So I got home and dug this sucker up. There were some very fine roots when I scraped away the mulch. I stuck my shovel in and made a wide circle around the plant and got it up. There was some of the original root ball, but when I went to cut some slits into it... most of it came off. Still going to soak it for maybe a half hour. The soil and rootball was actually fairly moist. The shovel cut through the soil pretty easily, although, the soil did seem pretty jam packed... uncertain if it is clay based. I've chopped the soil up to try to make it not one big clump and will not stomp it down like I did when I first planted it. I may mix in a little potting soil for added fluff. I do also have a pellet form of plant food for Rhodies and Azaleas, so I may sprinkle some of that in as well. Here's hoping. I just hope I didn't lose half of what roots there were when I pulled it up. :(

Hi Bernard, I hope I don't repeat something because I only got about halfway through this thread before I got sick of reading and decided to go ahead and post. #1. I don't know where the idea come from that calloused roots are good. Callouses can't absorb water. It's dry scar tissue that keeps in/out moisture, thereby protecting broken stems and so on. When a plant's roots are partially exposed by wildlife digging, etc., the exposed portion callouses to keep the plant from dehydrating, but that calloused portion will never absorb water again. We don't want roots to callous (except maybe Bonsai growers who like to expose some roots over a rock or something). Putting a root system into dry mix is never good for it. I challenge anyone to prove how dehydrating or callousing a root system can possibly be good for it. The previous poster who said the dry mix will dehydrate the plant is correct. Always use damp mix for re-potting a healthy root system. If the roots are dead, it might be a different story. #2. As you've already learned, it's easy to under-water gritty mix. Since it's pretty close to impossible to over-water grit, I'm with the posters who say to soak it deeply and often. If you're paranoid, soak it daily, or even twice daily, but then give the pot a quick, little down-up motion to dislodge any perched water. That way it'll always be just barely moist. If it were mine, and planted in grit, I'd just water every day or two until the roots are well-established. As one who has killed off whole, healthy root systems by under-watering grit (once weekly), I feel confident in telling you that you're extremely unlikely to drown a plant in grit. I'm watering my succulents daily right now, and some are STILL too dry. BTW, Danny, I think mentioned he prefers soil for jades. I don't disagree with him. The one I have in soil has grown much better than the ones I have in grit. Furthermore, the Aeonium I had in a 1:1 soil:pumice mix has a huge, beautiful, healthy root system. The big one in grit has puny roots. These aren't experiments with standardized variables, so something else might be going on, but for now, I'm also not certain that grit is always a better medium.

Danielles, My first questions would sound a bit like this......What kind of orchid is it? Where are you located? Where are you growing the plant? (inside, or outside) What culture conditions are you growing it under? (temp., light, water, fert., etc. etc. Arthurm is absolutely correct (above post), but if you have something other thn a Phalaenopsi, with this basic information help could be much more specific. Orchids are tough old "birds", so my guess is that the situation is not terminal, but we don't want it to get there either. Bill

Is there any way you can post a photo or photos of the plant? Passionfruit are normally pretty crazy growers. From what I have read (and limited experience this last year) they can normally take a bit of pruning.