Cattleya roots
 

I unpotten a cattleya I have had for 5-6 months. The roots seem healthy but
there are so many of them packed into the pot there is not much room for
medium. I'm not sure what to do. Nothing? Trim some roots away? Repot in a
larger pot? Thanks.

--
Peter Aitken

Remove the crap from my email address before using.

Peter,

First, congratulations on the healthy roots! Trimming them, in most cases,
is a good thing, as it encourages branching. Usually, if the Catt is
growing vigorously, it will need to "move up" a pot size, so after trimming
and cleaning, choose the smallest pot size that will hold both the plant and
the medium.

HTH

Diana

"Diana Kulaga" wrote in message
ink.net...
Peter,

First, congratulations on the healthy roots! Trimming them, in most
cases,
is a good thing, as it encourages branching. Usually, if the Catt is
growing vigorously, it will need to "move up" a pot size, so after
trimming
and cleaning, choose the smallest pot size that will hold both the plant
and
the medium.

HTH

Diana



Thanks for the advice. Another question if I may. Does trimming consist of
cutting off some of the roots entirely, leaving others intact? Or is it
cutting all the roots back, to (say) half their original length?

On a good note, my Massdevalia is about to bloom!


--
Peter Aitken

Remove the crap from my email address before using.

Thanks for the advice. Another question if I may. Does trimming consist of
cutting off some of the roots entirely, leaving others intact? Or is it
cutting all the roots back, to (say) half their original length?

On a good note, my Massdevalia is about to bloom!

I would trim any mushy roots back until you find good healthy root tissue.
But I wouldn't completely cut off healthy roots just to make the plant
easier to repot, if that's what you mean. I tend to trim them evenly, as do
most of the growers around here. The plant doesn't need five miles of
roots! Whether that means half or not depends on how much you have to begin
with.

Diana