Repotting Autumn flowering Pleione

[Alex]

My first attempted repotting of this year, of a Confirmation in flower, disclosed many viable, healthy roots on this year's bulb as well as a few roots emerging from next year's new shoot. I ended up cutting back many of the "old" (still healthy) roots and it made me think, as I do every year, that whenever I do this there is necessarily a lot of damage to living roots. When do the growers here think is the best time to repot these types to minimize damage? The true Autumn flowerers praecox and maculata are my main interest in asking this.

Cheers,

Alex

[Danshi]

Hi Alex,

in my opinion, the best moment to pot or repot Pleiones is generally when the new roots are beginning to form.
Now, the healthy roots on this year's bulb will probably die until spring, but they might still support the flowers and new growths until then. I think it's at least worth a try to keep the healthy roots for longer or to only repot the autumn flowerers every second year as long as the substrate is still good and you didn't have any problems with rot.

Greetings,
Daniel

[Alex]

Thank you, Daniel. I agree we should aim to keep as many healthy roots as possible, it is just negotiating the tricky balance between preserving the current bulb's roots but not leaving reporting so late that you risk serious damage to roots from the new shoot...

When you say when the new roots begin to form, do you mean now, before flowering? Or do you do it after flowering is over? The first new roots seem to form very early, unfortunately.

Any more thoughts? Maren, can I ask when you repot?

Cheers,

Alex

[Danshi]

The only autumn flowerer I'm currently growing is P. saxicola and I repotted it before flowering, but only because the pot was a little crowded and I worried not all flowers might make it to the surface before opening. Normally I would have repotted after flowering, trying not to break any of the new roots. Sometimes it can be a little trade-off between having the best flower display and having the best root system.
I would not worry too much about the old roots though. The plants don't need a lot of water in winter, so just leaving a few of them should be enough. The fresh roots are more important in any case.