Re-potting my orchid

One experience does not make me an expert but I shall tell you how I went about to re-pot my orchid plant. First of all, I soaked enough broken clay pieces, stones and charcoal bits in water overnight to dissolve away any impurities. Maybe I did not have to do this but I did it anyway.

Next, I soaked the whole clay pot in water so that the roots could absorb it and become soft and pliable. The reason why I had delayed re-potting the plant was because I was afraid of damage to the roots. But then, I read somewhere that the roots would be less likely to be injured when they are soft.


I had to be very careful when prying the roots away from the original pot because I wanted to retain as much of the roots as possible. But I also had to trim them down to keep the good ones and discard those that looked unacceptable to me.


Next, I transplanted the front bulbs to their new home, carefully filling in the spaces between the roots with the pieces of broken clay pieces, stones and charcoal bits. I also had some coconut husk fibres to prop up the plant. When transplanting the bulbs, I followed Dr Teoh's advise to turn the bulbs inwards so that any new shoot would not grow outwards. In order to secure the plant firmly in its new environment, I tied some of the pseudobulbs to the wire hangers.


And finally, ta-da!! My newly potted orchid. I hope I did well and I hope I didn't damage it. Needless to say, I'll be waiting anxiously for it to emerge from its traumatic transplantation. Just like a first-time father.


In the meantime, I peered into the old clay pot which still held the old pseudoblubs. Uurgh! It wasn't a pretty sight. Seperti cacing!