Repotting and separating a d. adelae clump

[Nanook]

Hi Folks,

I have four D. adelae clumped together in a small (<3") pot. It looks to be in pure LFS. While I like the compactness of the arrangement, it looks like a dense jungle in there with leaves sticking together fighting each other for sun. There is even a baby sprout sticking out of a bottom drainage hole underwater!

I'd like to move them to a 5-6" pot and give them a little more room to grow, while keeping them all in the same pot. I don't know if they are all offshoots of one plant or are separate entities with their own root structures. Is there an easy and safe way to tell?

Can I separate them safely, or should I just leave them clumped together and move them to a bigger pot?

And is there a good way to accomplish this without disturbing the dew too much? This is a very bushy and sticky all over plant.

Thanks!

-N

 

[dewy]

Just take the clump out and put it in the size pot you want it in. They do best for me in pure lfs, which you can get at lowes or home depot. I find it best to but the orchid moss from lowes as I got an offbrand from a local nursery and it was contaminated killing all of my adelae. You could probably be able to separate them although I personally like to leave them in a clump as it looks better. If you have any more questions feel free to ask.

 

[vft guy in SJ]

When I divided up my clump of D. adelae last month I found it pretty much impossible to seperate the roots of the various plants without "smushing" the dew. On the bright side its only the existing leaves that will be effected, in a month or so, as new leaves unfurl, your plant will be back to looking normal again.

Good luck
Steve

 

[Nanook]

Thanks for the replies, guys.

There was a lot of smushing going on. I ended up leaving them together and successfully re-routed the little sprout right-side-up. Amazing how thin those roots are.

Turns out the LFS was only the top inch or so; the rest was straight peat. :/ I just plopped that clump into a mixture I had been thinking about for a while: mostly LFS, with some peat, perlite and sand thrown in. I topped it off with straight LFS.

They look much more comfortable in their new home. Now I just have to pick all those twigs and detritus off the leaves...