Originally Posted by K Barrett

Any idea if they are chinese cyms?
http://www.sborchid.com/plantdisplay.php?ocode=CYM11101 see how grasslike
and upright the leaves are and fewer smaller flowers?

Or standard cyms? http://www.sborchid.com/plantdisplay.php?ocode=CYM11948
Maybe you can tell the plant is larger, the flowers rounder, teh leaves
broad and arched.

Chinese cyms come in tall skinny pots 6" or smaller. Standard come in 6" or
bigger, maybe a gallon.

Standard Cym, go ahead in take it out of the pot, check the roots if they're
OK then repot like normal, just remove any crappy medium put it in the next
sized pot, and infill around the sides with whatever medium you usually use.
Yes pot bound is better.

Chinese cyms want a finer medium or sometimes a medium bark around the roots
topped with a fine bark or sphagnum moss. Tall skinny pot. Long roots that
grow down not out or wind around the pot like Catts do.

I'm betting Whole Foods wouldn't sell a chinese hybrid (except maybe Golden
Elf). I bet you have a standard Cym

I use a large serrated kitchen knife if leaning my body weight on a knee on
teh root mass won't allow it to break apart along its natural seam.
Sometimes the knife comes in handy cutting the plastic pot apart, too. I've
been considering a saws all...if I can figure out how to sterilize the blade
between plants...

K Barrett

"C. Berlin" wrote in message
ster.com...
Here's my novice's question: I have several very pretty and fragrant
cymbidiums which were bought, no label, from Whole Foods a few years ago.
They've come in tall skinny black plastic containers. I have been able to
rebloom them several times, but they were less vigorous this year, even
though I gave them a sunnier spot on the porch this summer, and let them
stay out later in the Fall to get some cold exposure (down to high 40's
F). Top growth seems reasonably healthy, but not a lot of new growth. I
wondered if I should repot them. On removing them from their containers,
there was no discernable media, only dense tangles of roots (which did
look healthy) that filled the entire pot. It seemed to me that it would be
impossible to untangle this mass to repot, as I do with other species. I
asked an acquaintance with more experience how he divides his cymbidiums
to repot, and he indicated (I'm not sure whether in jest or not) "with a
machete!" I've read that cymbidiums prefer to be potbound. What should I
do? Just leave these in their original containers and never repot? cut the
root mass apart to divide? put in a larger pot without untangling the
root mass and just pack some new media around the sides?
Any advice will be appreciated.
Chuck Berlin
Pittsburgh