How to choose a pot for an orchid to keep it healthy and blooming: I share 4 points ✅

Fiery fireworks, comrades indoor florists!

Today is a publication for those impressed by the beauty of tropical butterflies phalaenopsis, but does not always find a common language with the plant

Some colleagues in the shop emphasize that only the humidity of the environment and lighting are important for the health and stable flowering of a green ward. I will not tire of repeating that a suitable pot is one of the most important conditions for phalaenopsis. Moreover, the orchid house is directly related to both humidity and lighting. I propose to sort out all the points without lyrical digressions ☺

✅ Some say: a transparent pot is required for an orchid, and a neighbor's flower blooms beautifully in ceramics. Where is the truth?

The truth, as they say in one good, but already forgotten, series, is always somewhere nearby. In fact, our hybrid phalaenopsis from Holland are extremely hardy plants, perfectly adapted to growing at home and inappropriate conditions.

Sometimes it takes years to "destroy" phalaenopsis with improper care. Yes, even if you try hard. I somehow forgot a pot at the dacha (I confess!) And the orchid lived without watering for 2 months

The need for a transparent pot is greatly exaggerated. Phalaenopsis grows well in the dark. Yes, roots are involved in photosynthesis too. But! Leaves are capable of coping well with this vital biological task without them.

But I consider it my duty to warn: for beginners and everyone who has already lost phalaenopsis, it is better to take transparent. For the reason that it is easier to look at the state of the roots in reality mode.

✅ Does size matter?

Undoubtedly. Planting phalaenopsis in a huge trough is dangerous with root rot. They do not absorb all the moisture due to their large volume, the bark sours, and there bacteria and fungi do their job.

The ideal pot for an orchid is one in which all the roots intervene with a margin of 2 cm. In a house the size of a houseplant perfectly maintains water-air balance, without going to extremes of bay / drought.

✅ About materials: plastic vs ceramic

Even I, being a devoted lover of ceramic pots due to their aesthetics, warn: plant phalaenopsis only in plastic! For 2 reasons:

• Having planted an orchid in ceramics, the florist condemns it to a painful transplant. Phalaenopsis roots grow to the walls, and quite tightly. Adversity does not happen with plastic.
• It is important for the orchid that all excess moisture from the substrate drains out of the pot. In ceramics, there is usually one hole that does not fulfill the task in any way. And for obvious reasons, it is impossible to make an additional hole.

And now we have smoothly moved on to the next point, the most important one.

✅ Holes in the pot: to do more or not?

Look at the bottom of the pot. To plant a phalaenopsis, you need so many holes so that when watering, the water passes through as through a sieve. Some growers make additional holes on the bottom of the walls if there is drainage.

But it's not worth frantically punching the dishes along the entire height. Otherwise, the bark will dry out too quickly. Phalaenopsis, I recall, is the type of orchid, the roots of which should always be in a slightly humid environment.

Do you like phalaenopsis and was the article interesting for you? Please click "Thumbs up" in response, my dears! Thank you. I also advise you to read: Young seedlings stretched out? I tell you how to fix and get healthy seedlings in 2 (+1) steps