Interesting.

Is like a sponge or foam like in a pillow?

Might be difficult to remove if the roots are growing in it. Might also, stay very wet.

I never ran into that.

Use your judgement, if you can tease the roots off it, might make sense to remove it.

Jane

Jane, it’s like what a florist puts in a vase to hold cut flowers.

I have two minis that were given to me in this material. I chose not to repot them at that time, but I did slide the plastic off and tear some of that sponge material away to allow more air circulation. It actually breaks up quite easily when wet. Not as easily as floral foam, but it's soft.

Both orchids have a lot of new root growth as well as new leaves, so they have remained healthy in this material! They really do need larger pots, which I will take care of soon. When you're ready to repot, I think it will be easy to tear away the sponge, but I don't think it would be detrimental if some remained.