Orchid

[jerseybean]

I have an old orchid plant , not done very well lately. When I changed water , soil was a mess so at moment it is in a jar of water only , by kitchen sink.
What is my best strategy for repotting for best potential.Please Help.
I also have another large orchid which again, has not flowered for a year.
Cheers

[TPeers]

Don't keep them in water!

Orchids like to be very well drained. Get a bag of orchid bark compost and be sure to use clear plastic pots. Most orchids have a symbiotic relationship with an algae/bacteria which lives in and around the roots and needs light to florish.

[jerseybean]

Oops! Thanks

[la cebolla grande]

Another couple of points - do you know WHAT orchid it is, or at least type?? There are literally thousands of species, and each has its own requirements!!

If it is a standard 'houseplant' type one, I've kept several different ones for many years and they all flower regularly. The keys for me seem to be:

A) they need to be pot-bound, so only re-pot when really desperate - oh and when you do DON'T break off the apparently 'dead' stem bases/ bulbs -they hold the food for this years growth.

B) you can pot most in chopped up bracken - loads cheaper than commercial potting composts

C) they thrive on aggresive neglect. I chuck all of mine out in the garden for the summer, tucked in behind a bush or similar. No special watering/pampering - in fact they need a complete rest. Bring them in just before first frosts and off they should go again.

D) biggest killer can be over-pampering. Most ''domestic'' orchids are epiphytes - in the wild they grow on trees, and even those that don't (like Cymbidium) have a very low nutrient requirement. Over feeding, or using too rich a compost is a grade a way of killing them slowly.

Yes, each orchid needs a mycorrhizal fungus (each species a different one, too), but an adult plant will carry its own supply in root nodules, so don't worry about this when re-potting. Its only an issue when trying to get seeds to germinate!!

Good Luck

LCG

[nick the grief]

Best place to germinate seeds is in the pot of the parent plant Funnily enough I treated Mrs G to one this week - I think it was a Phalenopsis have to check - and that had absolutly no instructions with it - guarranteed another sale I guess when the 1st one is killed off by unsuspecting folks.

The leading experts on orchids in this country are a school in Somerset I think it is. The micropropagate them and are actually re-introducing into the wild.

http://www.writhlingtonorchidproject.org.uk/