An orchid is more than just a showy flower to grow in your favorite traditional statement container. Hanging orchids is a great way to create an indoor growing environment for these eye-catching blooms.
An orchid should ideally live and grow in a plastic or terra-cotta grow pot. “Pots for growing orchids must have drainage holes or slits in the container to ensure your plant doesn’t get soggy, wet feet,” says Turner.
What is the best container to grow orchids?
Woven plastic or fiber pots most closely resemble how many orchids grow in nature. These basketlike containers loosely hold orchid roots and potting media, allowing air and water to easily pass through. Mesh pots are best in humid environments to ensure plants do not dry out too quickly.
Can orchids grow in hanging baskets? – Related Questions
Do orchids like big pots or small pots?
Most orchids require a 4, 5 or 6 inch pot. There are seedlings and miniatures that require smaller pots, older specimen plants and some genera (Cymbidium, Phaius, large Cattleya) that often require 8 inch pots or bigger but the majority of orchids sold in groceries, box stores, florists and the like are not these.
Should orchid roots be exposed?
Most orchids will have aerial roots reaching out into the air, rather than digging down into the potting media. These roots are looking for a tree branch to attach to. These roots absorb moisture from the air. Do not trim off these wandering roots, just let them do their thing.
What does an orchid look like when it needs to be repotted?
Your orchid has tightly tangled roots.
This is a surefire sign your orchid needs to be repotted. Give plants breathing room by placing it in a larger pot every year or two with fresh potting soil.
Should you water orchids while blooming?
What About Watering Orchids In Bloom? Regularly water orchids that are blooming, growing new roots, or new leaves. While some orchids such as Cattleyas and Dendrobiums like to dry out between watering, others such as Phalaenopsis and Paphiopedilums like to remain evenly moist.
What to do with orchid after blooms fall off?
After the flowers drop from the orchid you have three choices: leave the flower spike (or stem) intact, cut it back to a node, or remove it entirely. Remove the flower spike entirely by clipping it off at the base of the plant. This is definitely the route to take if the existing stem starts to turn brown or yellow.
What should orchids be potted in?
Fir and Monterey bark is the most commonly used potting media for orchids. It is long-lasting, porous, and free-draining. Clay pellets are commonly added to mixes to prevent compaction and add drainage. Must be leached as it absorbs salts.
Are clay or plastic pots better for orchids?
With proper drainage, Phalaenopsis orchids will thrive in nearly any container; but plastic and clay pots are most common. Here’s how the two stack up: Plastic pots are cheap, light, and available in multiple sizes and colors. Many people prefer plastic over clay pots because they offer better water retention.
Do orchids need deep or wide pots?
Most orchids do prefer shallower squat pots, as their roots don’t like all the moisture retained in deep pots and they just don’t need the depth anyway as their roots spread out, not down.
Do orchids like crowded pots?
Like Goldilocks, orchids like things “just right.” While orchids love being a little crowded in their pots, every year or two it’s time to re-pot. Just as an orchid won’t perform at its best if its pot is overcrowded, a too-large pot will also inhibit flowering.
What should you not do with an orchid?
5 things you shouldn’t do with an orchid
Overwater them. The roots of an orchid are part of the lungs: the plant breathes through these so-called aerial roots.
Pour water on the crown.
Plant them in regular soil.
Place them in direct sunlight.
Spray water on the flowers.
Do coffee grounds help orchids?
You can also make coffee ground tea which is an excellent additive to make orchid fertilizer. Add one part ground coffee juice to three parts soft water, use it once a month during the growing phase.
Do orchids like morning or afternoon sun?
Orchids require different light then normal house plants. They do not require the kind of bright direct sunshine that, let’s say, a tomato plant does. Orchids do well with indirect morning or evening sun but never direct hot sun in the middle of the day.
