Really really rootbound Phaius

I just, today, unpotted the Phaius I got from EFG and roots were crammed into that pot. I mean frickin' CRAMMED! They use sphagnum and recommend sphagnum for their Phaius so I repotted in a larger pot with sphagnum. BUT........I didn't do anything with the roots. Should I have tried to release them or is just repotting in a larger pot okay? I've not come across this before and I'm not a beginner but as I was repotting I was thinking, "What would people on the forum have done?" It's not too late. I could easily unpot it.

 

Thanks, Tom. That was my thought. They were wrapped so tightly with no old sphag showing that I didn't think I could loosen them without damage. I MAY unpot it and try shooting some water onto them and see what happens. I'll get a picture when I do. Thanks again.

 

I unpotted it and used tweezers to pull out all the old sphag I could get. Water loosened some of the outer roots without damage so it is now repotted. I pushed new sphag into the holes I made removing the old stuff. Here's a picture before I did anything.

 

Tell me about it!

 

All over themselves. Loosening those roots did the trick.

 

Exactly, and thanks! Now I need to go make a multitude of lime green/purple/pink and aqua polka dots to put on a baby shower cake. Brings a goddess back down to earth in a big frickin' hurry!

 

Ya think? Maybe not this one but my daughter's guy friend has a birthday on July 4th and I'm seriously thinking about something along those lines for him. Maybe a rocket that blasts off or something. Or a dud rocket which just falls over. I can make cakes fall over. Yes, Duff has some amazing people -- all of them completely nuts -- but extremely talented.

 

Sure. Just put "making rocket cake" in Google and have fun! You want to look at some fun cakes? Go to http://www.pinkcakebox.com

You want to know how I'd go about making a rocket cake? First I'd take three 6" or larger cardboard rounds (like you can get at Michaels in the Wilton department) and cover them with some patriotic colors. Then I'd bake a sheet cake and cut it into rounds, say 3" or 4", probably 4". I'd stack the 4" rounds with icing between them until I got the height I wanted minus the cone on top. Sharpen a 1/4" dowel (also at Michaels in the Wilton dept) and drive it down through all the rounds and into the cardboard base. Then ice the sides with icing and decorate it however you want. Michaels probably has tons of 4th of July stuff you could put on the sides. Then I'd take either an ice cream cone if it was big enough or a cone shaped paper cup, put it on top, cover it with icing, probably using the star tip and sprinkle edible glitter on it. You can get those tubes of icing at the grocery store with tips attached. Then I'd stick sparklers near the bottom. I'd probably have to cut some of the sparkler off but since you won't be holding it it won't matter. That's just a beginning but I think it would work.

 

Gin, probably the blue kind, using whatever's left after........