Onc. Sharry Baby needs repotting asap
 

Hi, so my onc. Sharry baby is still in bloom and as some of you may remember I didn’t repot it since I purchased her. Well, it looks like she is in bad need of repotting as there is no medium at all, all roots are a tangle AND inside the root mess is sphagnum moss and sponge. It’s impossible to untangle the horrible root mess without damaging the good roots but I felt it needed repotting asap because it stinks and is rotting in some areas. How do you guys untangle this monstrosity ?? Thanks

You don't. If it were mine, I would've waited... however...spray it hard with the sink sprayer. That should clean out the crud. Then just repot it. I would go big and use a clay pot and fine bark or a spag mix. This is a very thirsty, large growing, plant.

It smells as if I were near a pond. You know that stinky pond smell? That’s why I got nervous ...

I almost wish I could prescribe Valium. 🤣😂😁
Mine smelled the same way. The guys told me just what I told you. Here's a picture of mine last winter. Before and after. It has now filled the 8" clay pot.

This is a tough, vigorous plant. It will be just fine, don't worry.

It looks to me like you've got everything off the roots that you're going to get. Like Dolly said, spray the roots to get any more residue off of the roots, then pot it in small bark, or whatever you prefer. I would pot this one in a somewhat larger pot than you may use for another orchid of the same size. This one grows super fast, and it has tons of roots, so it will fill up a pot pretty quick.

It looks like you're doing the right thing. Carry on.

Lol. I don’t know but I am Probably a bit more nervous about these plants than I should be.... seems like they are more resilient than I think. 🤔 it’s tough getting all of that moss off the base and sides of the plant. So it’s ok to leave some tucked in? Thanks so much!

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

Thank you!

I think you panicked unnecessarily and it didn't need repotting.

Today is a good day to pot, there's football on...so, the consensus is "stop worrying" and go pot. 😉

Oh, well, too late to not repot. I am done. A few broken nails and dry skin (from all that flushing) but this baby is repotted! Thank you all.

I never bother to try untangling the roots of Oncs and similar types when a repot. I grab the plant, shake it to remove whatever medium may fall, drop it in a larger pot, shove some medium in the gap and call it done. New roots quickly colonize the new space, more than making up for any roots that die in the center.