re-pot or not?

[Denver]

My philippinense is growing really well. It is, however, becoming rather root bound especially at the bottom of the pot where it is just a tangle of roots. It also currently has tons of actively growing roots. It is growing so well that I am unsure if I want to risk changing anything, but I am concerned that if I wait any longer it will be even harder to get medium down in between the roots when I do finally re-pot it. Here are some pictures:
The plant:

One side:

Another side:

The bottom:

So I guess I just want to get some more experienced opinions on whether it is better to leave a plant that is growing well but a little root bound alone or if it is better to go ahead and give it some more space.

 

[gonewild]

The media looks in good condition, just slip it into a little bigger pot with room for new roots.

 

[Justin]

time to go up a little. nice growing!

 

[ehanes7612]

perhaps a deeper pot

 

[consettbay2003]

I would definitely leave it as is. I would check out what is going on with the basal portion of the new growth on the left - third picture.

 

[Denver]

I would definitely leave it as is. I would check out what is going on with the basal portion of the new growth on the left - third picture.

It is fine but thanks for checking. Its residue from dragons blood. It had a small growth next to it that got rot. I cut it off and put dragons blood all over anything close to it.

 

[SlipperFan]

If the mix is orchiata-based and has been repotted within the last two years, I'd either let it be or do as Lance suggests.

 

[Linus_Cello]

The media looks in good condition, just slip it into a little bigger pot with room for new roots.

Agree with this

 

[polyantha]

Definitely leave it as it is. The plant is very healthy and you could harm the new root tips. Absolutely no need to repot imho. Wait until the new shoots have roots and then it should be ok to give it a new pot.

 

[emydura]

Definitely leave it as it is. The plant is very healthy and you could harm the new root tips. Absolutely no need to repot imho. Wait until the new shoots have roots and then it should be ok to give it a new pot.

I agree. The plant doesn't look to be that root bound from what I can see. I can't make much sense of the bottom of the pot but there aren't a lot of roots running down the sides. So unless the mix is starting to break down I would leave it be.

 

[Happypaphy7]

I also agree that the media looks like it's in good condition but you be the judge.
I also agree that this is not that rootbkund actually.

I would either leave it as is for a bit longer or just slide the while thing into a deeper and wider pot.

 

[Paphluvr]

One more vote for not root-bound, but some of your new growth is sitting kind of high in the medium. Might be a consideration.

 

[Stone]

Definitely leave it as it is. The plant is very healthy and you could harm the new root tips. Absolutely no need to repot imho. Wait until the new shoots have roots and then it should be ok to give it a new pot.

I also agree with this. 6 to 12 more months

 

[Wendy]

I also agree with this. 6 to 12 more months

Another agree here. Happy plant....let it grow even more beautiful roots. :clap:

 

[Denver]

thanks for all of the input. I think it would have been ok to leave it in there a while longer as it was doing really well. However, I went ahead and repotted it because 1. two of the new growths were a good centimeter above the medium (I think the plant was pushing itself up out of the pot by having roots competing to get to the bottom) and 2. it was absolutely stuck in the pot and that was only going to get worse.

I had to cut the pot to get it out so it was helpful that the sides weren't completely covered with roots so I could cut without damaging them. I tried to keep the medium as intact as possible and then just drop it into a new pot and add some new medium.

Here is what the bottom looked like:

and here is a side view:

hopefully it'll be as happy in its new larger pot as it was in that one.

 

[Happypaphy7]

Wow~ that first picture shows a lot more roots than any of the pictures in the original post do.

I think you made the right division.

Happy growing!

 

[gonewild]

It was a good time to move to a bigger pot.

 

[SlipperFan]

Yes, right decision.

 

[troy]

I would repot it into a bigger pot

 

[emydura]

Personally I have had too many bad experiences with just removing a plant from a pot and putting it straight into a bigger pot. I need to remove all the mix, soak the roots for a while so they are soft and malleable, and then carefully separate all the roots into individual strands. Otherwise the clumped roots totally rot.