Unleash the Magic of Orchids

Discover the secrets to growing beautiful orchids in your own home. Our experts share their knowledge and experience to help you achieve stunning blooms year-round. From lighting to watering, we've got you covered.Orchid care requires some basic skills that are easy to learn and good common sense. The first thing is to understand the plant that you have by learning where it grows naturally. this is easily accomplished these days with the internet. I like to read up on where it grows geographically and environmentally. by environmentally I mean is it a terrestrial, lithotrophic ( grow on rock stratum) or epihytic on tree canopies and other objects and the elevations it is found at. This helps me to understand its media needs and water requirements. 

Plants that are terrestrial need a lot more water but still a great deal of drainage. there roots will still decompose if they get too much moisture. Many of them need more filtered light since they usually live below trees and shrubs in the forest. Orchids that are canopy growers like to get really wet frequently and dry out in-between the watering. lithotrophs also require a great deal of water since they don't have any absorptive medium to store moisture. Many of them will produce long exploratory roots to find rock crevices where water will collect. 

I use all this knowledge and integrate it into the planning of how I'm going to plant my bare roots from the time of purchase or when I've divided an overgrown plant. Overgrown plants are easy to recognize. they will usually start losing leaves and bulbs will get mushy and die in the center of the pot. the plants will attempt to escape from the pot and start growing  laterally and attaching aerial roots to the outside of the pot. Many times weeds will start to overtake the central portion of the pot. When you remove the plants to repot, you will observe that the roots in the middle where the broken down media is will be soft and mushy. I will get into this further on my discussion of reporting orchids. if you're dealing with hybrids which are the typical orchid growers population, it is important to recognize what the progeny is and learn about the root plants to determine the habits. Watering schedules for the plants is determined by many factors including using common sense . So let's go over a variety of circumstances. First we will discuss plants in a controlled environment such as indoor, outside covered plants ( i.e. in patios and covered areas of lanais), greenhouse with poly covered roofs. I follow these rules: During the active growing  season, which depends on the longitude (growing zone) that you are in and time of year. I'm in a zone 9 so let's start there. From December through Mid March I water once weekly with a light fertilization each watering. You must look at all the plants and ascertain if they are too dry because we are being very conservative with that frequency. I look for any leaves that may look dehydrated, shirveling up, looking leathery or plicating in addition to any new growth that might have shriveling and plication of the leaves. If I see any of this I start watering every 5 days. I tend to be fairly conservative until spring. Once spring starts I go to 2 times a week with a weak solution of fertilizer application.I always pick up plant pots and feel the weight to make sure I'm not over doing the watering. they will feel heavy and soft ( plastic pots). In the summer I will go to every 3-4 days with weak fertilizer.

Once every 2 weeks I give a real big watering without fertilizer to flush out the salts that may collect. I don't have a big problem with that because I use reverse osmosis treated well water. I have very little dissolved solids in my well water. It's always a good idea to have your water checked. I noticed when I changed from straight well water with mild total solids and alkaline pH to RO water with slightly acidic pH, the plants did remarkably better.

I have planted my various plants in a medium mix to match what they need with the standard watering I do. I don't want to have to water plants in the green house differently especially since it's automated. If you hand water your collection you can plant differently, but I don't recommend that. By the way I still look at the plants all over the greenhouse after the automatic watering to make sure they're getting adequate amounts of water. Once a month, I go through the greenhouse while the sprinklers are going and make sure the heads are delivering the prescribed amount of water. The heads can get clogged up with debris, especially algae, even with an in-line filter system. If you don't do this you will have some plants getting  dehydrated from poor water circulation. While we are on this subject, I go through all of my plants every 2 weeks and look at each one to make sure there aren't any problems (ie . dehydration, fungal issues, scale, or any other insects). This is very important because problems caught early are easily eradicated, culled or isolated, and treated .

Learn about the different types of orchids and their unique characteristics. Our comprehensive guide provides detailed information on each species, including their native habitat and ideal growing conditions.

Join us for hands-on workshops and learn how to care for your orchids like a pro. Our workshops cover a range of topics, from repotting to pest control. You'll leave with the confidence and skills to take your orchid growing to the next level.Whether you buy a plant division or are repotting a larger plant or overgrown plant, the basics that apply are all the same.

New division. First, you have to research what the plant natural likes environmentally.(i.e., is it a canopy growers, terrestrial, intermediate). I carefully clean the sheaths off the plant using a stream of water from my hose and digitally peel off the remaining  sheaths.This removes hiding spots for insects,especially scale and it's a good spot for fungus to grow.  If there's any suspicious material on the plant after removing the sheaths, I will clean the areas with 70% isopropyl alcohol on a soft towel or Q-tip. I also trim off the old flowers and their sheaths. Be careful because what might look like an old flower sheath might not be, and there could be a viable flower in there. I  rinse the plant division with a fairly strong stream of water to remove old medium, weeds and wet all the roots. When the roots are wet, it makes it easier to discern if they're viable or if they need to be trimmed off. I tend to be aggressive with trimming the old roots because any dead roots left behind will rot in the new nedia and keep it too wet. By the way, if I have 8 inches of viable roots, I usually trim half of them off. They will grow dicotomously and form at least 2 roots.I always use a smaller pot than I think I need for the division. Overpotting creates a negative environment for the plant. I place the back bulb, the oldest, which is usually larger, looks older and doesn't have the new growth starting ( the eye) close to the edge of the pot and the newer bulb toward the center of the pot. As far as type of pot, that is an individuals preference. I originally used clay pots but have gone mostly to plastic. I find the plants seem happier? I think they stay wetter longer and like that. Let's talk about medium. This is a personal decision  that everyone has an opinion and preference on. This is my feeling. I only use Orchiata bark from New Zealand ( I am a retailer of the product also), mixed with clay beads( there are several brands hydroton, ) and #3 or #4  pearlyte) The orchiata size that I use depends on the plant size. I use 2 sizes in each mix. For mature plants that don't have fine roots like oncidium, I use 50% power and 30% classic 10 % hydroton and 10% pearlyte. With the larger rooted plants, I use super 40% power plus 40% hydroton 10% pearlyte 10%. We will discuss seedlings and deflasked plants later. Ideally, it's best to soak the new media in water for a few hours before planting to prevent osmotic dehydration from dry media dehydrating roots. I usually plant dry and water the plants heavily for a day or 2. Now that we have the media mixed up, we can start tackling the big overgrown plants. There are several methods I  use depending on the plant that I have to split. Let's talk about the easy one first. The plant is just starting  to grow out of the pot and not having the die off in the central area. I soak it with the hose and loosen it up in the pot after removing  the rhisome clip and plant ID tag. It is super important to have a place to store  that ID tag and use that same spot every time you start the repotting process. If you lose the ID, it renders the plant worthless for resale.

Once I have removed the plant, I use hydropulsion from the hose to carefully start softening and removing the old  media. I wet the entire plant so as to soften the sheaths and roots. I carefully remove the media from the roots by hand and strip the sheaths of the cane's and bulbs to expose the plant. With a sterile scissor, I trim away any old flower sheaths and work the roots. I cut away any dead riots, I don't want them rotting in the new media. When they're wet, you can visually and also feel the dead roots. Remove them. don't be afraid to clean it up. If there are a lot of long viable roots, I will trim them 1/2 off to make room in new pot and stimulate new root growth. Many times, they will split off 2  new root growths from the incised root. Once the plant is all cleaned up, I follow the rule that the old back bulb goes against pot and new growth towards the center. Make sure you attach the new division firmly to the pot with a rhisomeclip. The plant will not do well and grow if it's loose. They like to be tight. Make sure you carefully pack the medium into the pot, especially under the plant. Try not to leave a big empty air pocket there. Water the newly planted division copious for the next day or 2. 

Now let's talk about the grossly overgrown plant that you can't even get out of the pot. I soak with water for an hour if needed to remove from pot. Sometimes I have to cut the plastic pot off or break the clay pot to get to plant.

If the roots are matted into one solid mass I will take a small medium toothed carpenter saw, ( plaster board keyhole saws are good also) and cut from the bottom toward the plant and then try to split open the plant I to half's. If I can't break it apart after halving the plant I will quarter it and move it back and forth until I have it loose enough to start dissecting the roots. Remember most of these roots are dead, and don't be afraid to be aggressive with your dissection. Once I can manipulate the pieces and get them loose from the media I start working my towards the base of the bulbs. I keep the healthy roots and remove all the soft dead roots. Now, I decide where to separate the divisions and split up the plant. You have to follow the rhizomes and plan where the best place to cut is to get a nice  division. I try my best to get a minimum of 3 bulbs, but if you get 1 or 2 divisions, don't panic, plant them. I tend to plant them deeper than the multi bulb divisions.  Once this is all done, follow the same planting directions   above. In all the pots, I put a layer of styrofoam peas on the bottom layer to promote drainage. I've heard of people using other materials, and that is a personal preference.Make absolutely sure to use a rhisome clip or some other mechanism to keep the newly planted division tight in the media. The plant will not do well if it's loose.Enjoy and good luck ! Regards

Adam @

adamsorchids.com 

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