A Guide to Orchid Plants

Orchid plants are beautiful and full-blooming, and so they are a great choice, regardless of whether you are keeping them indoors or outdoors. There are a few things that are important to know about orchid plants, of which will be discussed here.

Repotting Orchid Plants

For the most part, orchid plants that are growing in pots will tend to break down the medium within one to two years, and so when repotting you want to be sure that you remove the old mix from the pot, being particularly careful that you don't break or crush too many of the roots.

Then you put the plant in a new pot, carefully bending all of the aerial roots into the pot. Do not worry if you crack a few roots when you tuck them into the pot and fill with the new medium, because this is likely to happen. After you have repotted the plants, keep in mind that it will often take a few days for the plant to adjust from shock, and so it will go through a recovery phase.

Watering

Watering is a very important aspect to all plants, particularly orchid plants. They are plants that need to dry out somewhat in between each watering, and you generally need to give each plant a thorough watering once a week in order to keep them healthy. One trick in particular that will help you to keep track of moisture measurement is to take a sharpened wooden pencil and then stick it into the mix.

You want to leave it in for a minute and then pull it out and if the color of the exposed tip turns dark then you know there is lots of moisture in the mix.

Problems

There are certain problems that your plant may experience, such as black spots on the leaves. If this happens, it is most often due to the sun and if this is the case, then you know that it is merely natural spotting and thus your plant will not be harmed. The best treatment for this type of problem is to use a bacterial spray, and then after treatment you want to check to see if the spots are increasing in size or number. If so, then you will most likely have to take more serious measures.

As long as you put in the time and effort and take care of your plants, they should grow and bloom to be full and beautiful.