The Great Orchid Experiment of 2014

[OnKloudNyne]

AKA Can I Grow an Orchid in Regular Potting Soil?

This is not a question but an experiment I am conducting to see if I can do it. Don't worry, if it looks as though the Orchid won't make it I will transplant it into the Orchid mix sold in stores.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYOHrzV ... LSLllaiusg

This is the first video, but I will continue to update every few weeks with my progress.

[baileysup]

Interesting experiment. I'm curious to see how it does in potting soil.

[hendi_alex]

I've found that many orchids do well in straight peat moss.

[applestar]

Right. Doesn't it depend on the species? What are you trying this experiment with?

[OnKloudNyne]

Right. Doesn't it depend on the species? What are you trying this experiment with?

Phalaenopsis Orchid. The one most commonly found in stores around here. I'm just trying to see if I can get it to grow and bloom in soil as opposed to moss or the mix sold in stores. If not I'll just repot it again in the tried and true stuff normally used.

[hendi_alex]

Phalaenopsis from commercial growers are often planted in a soil type of mix. It is very light and looks to me like perlite and peat moss, perhaps with some vermiculite. The soil has to be very light so that excess water is not retained.

[imafan26]

Phalanopsis are tree dwellers and like to be moist but have a lot of air. Phalaenopsis and vanda roots also participate in photosynthesis that is why they like to send their roots into the air. Phalanopsis pots are designed with holes on the side and some are opaque so more light can get to the roots. In nature a phals will often be happy hanging upside down on a tree with the flower curving upwards. It also keeps the crown from rotting.

Only humans try to make a plant live unnaturally by confining their roots in a pot and forcing them to grow in an unnatural position.

There are ground orchids that will do well in well drained coarse soil that has a lot of cinder in it and I know folks who have grown dendrobiums in clay soil on a slope (I'd like to kill them. I can't keep a cane dendrobium in leaf for long.) Spathoglottis, cymbidiums, ludisia, Phaius, and bamboo orchids are some of the wild orchids that naturally grow on the ground. Usually they don't grow in the soil itself but on rock outcroppings as many are lithophytes. Phaius is a swamp lily. It has a huge flower but it goes dormant after blooming. It floats on sphagnum peat bogs, or should I say the sphagnum peat moss floats on the water and the orchid grows on top of the sphagnum.

[OnKloudNyne]

Thank you for your information, but as I stated this is an experiment to see if it can be done and if I can do it. Many plants are grown outside of their natural environment and thrive. If everyone always says no before trying than no progress would ever be made in any field.