At this time of year, when lots of people are thinking about starting the new school year, we are thinking about potting up our new season of plants. These are the ones which have been in pots for most of this year, getting used to the weather and developing strong roots. Because we try not to disturb the plants too much, if they are not being sent out they tend to be left to grow unhindered in their pots throughout the year. So usually by now they have some moss and an occasional weed in the pot with them. To make sure they have an unhindered growth in the spring repotting them clears out the weeds and lets us see what is going on with root development. This can sometimes take us by surprise and requires a larger pot in anticipation of next years growth. If they do go into bigger pots they have reached a size where they are too big to send through the post and will only appear at our plant fairs. We generally sell these larger plants at a very reasonable price and they are often either in bud, or even in flower by the time they get to their first plant fair. Some of these orchids not only look good as green plants, but have a spectacular flower as well. These seem to sell very quickly and only stay on the stand for a short time before being bought by a customer. A species of this type is the Pyramidal Orchid, which as one of our winter green species, has to have repotting timed quite carefully.
Most of our native orchids grow throughout the summer and are dormant during the autumn and winter months and these can be repotted at anytime while they are dormant, a period of several months. Our winter green species, of which Pyramidal Orchids and Green Winged Orchids are two examples, are different in having a very short dormancy in late summer before growing leaves which will spend the winter flat against the ground waiting for spring. This means that repotting has to be clearly timed to avoid damaging the actively growing parts of the plant.
So if you have orchids in pots that you want to rehouse, now is a good time to do it, the winter dormant species have more or less stopped growing and the winter green species have not restarted growing yet. Grab your John Innes number 2 and enjoy the late summer sun.
Most of our native orchids grow throughout the summer and are dormant during the autumn and winter months and these can be repotted at anytime while they are dormant, a period of several months. Our winter green species, of which Pyramidal Orchids and Green Winged Orchids are two examples, are different in having a very short dormancy in late summer before growing leaves which will spend the winter flat against the ground waiting for spring. This means that repotting has to be clearly timed to avoid damaging the actively growing parts of the plant.
So if you have orchids in pots that you want to rehouse, now is a good time to do it, the winter dormant species have more or less stopped growing and the winter green species have not restarted growing yet. Grab your John Innes number 2 and enjoy the late summer sun.
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