My Cymbidium is ready to pot

[Katherine]

Continuing from Orchiata thread to the subject of potting my Cymbidium..........http://www.rv-orchidworks.com/orchid...tml?highlight=
It took me all day to get the old medium out of the jungle of rotted roots. I think it is happy to have been rescued from the BBS as it has about 3 new p-bulbs, and several new plump roots coming on.
So what the heck is that decomposed sponge stuff? It floats, and was very hard to get out from the roots.

[coeruleo]

not sure what that was? could be rotted old synthetic material called rock-wool?

[Katherine]

It is nasty stuff

[OrchidAddict]

OMG...WOW. I've never found a picture of orchid roots to be unbearably gross before, but yours wins the medal for first orchid photo that actually made me gag (I think it's because my brain registered the pile of brown things as a big pile of worms). Holy shamoley, what a mess.

You just won the award for "bravest rescue" of the year in my book.

Anyway, I believe those are chunks of tree fern fiber stuffed in with your roots. I've encountered it before, but never in such large pieces. Tree fern fiber is a dark, spongy material occasionally used for moisture retention and aeration in orchid mixes (although it seems to have lost its "aeration" properties in your case...that's some old, compacted potting mix!) It can be sold shredded, in "chunks," and in "felt." I looked up some pics of the "chunks" and it appears to be what you're dealing with.

Anyway, you did a kickass job of cleaning up that orchid. It looked a MILLION times better after you fixed it up. You mentioned in your other "Orchiata" thread that some of the p-bulbs are dark and don't look good on your cym. Now, I'm not an expert on Cymbidiums, as I just recently started getting into them, but on the ones I've seen, having old pseudobulbs that are "out of commission" hanging on to a bulb that's growing beautifully seems to be relatively common. I'm not sure why or if it has something to do with the growth cycle or the amount of energy needed for the plant, but they seem to abandon the already-bloomed bulbs fairly rapidly.

I bought two in bloom recently, and they both are super-healthy plants with one bulb blooming, one new growth in progress, and one dead bulb just sitting there. All of the ones I looked at were like that, too. At any rate, from what I can tell, the dried-up brown bulb doesn't seem to be any indicator of the plant's overall health...it's just a used-up hanger-on. I'm not sure if the bulbs are still storing energy for the plant when they're like that, or if they're just, well, dead...but I'm leaving at least one on each of my plants for the time being because that's how they all seemed to come. When my new growth blooms next season, I'll watch to see if the current bulb goes the same route or if it stays green like other orchids.

Does yours have an ID or is it a mystery plant?

And, again, bravo on that rescue...you're a brave soul!

[Katherine]

Thanks Jenn!
I had my bulb soaking for HOURS in a bucked, dashing the plant up and down trying to get the gunk out of the roots. Finally started the root surgery to aid in the gunk removal. After all that I checked the bulbs and all are firm with healthy leaves, so I potted it back into its old pot with Orchiata. So we shall see if it considers me a benefactor.

[OrchidAddict]

Thanks Jenn!
I had my bulb soaking for HOURS in a bucked, dashing the plant up and down trying to get the gunk out of the roots. Finally started the root surgery to aid in the gunk removal. After all that I checked the bulbs and all are firm with healthy leaves, so I potted it back into its old pot with Orchiata. So we shall see if it considers me a benefactor.

I am sure it thanks you kindly!! Hopefully it will reward you with beautiful blooms next season!! You'll have to tell me how you like the Orchiata...I just saw the stuff for the first time and am debating giving it a try.

[Ron-NY]

Best of luck with it!