How to take care of your orchids
Re-potting an orchid is easy!
The best time to re-pot your orchid is after it has ceased to flower. The orchid then starts a new growth period. A larger pot allows room for larger roots which will lead to more and bigger flowers next time.
We recommend a 13-14 cm pot. If the pot has been used before make sure you clean it thoroughly to prevent possible transfer of disease from one plant to another. There should be a hole in the bottom of the pot allowing surplus water to run away.
1. The old stalk is cut EITHER to a length of 3 cm OR over the third "eye"
from the bottom. If you choose to cut it short it will take a little longer
before the plant has a new stalk with buds and flowers. But you will obtain a
stronger stalk. If you choose to cut over the third "eye", the new
stalk will grow out from the old one and you will have new flowers after just a
couple of months.
2. Gently remove the plant from the old pot and carefully shake the old
growth medium off the roots.
3. Place the roots in the new pot and pour OrchidMix around the
plant. Shake the pot to have the growth medium spread around the roots. Be
careful not to press the growth medium too hard as this may damage the roots.
Place the orchid deep enough for the roots to be covered by approx. 1 cm OrchidMix.
4. Wait approx. 5 days before the first watering.
After re-potting, your orchids need to rest in semi-shade at a temperature of 18-25
degrees. Never place your orchids in direct sunlight!
The natural growing place of the orchids that benefit from Montidol OrchidMix is in the crown of trees. Their roots are therefore made to hang freely in the air.
This is why the roots will rot if you overwater the orchids in pots. We recommend that you water your orchids only once a week and make sure you remove surplus water after approx. 20 minutes.
Once a month add one cap full of OrchidPlus per litre to the water.
Plastic pots:
Transparent plastic pots are the best as the orchids’ roots benefit from the light in your livingroom. At the same time the transparency gives you a unique possibility to follow your plant: healthy roots are strong and silky. When the plant needs water the roots in the pot will turn white or greyish. If the pot has no legs we recommend that you place it on a grating to lift it a little (5-10 mm) from the floor.
Clay pots:
Many people prefer clay pots for aesthetic reasons. Clay pots should also be lifted from the floor to prevent the roots that crawl outside from being constantly in water or in very humid and stagnant air. It MAY be difficult to control the humidity in clay pots as the water passes through the pot side. However, lots of people have no trouble using clay pots.
Other pots:
We have made experiments using other kinds of pots that are not really suited for orchids, however beautiful. Many of these pots did not have holes in the bottom which made it crucial to have the water drained from the roots. The plants that did best are still in good shape and developing. They were planted upon a thick layer of pebbles in large transparent glass vases. We water them very slowly and carefully: approx. 5 cl at a time in order not to get too much water in the bottom of the vase.