Of course, orchids are renowned for their beautiful flowers, which can seem to last forever. Some species have individual preferences, but all need a balance of light, air, water, food, rest, and, from time to time, a new pot in order to thrive. For the best results, provide the conditions they prefer. In their native habitats, orchids grow like weeds, but they are inclined to homesickness as houseplants. Select a pot large enough to allow at least an inch of growing space around the roots.These “peep holes” allow for air movement and also make it easier to check on the health of the roots. There are even special orchid pots which have wide drainage slits around the sides of the pot. Orchids are commonly grown in terra cotta pots because they allow for extra airflow.(You can mix up your own, using four to six parts bark to one part each of the other components.) Orchid potting mixes are made of fine, medium, or coarse fir bark chunks, which are usually combined with perlite, peat, or sphagnum moss, and horticultural charcoal.Most garden stores sell special orchid potting mixes:.Large plants with older roots do better in coarser growing media.The best medium is one that is very light, porous, and fast-draining.

All orchids-especially epiphytic species-need a lot of air around their roots.

Never plant an orchid in standard potting soil.

Green bamboo and curly willow make for attractive stakes.

If the plant doesn’t stay in place, consider staking it until its roots take hold of the new media.

Water the orchid well to settle the media around its roots.

Hold the plant upright in the new pot and fill in around it with new potting media, tamping down gently, to about an inch from the top of the pot.

Inspect the orchid’s roots, cutting off any that are blackened, hollow, spongy, or otherwise damaged.

Dispose of the old potting medium, especially if it looks like it’s breaking down or rotting.

New orchids are typically sold in thin plastic containers, which can be cut away.

Carefully remove the orchid from its existing pot.

Orchids should be so snug in their pots that you can pick up the plant by its leaves and not shake out the roots.

Repot at the beginning of the next growth cycle (typically in the spring).

When an orchid spills out of its pot, the roots trail down the sides of the pot, or the growing medium is reduced to crumbs, it’s time for repotting.

Enjoy the flowers, then cut off the spent flower spike with sterile snippers and repot the orchid.

Do not repot while a plant is flowering, as the blooms may suffer.

Once you bring yours home, you should consider repotting it. This is a problem, as they need air flow to avoid root rot. Most store-bought orchids come packaged in cheap plastic pots with the roots packed in soaked sphagnum moss. Just choose a strong, healthy-looking plant.”

“Inexpensive orchids are no less likely to thrive. “Absolutely,” says Marc Hachadourian, Curator of Glasshouse Collections for the New York Botanical Garden. We’ve all seen orchids at supermarkets and home stores and wondered if they’re a wise purchase. In the wild, epiphytes cling to trees and stumps, drawing moisture from the mist and rain and decomposing leaves. Orchids are either epiphytic (air-growing) or terrestrial (earth-growing) most tropical orchids are epiphytic.Every orchid has evolved to attract a particular pollinator, which has led to orchids’ enormous variety in appearance.Every orchid has a characteristic, highly evolved lip, a petal that protrudes in a blossom of three petals and three sepals, some fused together.In most of North America, orchids must be grown indoors (exceptions include native species such as the lady’s slipper). The greatest concentration of orchid varieties is found in the tropical regions of the world, namely in Asia and Central and South America. The orchid family is one of the largest in the realm of flowering plants: More than 25,000 species grow naturally, on every continent except Antarctica. This is because modern cloning techniques allow for mass production of plants, and cultivation that used to take seven years from seed to bloom now takes only two. Once rare and expensive, orchids now outsell every other houseplant, surpassing even African violets, chrysanthemums, and poinsettias. Here’s everything you should know about growing orchids and caring for orchids-and we’ve listed the most common orchid varieties. Few pleasures in gardening surpass the thrill of seeing orchids thrive and bloom. Orchids have no equal: They are breathtakingly beautiful, delicate, long-blooming, long-lived, fascinating in fragrance and form, and extremely varied.

Type onto leafnote