Potbound Cymbidiums

I know that orchids like to have their roots constricted, but I'm pretty sure that it's not supposed to be to the point that there is no growing medium left in the pot!


I had to cut the pots away to get them out!

 

Looks normal Longk, are you going to split them or just pot them on?

 

I potted on Pete. Rightly or wrongly, I went with terracotta pots to give them some stability when outdoors.

 

I dont have any cymbidiums now but I remember they had massive root systems, yet seemed to thrive on being pot bound.
Stability is a problem and I can see why you went for clay.

It always used to bother me though how the roots got ripped when repotting from clay pots, they seem to have the ability to almost grow into a porous pot.

I'm guessing you will need to split them next time, so it wont really matter?

 

As long as they're producing new pseudobulbs they're happy. And it looks as if this year there will be (was?) a lot of new growth. I've left the back bulbs on this time, but next time they'll see the "machette"! Next time should be two or three years away.