healthy Catt roots

[Cinderella]

Does anybody have a picture of healthy Catt roots? I am in the process of repotting a Catt, have only repotted a Catt once before, and I'm not sure if either of them has had healthy roots.

The current one, Pot. Dal's Moon, is in sheath and has several new roots growing in that area, white with green tips. But the rest of the roots look brownish and dried out. I have only had this orchid for 2 or 3 months and it went into sheath during that time so how unhealthy could the roots be? Just wondering what healthy Catt roots really look like.

Thanks!

[Heather]

Yes...Lja does.

Click on the link, and then the "How to repot an orchid step by step" link. The example is a cattleya.
http://www.rv-orchidworks.com/cultivate/care.html

[Cinderella]

Thanks....I will keep that for later. Our computer has a spybot (worm, not a virus) and I can't click on links 'till we fix it.

[Jmoney]

Old (but viable) catt roots are brownish, but they are not hollow and will not pull off if you tug gently at them. The roots from the last couple growths are whiter but may still be tinged with brown while inactive. Only the active ones are really white.

[Cinderella]

Thanks Jason. How many "active" roots should one expect in a medium sized Catt? I know all of this is relative so say a 4 inch pot with, like, 5 bulbs?

[Jmoney]

zero if it's resting. a whole bunch if it's growing. i'm not trying to be facetious, but different catts grow at different times. usually a new growth during the summertime is associated with root growth, but it can vary.

i've also had neglected catts that only have roots from the newest 2 growths. catts are very easy rooters in general, so even two growths can generate plenty of roots for an average-sized plant.

[Heather]

Hmm, lets see..I had one new pbulb on my Haiku Dawn and....at least *8* new roots that I can see - this is a 3" pot w/ 6 or 7 pbulbs.

My Iwan. H. has 4 new growths and it has more new roots than I can possibly count since February, when it started sprouting new growths - one grew better than the first. I thought it was dying then! hahahah!!!! the leaves had some spots. I did not know anything then! lol!

[LJA]

Cinderella, you'll know immediately if the roots are healthy once you unpot. The dead ones are mushy and hollow, like Jason said, with no substance to them, and their velamin sheaths (the outer covering) will pull off very easily to expose the actual root thread. Healthy roots are tan if they've been under bark, white if they're relatively new or aerial.

[Cinderella]

So when you repot is it ok to let the aerial roots stay aerial? Will they go under at some point?

[Jmoney]

the bulk of the roots oughta be in the pot. the aerial roots should be left that way unless there are no roots in the pot, in which case one might try to tuck them into the top 2" of media. but in healthy plants, the aerial roots just sit there--they might grow a bit in the high humidity conditions of the greenhouse, but not on a windowsill.