plant wobbly in bark

I read an earlier thread about paphs and when to water. Jason mentioned that when the plant is a bit wobbly that it may have been overwatered and the roots are rotting or some rot. I repotted a Catt hybrid in about April and I just noticed this weekend that it was a bit wobbly.

Would you take it out of the pot to check the roots? You know newbies hate to do this! And if some rot is there would you just trim the roots and put it into a smaller pot with the same medium?

Also I noticed that the same Catt is growing a new root off of one of the p-bulbs. Would an orchid with some rotted roots still produce a new healthy root like that?

Well, the only plant I have that I would be concerned about repotting are angreacum otherwise I would pull any plant out and take a look. I always repot with new medium. Paphs really do not mind being repotted. I have hundreds of them and not one species or hybrid minds. If the roots are rotted then you definitely want new medium.

Second question...yes. :lemmetell

I would check the roots immediately. I would also add that if you end up downsizing the pot size, you may want to use a finer medium appropriate for the new pot size.

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Jason

OK, thanks I will check the roots. They may have been that wobbly all along, I'm not sure but I think not.

Absolutely. That's one of the reasons why root rot on catts is often undetected. Hope you find good news when you pull it out of the pot.

Hi! I unpotted this Catt today and it was not so bad. The roots were growing in about 6 or 7 places.....small roots so far but growth just the same. The other roots were all white but mostly not hollow so I guess they are still viable.

I wonder why wobbly?

I'm just curious if the catt was rooting when you repotted it back in April? Seems odd that it would be rooting then, and rooting now. The nature of orchid potting mixes, their airiness etc. doesn't tend to lend great stability to topheavy plants like cattleyas unless they've had a chance to re-establish. Was it staked?

In general I shy away from unpotting a cattleya to check for rootrot, unless I have a pretty definite idea that's what is going on. Catts are notoriously fussy about repotting - not like paphs or phals. They can easily be set back, and some will just plain die if they're disturbed at the wrong time. Another way of telling whether roots are doing their job is the condition of the pseudobulbs, compared with your watering frequency or whether they continue to put out strong growths. But hindsight is always better than foresight. And that seems especially true of our friends, the orchids.

John

John I don't believe it was rooting when I repotted in April. I didn't know then that rooting is a better time to repot, I had always read when there are new growths is a good time. Since it had 2 new growths I went for it. Maybe that is why it was wobbly, it never rooted properly?

I hope it doesn't get all resentful and sulky.

Cinderella, don't worry about it. It's all part of the learning process. Repotting a a cattleya when it is putting out new growth is partly right. The worst thing to do is to repot when it isn't doing anything. But especially with cattleyas that can take awhile to re-establish, it is important to repot when new roots are starting, which occurs at different stages of growth, depending on the species.

Anyway, here is a link to a very clear cut guide to the dividing and repotting process. I'm sure it will be helpful.

John

http://www.fendersflora.com/orchid%2.../repotting.asp

hmmm, great....

i have a (i think) very young blc. and i've checked it and repotted it several times. the roots are very short and i'm surprised it isn't dead yet. i received it about a month ago and it seemed the roots were rotted cuz they were all brown and, well, rotted :/

anyway, does anyone think it's a goner? also, it is pretty wobbly...should i put it in shade so the plant can concentrate on the roots rather than flower or leaf production?