Registered as Orchidom Teresa. Quite a while since this question has come up and what is the problem if the plant is healthy? Maybe it can go without doing anything for a while? I seem to remember horror stories of trying to get the roots out of the coconut chunk.

Do not know about Spag and hardcane dens. Not suitable for here, but maybe a goer under lights with the extra warmth they give.

My hardcanes are in bark and coconut chunks and are underpotted....especially Den. bigibbum (tiny pots in relation to plant size) which is half D. Gusto.

One problem i have with many of these plants is that they get top heavy, especially so since they are in plastic. I have them either hanging or tied to a string from the glasshouse roof. Clay pots help get past that problem.

If what you want is stability and to make it better looking, largish rock or marbles will do fine. That coconut husk will hold more than enough moisture for a Dendrobium.

I think you answered your own question. Go with what works, but when you repot it get the coconut husk out as much as you can. It is pretty hard to avoid bad root damage as the roots are all through it. If you don't, it will form a ball of moisture in the center of the medium and cause root rot, and you end up with more root damage than if you removed the coconut.

I have to politely disagree with Richardol. I do not remove the coconut chunk as it damages too many roots and has never caused any root problems by leaving it. I sit the small pot inside a clay pot with rocks in the spaces. In winter, I sometimes add some sphag in the spaces between pots to maintain some humidity. Roots eventually grow out into the space and I leave it that way. I have many double, triple potted plants.

Years ago, when I was a new grower, I attempted to remove the coconut chunk from a lovely den. I destroyed the entire root system. I literally had to root the canes to save the plant. Took a few years to get flowers again.

Jane

Thanks guys,

Arthur, thanks for the name Orchidom Teresa. Last time I looked, it was still unnamed.

Also, most of my plants are in 3" plastic pots or smaller w/ sphag, including the Dens. They need watering more than once a week, and bark in plastic needs watering about every 2nd or 3rd day.

Anything in a clay pot dries out way too fast here. Maybe you can put smallish stones or marbles in the bottom of plastic pots for drainage and stability. Larger rocks for larger pots. In extreme cases, it's stones in the plastic pot, then the plastic pot in a clay pot, sometimes w/ stones in the bottom of that.

Tis the season for repotting, so I'll soak the coconut chunk for a couple of days and start digging....

Thanks again, WC8

Jane, when I responded, your post hadn't appeared. So, for the summer, do you think I could put the solid coconut chunk w/ plant in a clay pot just large enough for it, then maybe put that pot in a slightly larger clay pot?

Biting my finger over solid, experienced growers having different opinions....

Thanks, WC8

Well quit biting your fingers and go ahead and remove it.

Soak the chunk for a couple of hours and then start stripping the coco off in small strips. It should come off in vertical strips. You don't have to remove it all as long as you get the bulk of it off.

Now go back and reread Richard's last paragraph.

Brooke

WC8,

You didn't mention if it was in flower or not.

If it were me, I'd keep things as they are if in flower, once flowers are gone, I'd remove as much of the c-nut as possible and then repot. If there is still quite a bit of c-nut, I'm not sure I'd stick it in spagh, maybe course bark instead to try to prevent rot from the c-nut in the center.

BTW: When I saw 'coconut thingie' in the subject line I thought I was on another forum for a second. Good thing no emoties allowed here ;-)

Bob

I have never had any root rot on a den in coconut. Unless your chunk is huge, the roots grow out of it. The new growths send their roots outside the chunk. I just repotted a 6-yr old den which still has its little coconut chunk. The plant was originally in a tiny 2" pot. Now it is in a 5" with its roots and canes far from the original 'chunk.'

You grow in dry conditions, as I do. I don't mess with den roots and no matter what it was originally potted in, I just plop it in a new pot with some fresh bark or Aussie.

I grow all dens in clay. They go out for the summer.

Jane

I loathe emoties! Nothing wrong with thingie.

Here is the story of Blc. Brent Cooper. Discovered in the great mess (my collection) in bud with (horror) the newest lead over the edge of the pot. Pot was unstable, so got a larger pot, plopped Brent in and filled in the Gap with some sparse potting mixture.

Brent somehow didn't get repotted in the ensuing twelve months but "grew good" with roots in the gap between the two pots. Flowers were great and an AOC Judging panel gave it a blue ribbon in the Laeliinae Intermediate Size section at a show.

I'm not saying that people should double or triple pot, but i do sometimes.

Of course, sooner or later, the day will come when drastic surgery is needed. I'll have to divide my Den bigibbum var compactum that is an overgrown mess of basket pot within basket pot. That is the downside of using basket pots, you end up eventually with a tangle of roots and pots.

Back to the plant in question. One of the recent ancestors of that plant is Den. affine. a close relative of Den bigibbum. Hybrids with Den. affine as a parent seem to flower several times a year.

So, sounds like a couple of methods have worked for folks. Jane, your in-the-house growing sounds similar to mine. Half the year, humidity's about 30%. Richard, if I get reincarnated as an orchid, I want to live in your greenhouse.

Bob, it's not in flower. No clue about the connection between emotives and "coconut thingies." :) This could be a good thing.

Jane, you're right. New growths have roots on the outside of the chunk. 'Course, I couldn't see any roots that were growing IN the chunk. LOL

You're the 2nd person today to say don't mess w/ Den roots. First I remember hearing about this. Each spring, all my Dens have had their roots trimmed and practically scoured. Maybe they've taken pity on me.

Arthur, that's a great story. And you got a blue ribbon. I've double-potted w/ solid plastic pots inside clay for stability. So far, roots have stayed in the original pot. Two basket pots - you've got a big job there.

Here are some pix, in case they'll be helpful.

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This pot is quite a bit smaller than the original. The Den's in this one just to hold it upright.

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Thanks more, WC8

Your welcome WC8

Brooke

Plant looks great. If you stick it in the clay pot, it will be happy, but you'll have the same problem trying to repot. The roots will fill up the spaces and get stuck to the clay. That's how I wind up triple potting. If you soak the clay pot and get it free you'll suffer less root loss than trying to get it off the coconut.

You have a nice big lead, you want it to keep growing. I wouldn't damage those roots now. I repot my dens at the first sign of growth usually early Spring.

Stick it in the clay pot, add some rocks or put the small pot in a large, stable pot and get your flowers for this year. You can wait until next March to do anything drastic.

Jane