ie the deeper the media you cover the roots with, the closer you get to a problem.

I agree with bil. To make growing Cattleyas even more interesting, you have a few that absolutely hate to sit in damp medium for any length of time (C. aclandiae, for example) and this can carry over to hybrids made with them. For the ones that prefer to dry very quickly, I grow them in plastic Vanda baskets with a thin layer of either red lava rock or LECA. For the others, I grow them in a basket pot with the lava rock/LECA. It is a nice set up as you can put them in a large pot and leave them like that for a few years, then, when the time comes and they need a larger pot, you can drop the entire thing into a large Vanda basket or basket pot, with new lava rock or LECA added.

When you see rotting new growths, it is often a sign of Calcium deficiency. I always mix eggshell in with the LECA and red lava rock and then add new now and then to make certain they have a constant source of Calcium. For some reason, many Cattleyas seem to like extra Calcium.

Oh yes, Calcium! I have been told this before and then woosh the memory went away. ;) Luckily the pot I refer to as holes on the side but I appreciate all the advice, it makes great sense. I probably should repot it and take my chances it will be mad.

I would not re-pot the Cattleya as you will disturb the roots. If you are worried that the pot is too large, just leave it be for the summer and, in the fall, remove as much of the medium as you can (it will likely be broken down somewhat and THAT is when the problems begin). I have taken out nearly all the medium sometimes when it isn't the right time to re-pot a Cattleya but I worried about the roots rotting. Then, when there was new growth, I did the re-pot.

Thank guys! I think for now I am going to leave it in the smaller pot--it wasn't totally crunched, and I'd rather not risk rotting the roots by over-potting it. If it starts to climb up again, maybe i could just drop-pot it. It needed repotting though! The media had the biggest chunks of bark I have ever seen. I was pulling twigs up out of the roots :lol:

In your case going up a size might not be so bad as the plant will now have room to grow and expand, giving it another year or two's worth of space. Good luck either way. :D

No one likes to be pot bound! lol
Epiphytes spread their roots all over the place on the tree they grow on.

In pot culture, that can be rather problematic, so we confine the roots in the pot as much as possible.

You have to realize cattleyas will grow tons of roots each season. Give enough space for them to grow. You will suffer less at the time of repotting.
You want to use large grade bark or something of that sort. Then you don't have to worry about roots rotting because these chunky mix will allow excellent drainage. Also, when the mix is new, they will dry out very fast.