How correctly to transplant an orchid - and here the nuances

Well, finally you have the first orchid. What to do with this beauty? Perhaps some recommendations were given in the store when buying, perhaps useful information you will learn from this article. I hope, in answering the question how correctly to transplant an orchid, the photos below will help you a little. So, let's begin.

How to choose a pot

One of the important tips on "how to properly transplant an orchid" is a recommendation for choosing a pot. If you bought a plant not in a plastic container, but in a soft cellophane, then of course it is worth replacing it. Sometimes orchids are sold in good professional pots, which can not be changed. The most important rule for this capacity is high ventilation. A pot for planting a plant must have a number of holes sufficient not only for rapid flow of water, but also ensuring the rapid drying of the roots of the orchid. You can buy it in the store, but you can do it yourself. Choose pots for orchids transparent, so that they can observe the development and condition of the root system of the plant. Such monitoring helps to determine the frequency of irrigation and allows you to immediately notice the problems.

What is bad for ceramic and glass pots for orchids? First, they usually have one hole. A beginner in this hobby is hard to decide on watering a plant in such a pot.

Secondly, if it is opaque, it is impossible to assess the condition of the root system and in time to prevent the death of the plant. Thirdly, to the rough inner wall of ceramic pots, the roots of orchids grow with their micro-hair. Then, during transplantation, you can severely damage the root system.
A pot for an orchid needs to be taken slightly more than the one in which you bought it.

Professional containers for such plants differ in the form of the bottom. It can be flat, and also happens with a small notch inward in the middle, cut by holes (air-pot). This form is good for a humid climate, because with its help the drying of the roots is much better. Homemade pots for orchids 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 is enough. With a heated nail pierce holes on the bottom and along the bottom edge of the pot wall - and that's it. Inexpensive and functional house for your pets is ready.

Recommendations for choosing a plastic pot reflect how correctly to transplant an orchid. If you want the plant to attract the eye not only with its flowers, but also with the object in which it grows, you can put the plastic container in a beautiful decorative pot.

Soil for orchids

Of the soils encountered in shops, with 100% certainty, I can not recommend any of them. 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 lower the humidity, the more sphagnum, and vice versa.

At 80% humidity of this soil, about 1/3 of the volume should be added. The size of the bark pieces is no more than 1.5 cm. You can add charcoal. Of course, depending on the type of plant, there are some corrections in the answer to 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 how to be more accessible about how to properly transplant an orchid. I would be happy if my experience really useful. When you brought the orchid home from the store (from the date of birth, from the wedding, etc.), it is necessary to transplant it, and not to pass it. That is, completely root out 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 whole plant with antibacterial and fungicidal preparations ("Gliokladin", "Alirin", "Gamair", "Phytolavin", etc.). Very often, especially for suppliers from East Asia, orchids are fully sold in sphagnum. And it happens that these people, falling asleep on the edge of the pot bark, in the middle of the root system somehow tamped the sphagnum. Most likely this is done to provide moisture to the plant for the period of transportation and sale. But at home, the following is obtained: if you have passed everything into a slightly larger pot, leaving a piece of sphagnum in the core, the outer layers of the soil will dry very quickly, creating the effect of the dried up earth. And in the middle of the root system there will be an eternally moist non-dormant sphagnum, which very quickly will cause rotting of the root system with a gradual infection of the cervix or rhizome (rhizome) of the orchid.

In my article, I tried to highlight the main points and how to be more accessible about how to properly transplant an orchid. I would be happy if my experience really useful.