Soak for about 10 minutes to saturate. Allow the water to drain out completely; orchids like a good soak but don't tolerate sitting in water. Uneven watering will result in shallow or uneven root growth.
Soak your orchid in a bucket or large container so its roots have time to absorb water and fertilizer. Place it in the bowl or container and fill it to the top level of the pot. Let it sit in the water for about 15 minutes. Do not leave it soaking too long, because the roots also need oxygen.
The easiest way is to soak your orchid in a bowl of water once every week or two --- when the moss dries out. Unlike most houseplants, you don't need to keep orchid moss evenly moist; if it stays too moist, the orchid can rot.
To make the roots more pliable, soak the plant for about 5 minutes in water. Then, ease the plant out of its pot. Orchids can become very attached to their pots, and removing them can be a little tricky. Orchid roots will cling to clay.
Effective and cost-efficient is a simple water and hydrogen peroxide solution that you can mix at home as you need it. McKesson Antiseptic Hydrogen Peroxide 3% is a no-nonsense product that, when diluted in water, effectively sterilizes snipped orchid roots before replanting.
Soak for about 10 minutes to saturate. Allow the water to drain out completely; orchids like a good soak but don't tolerate sitting in water. Uneven watering will result in shallow or uneven root growth.
Prepare some cinnamon (yes, the kind you use to cook with, as in cinnamon buns) or sulfur. You will need them to dust the roots after they are cut to disinfect them. Soak your orchid in a bucket of water for half an hour or so to loosen the potting medium and make the roots more flexible.
The first week after repotting simply water and continue to mist your orchid on your personal schedule. 3. On the second week after repotting, fertilize your orchid, substituting rooting solution for fertilizer. Do not water your Phalaenopsis on the weeks it is fertilized.
(Some orchid pros think that a perlite/peat mix is less likely to produce aerial roots than bark.) Either way, don't cover the roots because they may rot.
An orchid shouldn't go longer than two to three weeks without water; it will start dying. You can water orchids with three ice cubes per week (about 1/4 cup) to keep the plant hydrated throughout the week.
If your plant has these growths, there's nothing you need to do. For the most part, aerial roots are a sign that your plant is perfectly healthy and just doing its thing. It doesn't mean the orchid is unhealthy or that it has outgrown its pot.
If the number of air roots increases, it may be a sign that your orchid needs to be repotted. If the roots that are in the growing medium are having a hard time absorbing nutrients, then the plant may send out more aerial roots. Check the roots in the pot before deciding to repot.
Room temperature water is best, but you can water your orchid with ice cubes without harming the plant. About once a week, place up to three ice cubes on top of the potting medium, preferably where the cubes don't touch the leaves. As the ice melts, it provides enough moisture to keep your orchid thriving.
Orchids enjoy being pot-bound. When you purchase an orchid, it will come in a clear pot with either coarsely ground bark or sphagnum moss. It is important to keep orchids in these clear containers as their roots need light for photosynthesis.
Most orchids need to be repotted every one to two years, but you should wait until the blooming cycle is complete to take this step. Once your orchid enters the resting period, watch for the signs that it has outgrown the current pot.
In order to mimic their preferred growing conditions, repotting orchids into specialist orchid compost or a mix of moss, bark chips and perlite, is essential to maintaining their health and vitality.
Yes! Orchids generally love humid conditions because they're a tropical plant. The easiest way to recreate their humid home is by misting them with a spray bottle.
Caring for orchids
Most orchid house plants come from humid, tropical regions, so do best in a humid atmosphere. In most centrally heated homes the air is dry, so mist the foliage every two to three days using tepid water, but avoid spraying the flowers, as the petals can be marked by water.
Orchids like to be snug in their pot and the ratio of roots to potting mix should be about equal. If an orchid is put into a pot that is too big for it, then there are not enough roots to take up the moisture that is being held by the potting mix and the mix stays wet too long.
Determining whether a new growth is a root or a flower spike is largely a matter of visual observation and time. Orchid flower spikes are usually greener than roots and have a flatter, mitten-shaped tip. While growing, spikes remain green along their full length.
Withholding water from the plant will encourage new root growth in most hybrids and some species. This must be accompanied by high humidity and lower light to avoid overly desiccating the plant.