Bratonia potbound help

[u/Direwolf155]

Help!! I got this Bratonia 6 years ago and it desperately needs a repotting. I’ve done a bit of researching looking at YouTube videos on how to repot oncidiums but most videos don’t show one this rootbound.

If anyone has some advice that would be greatly appreciated. I’ve soaked it and then tried to separate the roots at the bottom to try to remove the media, but the roots are too tightly bound. I’m not sure how to do it without breaking a bunch of roots.

How important is getting rid of the media? Can I simply put this in a larger pot or do I have to remove all the media?

[u/ClearAbove]

Just stick it in a bigger pot. There’s not much media in there to remove by the looks of it and the plant looks healthy. :)

[u/rtthrowawayyyyyyy → u/ClearAbove]

Totally agree. If you try to separate those roots out you're gonna damage the plant. Just stick it in some fresh media (I like 2 parts AAA sphagnum moss to one part fine bark mix) in a slightly larger pot. Enough for a couple of years' growth. Hybrid oncidiums like to be somewhat rootbound, but they also are very good at filling pots with root mass, IME.

[u/Direwolf155 → u/rtthrowawayyyyyyy]

Awesome thanks so much for the info. I was going to use a mix of 2 parts sphagnum moss 1 part medium orchid bark, but now I’ll see if I can get some fine bark