Successful Orchid Cultivation Starts with Proper Potting
Orchids are in general placed into two major groups, epiphytal and terrestrial. The epiphytals are orchids that grow on trees. There are a number of ways to grow this type of orchid in the home or in a greenhouse. It all starts with potting.
Epiphytal orchids, in their natural habitats, have their roots more exposed to air than the majority of other plants do. As a consquence, by “potting” we do not mean to pack them all around with dense potting soil. Rather, we want to place them in a pot with loose, organic material, from which they can pull necessary nutrients, along with rocks or broken pottery bits to create open spaces and to assist the plants to stand.
The usual formulation for potting material appropriate to epiphytals is one part sphagnum moss to 1 part peat. Place a layer of this mix in the bottom of your pot, followed by a layer of rocks or pottery bits, then another layer of the compost, etc. When the pot is about a quarter or at most a third full, carefully place your orchid’s root system down into it. Then proceed to add more rocks and moss mix, packing all of this material only tight enough to support the orchid plant.
Gradually build up the potting mix up to and above the top of the pot. The height you need to go above the top of the pot depends on the size of the pot and the depth to which you have placed your orchid. The general rule is to allow the crown of the plant to rest on top of the mix. By crown is meant that part of the plant from where the roots begin.
If you are repotting an orchid, you must take extra care when removing it from its old pot. If there are any young roots attaching themselves to the exterior of the pot, you should try to ease them off with a blade of some kind. It you have a mass of vital roots — that is, roots that have sap in them — attached to the inside of the pot, then you might need to break the pot and pick away all that you can. You might need to then repot it with pieces of the old pot still attached to the roots, and this is fine.
It is preferable not to water the plant for a day or so before and after potting it.
This has been a very basic introduction to potting epiphytal type orchids. The subject can be more complex than this, especially when talking about some of the more delicate or senstive species. People have written entire volumes on the subject of potting all the different types of orchids! Happily, most of us don’t require books devoted soley to the potting art to have success with orchids. A recognized, step-by-step guide to all aspects of orchid growing is sufficient.
Today, of course, we have a tremendous amount of excellent information on the successful way to grow orchids. The most thorough guide to today’s orchid cultivation, many people are finding, is Orchid Care Expert by Nigel Howard, which is available to be downloaded online. Mr. Howard’s guide is a complete course all to itself, practical for novices as well as the more experienced. Also, be sure to visit the Orchid Secrets website, which is publishing a growing library of articles on a wide range of topics of orchid care.
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