orchid identification

Posted on Sunday, August 12th, 2007 at 5:07 am

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I rescued what I think is an orchid yesterday…?

It looks overgrown for its pot and I want to re-pot whatever it is but want to give it what it needs. Unfortunately, i cant find any good information online with so many different varieties its hard to identify.

Does anyone know of any good websites or books on orchid/plant/flower identification and care?

Most local garden stores have those paperback books with lots of nice pictures in them, about orchids. There are a lot of different varieties, so a book would help a lot. Orchids often look overgrown for their pots, but aren’t necessarily. The real determining factors regarding repotting would be: Does the potting medium have a foul or somewhat moldy odor? Does the potting medium look broken down – becoming granular like regular soil, or is the bark getting dark brown and a little soggy when wet? The best way to determine whether your orchid needs “attention to its potting situation”, is to take it out of its pot and examine the roots, along with the bark. Do the roots look nice and white, possibly a little greenish, and very firm? Or do they look very grey or brown and seem soggy or squishy when wet? If they seem squishy, then see if the covering pulls right off like it is papery, exposing a little “string” inside. If the roots are grey and squishy (not firm) when wet, or when dry, the covering just pulls right off and it is not green inside, then you will need to trim them off, so they don’t rot in the pot. Sometimes a lovely plant will loose a lot of root growth if it was allowed to dry out for excessive periods of time, or was kept in old and degrading potting medium. If you find that the plant has a lot of dead roots and not very fresh potting medium, (which should look like small fresh bark chunks), then you may choose to give it attention, but don’t run for a larger pot, yet. Pull or cut off the dead roots. Pull all of the old potting medium from around all of the remaining good roots, taking care not to break or damage any of the healthy roots, and especially try not to break off the little green root-tips on any actively growing roots. Please don’t leave any old potting medium in the pot, as it will just rot any remaining roots. Once you have removed everything except good roots, you can determine if it can go back into its old pot, a smaller pot if it has lost a lot of roots, or a larger pot if it happens to be a terribly healthy plant that did not really have any root loss in the first place. Orchids don’t like very big pots. You don’t want a pot that will always be falling over due to the top of the plant being excessively large for the pot, but you do want a pot that will allow the remaining outside roots to come in contact with the pot walls. If you have too much room around the roots, the potting medium will remain wet too long, and the roots will rot. Most orchids (but not all) prefer to be a little cramped in their pots, rather than overpotted, and if necessary, you can even curl some of the longer roots around to fit in the pot. Put the plant in the pot you have chosen. Center it, and if there are any “leads” (little shoots) growing out , make sure they have some room to grow on whatever side they are growing toward. Start putting the bark/potting mix into the pot. Keep holding the plant in place while you do this. Push the mix down with your fingers, or tap the pot on the counter gently to make the bark pieces settle to the bottom. Put more in until it seems pretty full, and push down again with your fingers, but be careful not to damage the roots. Try to get the plant to seem pretty “solid” in the pot, so it is not wiggling around, too much. If needed, you can use tape or wire to secure the plant until it grows into the pot. Thoroughly drench the potting medium and then place in an area where all of the excess water will run out of the pot. The plant should never sit in a saucer, as the potting medium can become water-logged which is bad for the plant. Place in the location you have decided is best for the plant, and mist the surface of the bark daily in the early part of the day. You can pour water through the pot once or twice a week, but make sure it can run through. The misting will help to encourage new root growth. Find a book for the rest of the details, and good luck with your orchid.

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