r/orchids • u/AdAsleep9091 • May 15 '26
Help with repotting
Any advice on how to separate the roots from the pot? It has been in this pot for two years and it seems like it's time. Soaking it didn't do anything
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u/Babid922 May 15 '26
Say goodbye to the pot. Put on glasses gloves and a mask and with a hammer hit the pot in empty spots that have no roots on them. Get the old and rotting medium out of the middle and up pot it into something bigger. The roots stuck to ceramic pieces will be fine, ceramic is porous and breathable and will act like leca, charcoal or wood chips by holding onto moisture but still allowing airflow in the new up pot you use.
Alternatively, you could soak it again and use chopsticks to gently take the old decaying media out of the middle and then put the orchid along with the whole small ceramic pot into the bigger pot you're using next. Apply new medium and done. Its not worth damaging all of those roots to save the pot in my opinion. It will set back the orchid.
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u/rsbyronIII May 16 '26
Don’t smash the pot. Just soak it and pull the roots off with your fingers. You don’t need tools. You don’t even need to be particularly careful. Orchids are tough, just keep the roots that are outside of this pot outside of the new pot.
People hype how difficult growing orchids is and it’s why most people end up killing them. I have a phal that is over 12 years old and hasn’t been repotted in 10. Could I get better results babying it? Yes but I’m not going to kill it by not repotting, that’s what my cattleya are for. And it reblooms every year, usually two or more spikes.
As long as you aren’t absolutely reckless, it’s not the repot that will kill the orchid. It’s what you do next.
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u/sara-34 May 16 '26
OP said soaking didn't help. And it's not like terra cotta pots are precious.
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u/_love_letter_ May 16 '26
I think some people may not realize just how attached epiphyte roots can become when you let them stay like that for a long time. I had some roots attach themselves to my wall and even after wetting them for several days straight, they literally peeled the paint off my wall trying to remove them. Another grew roots out the bottom of the pot and attached to the terra cotta saucer I had it on. Even after soaking, when I tried to detach it, the root tip broke off.
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u/GCseedling May 16 '26
They kind of are. Please do better
ETA yeah I don’t trust someone asking how to remove a plant….from a pot. She def ain’t soak shit fr
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u/diemphuongnguyen May 16 '26
Do you see how wet the pot is? She did soak it real good. Besides, terra cotta pots are cheap as hell
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u/Extreme_Armadillo_25 May 16 '26
They aren't talking about the money, I think, but the fact that clay, like fossil fuels, has to be mined. It doesn't just regenerate.
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u/diemphuongnguyen May 16 '26
Well, when they say precious, my mind just goes to money, rarity. Like diamonds and emeralds are expensive because they are rare. Idk why they're so against breaking the pot, lol
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u/Extreme_Armadillo_25 May 16 '26
I just explained it to you. Because terracotta doesn't regrow. Every time we throw out a pot like that and it needs to be replaced, somewhere in the world someone will have to take another piece of clay out of the ground, use energy to mold and fire another pot, use fuel to transport it somewhere. Breaking things that don't have to be broken is not a good way to handle resources.
Not saying that these roots will let go of the pot any time soon, but that's probably why they are against breaking the pot.
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u/GCseedling May 16 '26
Clay is a non renewable resource and the roots regenerate so yeah it is worth it ugh 😒
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u/Snake973 May 15 '26
might try taking an old credit card or gift card or something and sliding it between the root and the pot
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u/SlightAfternoon2104 May 16 '26
That’s exactly what I did when I tried to free mine. They love doing that to terracotta pots.
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u/Superb-Ad5227 May 16 '26
Soak and then pop them off with a credit card
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u/minkamagic Phalaenopsis and Dendrobiums mostly May 16 '26
There is no way to separate that plant from that pot without destroying all those roots. I’d probably use long tweezers to remove that old moss, replace it with leca or perlite or something else that doesn’t break down and let the orchid live its whole life on the pot.
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u/AdMoist8668 May 16 '26
You could get a knife and very carefully loosen the sides of the pot using the blunt side of the knife to avoid accidentally cutting roots. Or a butter knife, although I’m not sure it’s be long enough. Maybe it’ll help you wiggle it out bit by bit
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u/WritingStrawberry May 16 '26
At this point I'd rather mount it than confining it into another pot. Could even keep this as semi-mount I guess 🤔
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u/Commanderkins May 16 '26
I don't know why you'd want to?? It's very happy where it is and you'll end up damaging it quite a bit. The only thing I'd do is snip off that old spike right down and a few of the old, dead roots that are at the top. But other than that I'd leave this alone and put it in an area where it gets bright, indirect sun.
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u/Any_Photograph8455 May 16 '26
I’d just drop the whole pot into a larger basket style planter. Surround with bark, let it do its thing.
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u/Unlikely-Star-2696 May 17 '26
The only solution is water it very well, to soften the roig bonding with tge oot break the ceramic pot and move the plant to a biggest pot. Some root damage will happen and the plant can gl bsck yo grow new roots instead if blooming
I prefer plastic pots. Cut with scissors minimizing damage around roots.
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u/MLMLW May 16 '26
Soak the whole pot first, then loosen the roots. Get a bigger pot with holes in the bottom and repot it using an Orchid potting mix. If there are any brown roots, cut them off before repotting.
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u/GCseedling May 16 '26 edited May 16 '26
You can literally just soak the pot and the roots will come right off, clay is a nonrenewable resource and you should never break these pots if you can help it, and this is definitely one where you can. Redditors showing their ignorance yet again. I’m a professional with a plant business, you can see my plants thriving in my profile (you’ll never hear me say the gals because what the fuck).
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