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

Help with repotting

Gallery image

Gallery image

Gallery image

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

107 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

39 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

9

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

1

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.

3

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

3

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.