Wondering how to pot an orchid. Here's an easy guide: Part 2.

Click here for part 1 on how to pot an orchid.

Terrestrial orchids may be staked with thin but sturdy pieces of redwood or cypress thrust into the compost. A thick piece of galvanized iron wire (about twelve gauge) is more suitable for epiphytes; wire enters osmunda more easily and holds better. Ordinary wire clothes hangers may be cut into pieces and straightened to make excellent stakes. Place your stakes as near to the center of the pots as possible in order to obtain a more uniform appearance. The top of the stakes should not be more than an inch or so higher than the top of the pseudobulbs. Nearly any of the tying materials available in garden stores can be used, although soft string is about the best; it doesn't cut the foliage and can be closely trimmed to do away with dangling ends. As a rule, the string is circled around the top of the pseudobulb, at the joint with the leaf, crossed back to the stake, and knotted securely. Nearly all flower growths, if vertical, should be staked when a few inches high. The flower stems of monopodials which develop from leaf axils are not staked; neither are those from the stanhopeas which push their stems down through the osmunda and out the bottom of the orchid baskets.

The season to pot an orchid doesn't depend upon spring or fall, but varies with the season of bloom. It is best to re-pot after the flowers fade, when new growth is initiated and the root collar appears. The root collar is apparent with epiphytes, less so with terrestrials since it may be produced beneath the compost. The collar develops at the base of new growth and when first seen is a series of small bumps extending around the basal circumference of the growth. This is the time to repot if necessary. Later the protuberances elongate and become growing roots. At that stage they are brittle and easily broken during potting.

Need supplies to pot an orchid? Just put in the search box below:

In preparation for re-potting an orchid, knock the plant out of the pot, brush off the old, stale compost, and cut away the dead and decaying roots and foliage. If too many roots are dead, you have been consistently over-watering or your compost is not well drained. There are two good tests for roots. Epiphytes will have firm white roots when dry, slightly greenish ones when wet. Terrestrials will have firm brownish colored roots, both wet and dry. Dead roots will be dark brown and soft. Run your fingers down a suspected root; if it is not good the outer covering, called "velamen," will slip off.

Clean the foliage with a weak vegetable-oil-emulsion insecticide diluted to half the strength of the weakest dilution recommended on the label. Strong emulsions are injurious. A used toothbrush, well worn and soft, is excellent for orchid cleanup work. After the orchid is cleaned and trimmed, re-pot it as explained for terrestrials or epiphytes. Pot an orchid the easy way.

Many growers believe that re-potted orchids suffer from shock, sometimes preventing flowers from appearing the following year. These growers prefer to leave orchids in their pots as long as possible—usually two or three years— without renewing the compost. Except for some deciduous orchids, this is good practice. Orchids grow better when not disturbed; but don't be tempted to over-pot them on that account. Re-pot your orchids when the compost is exhausted, too alkaline, or the plants become too big for their pots.

Orchids grown in gravel may be pulled out and replanted a dozen times a day without appreciable ill effects or loss of bloom. It is suggested that shock may be synonymous with carelessness, either in removing old compost or in the forced packing of fresh compost. When orchid roots are tightly pinched they may die because they often haven't the strength to repair injured cells. An orchid is only as vigorous as its root system is vigorous and extensive.

Don't for get to visit our sponsors for all you supplies. That should answer all questions regarding how to pot an orchid.
Click here for part 1 on how to pot an orchid.