How to Re-Pot Orchids

Hi, this is Yolanda Vanveen and in this segment we're going to learn all about how to repot orchids. I got this orchid at the Seattle Garden Show this year and it came in this little pot and it's just a really beautiful orchid. It had lots of blooms, the blooms have died. So first of all, always repot your orchids when they're not in bloom 'cause you don't want it to shock 'em. So this orchid should probably be repotted, but because it's in bloom, we'll wait 'til it's done blooming and repot it. For now, I love it just the way it is. So this one's already bloomed. It's done and as you can see, it's got lots of roots and it's really grown out of it's pot. And orchids like to be crowded granted, but I have found too over the years if they're too crowded, they won't do as well and they can't stay wet enough, so I really believe that it's time to repot this orchid and I think it'll do great in this container. Now it's right into a lot of moss, it's grown right into moss so you can add lots of moss to the soil. And I found the best combination is a combination of wood chips or wood shavings with moss mixed together. That way it stays moist but airs out as well. So another trick too is kind of spread the roots out a bit, so that they can get some new growth. And you don't really want to break them, but just spread them out a little bit. Now here they've even used some Styrofoam too which I try not to use because it doesn't break down and I found natural materials are better. And so I just want to set that in the pot a bunch of the dirt and moss and branch clippings. So this is pretty much just composted and then I'm just going to set it right in there. And you don't want to take it to the very top because you want a border so when you water it the water doesn't come off the top. You want it to sit, but yet you don't want it to sit in water. But yet you don't want it to sit in water either so you want to kind of dry it out in between watering. But just by putting it in another pot and giving it some air and giving it room to grow again it will thrive. I like to keep my orchids in a sunny window not in afternoon sun, but morning sun, so they love this east sun window. And they seem to thrive there. And I don't use fertilizers. I don't use anything. And I just leave them in the window and water them and let them dry out in between. And in the winter especially leave them on the dry side. And they come up and give me blooms every year. And they're a great addition to my home garden.