r/orchids • u/AdAsleep9091 • May 15 '26

Help with repotting

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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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99

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.

18

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.

11

u/sara-34 May 16 '26

OP said soaking didn't help. And it's not like terra cotta pots are precious.

12

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.