Well, finally, you have your first orchid. What to do with this beauty? Perhaps some recommendations were given in the store when buying, perhaps you will learn useful information from this article. I hope that in answering the question of how to transplant an orchid correctly, the photos below will help you a little. So let's get started.
Which pot to choose
One of the important tips on the topic "how to transplant an orchid" is a recommendation for choosing a pot. If you bought a plant not in a plastic container, but in a soft plastic one, then of course you should replace it. Sometimes orchids are sold in good professional pots that do not need to be changed. The most important rule for such a container is high ventilation. A pot for planting a plant should have a number of holes that is sufficient not only for a quick drain of water, but also for quick drying of the roots of the orchid. You can buy it in the store, or you can make it yourself. Choose transparent orchid pots so that you can observe the development and condition of the root in them.plant systems. This monitoring helps determine the frequency of watering and allows you to immediately notice problems.
What's wrong with ceramic and glass orchid pots? First, they usually have one hole. It is quite difficult for a beginner in this hobby to decide on watering a plant in such a pot.
Secondly, if it is opaque, it is impossible to assess the state of the root system and prevent the death of the plant in time. Thirdly, the roots of orchids grow with their microhairs to the rough inner wall of ceramic pots. Then, when transplanting, you can severely damage the root system. You need to take a pot for an orchid a little more than the one in which you bought it.
Professional containers for such plants differ in the shape of the bottom. It can be flat, and it also happens to have a small indentation in the middle, indented with holes (air-pot). This form is good for a humid climate, since with its help the drying of the roots is provided much better. Homemade orchid pots are very easy to make. In order to make a container in which a plant will live for several years, a plastic transparent bucket, a long thick nail and a gas burner are enough. With a heated nail, we pierce holes along the bottom and along the lower edge of the walls of the pot - that's all. An inexpensive and functional house for your pet is ready.
Recommendations for choosing a plastic pot reflect how to properly transplant an orchid. If you want the plant to attract the eye not only with its flowers, but also with thethe object in which it grows, you can put a plastic container in a beautiful decorative pot.
Orchid soil
Of the primers I've seen in stores, I can't recommend any of them with 100% certainty. The most proven option is a mixture of pine bark and sphagnum in the proportion most suitable for your climate. The principle for preparing such a soil: the less moisture, the more sphagnum, and vice versa.
At 80% humidity of this soil, add about 1/3 of the volume. The size of the bark pieces is no more than 1.5 cm. Charcoal can be added. Of course, depending on the type of plant, there are some adjustments in answering the question of how to properly transplant an orchid. But now the universal requirements for planting these representatives of the flora are being considered.
Well, about the nuances
In my article, I tried to highlight the main points and talk as easily as possible about how to transplant an orchid correctly. I will be glad if my experience is really useful to you. When you brought an orchid home from the store (from a birthday, from a wedding, etc.), it needs to be transplanted, not transshipped. That is, completely stir up the roots, freeing them from the soil. At the same time, you will be able to fully assess their condition. In addition, before planting in a new soil, it is recommended to treat the entire plant with antibacterial and fungicidal preparations (Gliocladin, Alirin, Gamair, Fitolavin, etc.). Very often, especiallysuppliers from East Asia, orchids are sold entirely in sphagnum. And it happens that these people, falling asleep along the edge of the pot with bark, somehow tamp the sphagnum into the middle of the root system. Most likely this is done to provide moisture to the plant during transportation and sale. But at home, the following happens: if you transfer everything into a slightly larger pot, leaving a piece of sphagnum in the core, the outer layers of the soil will dry out very quickly, creating the effect of dried earth. And in the middle of the root system there will be an ever-moist, non-drying sphagnum, which will very quickly cause the root system to rot with a gradual infection of the neck or rhizome (rhizome) of the orchid.
In my article, I tried to highlight the main points and talk as easily as possible about how to transplant an orchid correctly. I will be glad if my experience is really useful to you.
