"Wondering how to pot an orchid?
Here are the facts about how to pot an orchid - ."

Bear one thing in mind when thinking of how to pot an orchid: Don't use glazed or painted earthenware pots!

Though decorative, they are damaging to plant growth. They keep the compost over-watered and under aired—both fatal to orchids. Otherwise, potting orchids—except for the trick of packing osmunda—is no different from potting azaleas or begonias.

1. Select a clean orchid planter several inches wider than the broadest basal width of a terrestrial orchid.

2. Soak it for a few minutes in tepid water, then drain. Place coarse gravel, small rocks, or crocks (bits of broken pots) in the bottom third of the pot.

3. Add several large handfuls of compost and shape to a cone, the top of which is on a level with the lower rim of the pot.

4. Spread the roots of the terrestrial orchid carefully and evenly around the cone, and fill with additional compost.

5. Firm the compost lightly to settle it— never pack it—and water thoroughly.

6. Later, water sparingly until growth is established.

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Some deciduous orchids, as Calanthe vestita, lose their roots. Push their pseudobulbs into the compost just far enough to hold them erect. Other terrestrials, those without pseudobulbs such as Oncidium cavendishianum, may have to be wired or staked to the top o£ the compost since their leaves would rot if covered.

The first time you attempt to learn how to pot an orchid in osmunda you will find yourself using the least desirable words in your vocabulary. There is a definite trick in handling osmunda. There's a trick to finding the right orchid planter and there's also a trick to orchid repotting.

Old-time growers regarded potting as the most distasteful part of orchid culture. It was once believed that osmunda had to be packed into pots with great pressure, using special sticks as levers. If, when you lifted an orchid by its foliage, the osmunda came free from the pot your education in orchid culture was considered highly dubious. In the long run, all that packing osmunda achieved was a sore arm for the potter and injured orchid roots. Orchid potting and orchid repotting should be simpler than that. Also, learning how to pot an orchid is simple....

It is now believed that such extreme measures are not advisable. As long as osmunda stays securely in place, holding its shape when knocked out of the pot, orchids will do satisfactorily. The trick in potting with osmunda is to handle it while it is slightly damp. It is pliable then and packs more easily. When it dries out it stiffens enough to firm itself in the pot.

Here is how you go about potting epiphytes. Take enough pieces of osmunda, sometimes called "orchid peat," to fill several orchid planters. Soak the osmunda overnight in a pail of water. The following morning leave the pieces in a cool, dry, shady place. In the evening when you come home they should be just right for repotting orchids. They will feel soft, pliable, and somewhat damp—not wet—to your touch.

Take a clean orchid planter at least two inches wider in diameter than the base of the orchid, soak it in tepid water for a few moments, then dry it out a bit. Soaking is not always necessary, but it helps the osmunda slide down the clay sides of the porchid planter. Set the planter on its base and add enough gravel or crocks to fill it one-third.

**Take the orchid in your left hand, the base (rhizome) resting on top of your thumb and forefinger.

**Smooth the roots over the back of your hand.

Select a piece of osmunda as nearly conical in shape as possible.

**Put it beneath the base of the orchid, touching the rhizome.

**Spread the roots around it. With other pieces of osmunda—slightly less in length than two-thirds the depth of the pot—cover the roots.

**Work outward, in a circle, until the osmunda covering the roots is a little larger in diameter than the top of the pot planter. Squeeze the osmunda with both hands, pressing it into the pot with a sliding motion.

Further packing is accomplished by inserting the fingers of your left hand between the osmunda and the side of the pot. In the gap so formed slip another small piece of osmunda.

Turn the planter slightly and repeat the process. Keep turning, squeezing, and adding osmunda until you have to exert some pressure; then stop.

An expert can pack osmunda so that an orchid rides on a slight mound in the center of the pot and level with the upper rim. The rest of the osmunda slopes evenly outward and down, meeting the inner rim of the pot and providing a water receptacle. This is not easily accomplished at first by amateurs.

A pair of short narrow-bladed shears is invaluable in trimming the osmunda so that it slopes enough to make a small water receptacle circling the lower rim of the pot. The repotted orchid is watered thoroughly and set aside to dry out. Water is given sparingly thereafter until root growth is vigorous.

Have fun while learning how to pot an orchid.. Smile. Get dirty. Experiment.

There are several schools of thought regarding the correct position of an orchid in a pot. ("Who said it was simple?")

Learning how to pot an orchid can be loads of fun....:)

Those who like a balanced orchid planter center the orchid in it. Those who go in for efficiency place the oldest pseudobulb (the rearmost one) against the edge of the pot, thus leaving plenty of room for future development. This latter method is most in use since it permits an orchid to remain in a planter longer. Eventually, too, the additional new growth will tend to make the plant look balanced.

Did I mention the purpose of this lesson is to learn how to pot an orchid? If I didn't please be aware that the more knowledge you have, the better you'll be when trying to pot your orchids.

Now back to the lesson:

At this time it is important to stake your plants when just learning how to pot an orchid. Orchid foliage tends to slope too much, sprawl, and take up more bench room than is necessary. Cattleya orchids, for example, take up twice as much room if left unstaked. Other than cymbidiums, whose foliage is erect, and cypripediums or similar orchids, whose foliage is scant or low, most orchids will need staking, if for beauty alone. If lateral stems are not staked, flowers growing on them do not look well in exhibitions, are easily injured when moved, and are often unsuitable for house decorations or corsages.

Click here for how to pot an orchid part 2.