Easy Orchid Repotting

by Kimberley's Joy

2 Materials

15 Minutes

Easy

To many, Orchids are intimidating. I admit I was one of the intimidated for a long time but not anymore. I've gone to several local nurseries that specialize in Orchids and learned a lot about them in the last few years. A few key things are

Their natural habitat is tropical climates where they grow wild ON trees and other vegetation.
They get their nutrients through their exposed root system by absorbing moisture from the air and the plant to which they attach.
The moisture is stored within their roots.
In nature the blooms grow in a downward cascade, not upright as seen in stores.

This past Valentines Day, Jeff bought me a beautiful Orchid. I'm not sure from where it was purchased but knowing he's a last minute kinda guy coupled with it's presentation my bet is on our local grocery store. It has been living happily outside on my lanai amongst my other plants and blooming like a champ!! Yesterday we had our first major rain in over six months and it absolutely poured, I mean sideways and drenched everything, a tornado even touched down!! Wowza, we get hurricanes not tornados! I digress.

I realized my Orchid was literally flooded which seemed strange since everything else was "only" very wet. It seems this was potted for aesthetics not longevity so I needed to repot this gal pronto before torrential storm the sequel hit.

My beautiful drowning Orchid

This is how it was purchased.

Side Note: The clear elastic band holds the bloom up against the wooden dowel because they don't grow up, they grow down in nature.

Pretty but not functional. There's no drainage at all!! UGH

Playing beat the clock

It's encased in a thick plastic sleeve with a small (dime sized) hole at the bottom they set flush into a deep ceramic vase. Would any plant have a chance of survival?

After removing it from the vase I gently applied pressure to the plastic in an attempt to help drain water out of the moss.

I then cut slits into the bottom of the plastic so the drain hole became bigger. The plastic sides were also cut and peeled downward by about half.

(Since it's in bloom and already been submerged in water for over 12 hours I'm repotting cautiously.)

The pot to be used

I'm repotting into another ceramic pot but one that's much wider and has a drainage hole.

I've placed the plant into the new pot (still in modified plastic sheath) and packing moss around it. The purpose of the moss is to hold moisture and help keep the plant from falling. Once it's adjusted and the blooms die I may transfer it to a log but for now it's safe.