"prem_s" wrote in message
...
Vestman wrote:
Hi everyone!
Iīve just bought two giant Onc. (or odont.?) by giant, I mean the bulbs
are
VERY big and seem healthy, and there are a lot of roots showing all over
the
place. I am assuming they are onc. because they look exactly like my
onc.
sharry sweet baby, same kind of leaves and bulbs.
But it is planted in a small pot, 10 cm in diameter. And reading my
orchid
books by Rittershausen, they like to 'sit tight', but they seem very
overproportioned, and am worried about watering them too much, because
there
isnīt a lot of media in those pots. I thought to leave them alone for
some
time and keep an eye on growth. I keep them in a window which gets lots
of
morning sun, and they are in a bigger pot with some leca stones on the
bottom to help with the humidity.
Does anyone have any advice as to the growing media and if I should
repot?
I wouldn't repot. It's also harder to overwater plants when they
are nicely rootbound for just the reason you say...there is little
media to remain wet...the roots will quickly absorb the water they
need, leaving the media to dry quickly enough to reduce the likelihood
of rot.
===Prem
high quality orchid stock photos:
http://www.premdesign.com/orchidpics/orchidpicshq.htm
I wouldn't repot yet either. And when I did I'd use a pot *just* large
enough to accomodate the remaining root ball. Becasue these do like to be
pot bound.
But the idea that a root bound plant won't rot because there isn't any
medium to stay moist isn't true. If there's only roots in a pot (or
preponderance of roots in a pot) and you keep them too wet then they will
rot like crazy, whether there's any medium or not. Rot doesn't depend on
presence or absence of medium. It depends on the amounts of moisture
balanced with air to the roots. So the take home message is to keep the
plant evenly moist, just like any other orchid you have.
K Barrett