7 tips on how to properly transplant an orchid

Delivered from the tropics beauties - orchids have become residents of urban apartments relatively recently. This fragile plant needs proper care, watering and maintenance. Like all pot plants, an orchid sometimes has to be transplanted. How to properly transplant an orchid without harming her? Let's consider the whole process in stages.

1. We determine whether it is possible to transplant an orchid. Transplantation during flowering is highly undesirable, since the plant will experience stress. Transfer to another pot is necessary if the plant has stopped growing and has not produced flower stalks for several years. Decay of roots and yellowing of leaves is also a signal to the fact that the orchid needs to be taken out of the pot and transplanted into a new substrate. If you just decided to change the pot, then the optimal time for this is the beginning of spring, that is, until the growing season.
2. If you have determined the time when you can transplant an orchid, you need to choose The "right" pot. Ideal for orchids with a lot of air roots - a wicker basket or a transparent pot with drainage holes on the bottom and the surface of the entire pot. Conventional ceramic or plastic pots are not suitable. In them, air circulation is difficult. In addition, in opaque pots it is difficult to determine the moisture content of the substrate.
3. The size of the pot should be such that enough space for the roots. Too large pot of orchids is not needed. For example, phalaenopsis in large containers will not bloom until they fill all the free space with roots. Therefore, in broad pots, orchids do not bloom very long.
4. For a transplant, we buy a new substrate. Flower growers, interested in how to properly transplant an orchid, should know that there is a specially created substrate for orchids. It can be prepared from sphagnum, bark of pine, charcoal, peat and drainage.
5. Gently remove the orchid from the old pot, trying not to damage the roots, rinse them under running water. If there are old or rotten roots, cut them off, and place the cut with sprinkled ashes or cinnamon.
6. At the bottom of the new pot, we pour a little dry prepared soil, lower the orchid, gently straighten the lower roots. Gradually fill the substrate, sometimes shaking the pot a little, so that large pieces of bark are distributed between the roots.
7. The main condition for correctly transplanting an orchid is not to bury the upper air roots! Leave them on the surface. Let not very aesthetically, but from this your flower will feel "at home"!

After the orchid has migrated from the old pot to the new one, you need to refrain from watering for 2-3 days. You can spray the leaves every day, and after 3 days, water the plant as usual. If all the paragraphs of the above instructions on how to properly transplant an orchid are met, then in the next 2 years, a transplant will not be required.

The further life of the orchid will depend on the conditions of maintenance and quality of care. It is worth noting that the grown "baby" is planted from the mother plant exactly as described above. The baby should have formed air roots (about 6-7 cm long) and have at least 3 leaves. If the roots are not developed enough, they carefully adhere the sphagnum and moisten with spraying. After a transplant, the plant needs time to adapt and root, so do not wait for too rapid flowering and active growth.