Orchid - a beautiful and very unusual indoor flower. It differs from other flora in that it is an epiphytic plant. This means that its roots are not in the ground, but on the surface, wrapping branches of trees on which an orchid grows in nature. This fact also affects the care of the plant. Let's find out how to transplant an orchid into another pot.
When to transplant an orchid?
First of all, the time for transplantation should be determined. It comes when the soil in the pot loses its properties:
- air permeability: the substrate for these flowers is usually made on the basis of pine bark, which, due to watering, gradually swells and tampers. As a result, the soil remains moist longer, and the orchid roots receive less oxygen than they need;
- acidity of soil: the optimal indicator is 5.5-6.5 pH. But over time, the acidity of the substrate decreases, if you also use tap water for irrigation. To reduce the acidity to a normal level will help the addition of several crystals of citric acid to the water, dilution of the soil with peat, or complete substitution of the substrate;
- balance of salts: gradually their number increases, and then the roots of orchids can get burned, dry up, rot, etc. That's why flowers should be transplanted from time to time.
If you have transplanted the orchid in time, it adapts better and at the right time will bloom again. As a rule, the plant requires a transplant every 2-3 years. It is best to produce it in the spring or after flowering, if you recently purchased an orchid.
How to transplant an orchid at home?
For a successful transplant the plants need:
- Get the flower from the pot. To do this, pre-pour it with water to soften the bark, and gently separate the roots from the old substrate. Be careful not to damage the fragile roots of the orchid.
- Rinse the roots. Leave for half an hour the bottom of the flower immersed in a container of warm water, and then rinse the root system of the orchid under the stream. With careful movements, separate the remains of the old soil from the roots. In this case, the particles of the bark, which are densely ingested in the roots, can not be removed.
- In the presence of rotten, dry or diseased roots, they should be cut off. To do this, carefully examine the entire root system of the plant, and cut off the bad roots until the beginning of green tissue. Place slices of activated carbon powder. It is also recommended to remove old yellow leaves at the base of the plant, if any.
- Dry the flower for 6 hours at room temperature and gently plant orchid in a new pot. It should be slightly larger than the previous one and have a margin of a couple of centimeters on each side. Place the orchid in the center of the pot and pour the entire substrate between the root system and the bottom where the drainage is laid first.
- Pour orchid from the shower with water at room temperature
temperature or immerse the pot in a container of water for 20-30 minutes.
Also, novice flower growers are often interested in how to transplant the baby, which appeared on the flower of an orchid, at home. To do this, you need to wait until the children grow their own root system, and carefully trim that part of the mother plant on which the baby has grown (stalk, flower stem or root). Then the baby is put in a small pot, observing all the rules of the transplantation of orchids described above. When transplantation does not matter, neither the variety, nor the species (phalaenopsis or, say, dendrobium ), nor the size of the flower (large or miniature) - as practice shows, transplanting an orchid is not particularly difficult.