It is hard to water the potting mix thoroughly; the orchid roots never have a stable footing, which is bad for orchid growth.

Regarding the question raised by an orchid friend: the potting mix is very hard to water through. A pot needs watering for a long time before it even feels slightly moist, and you still cannot tell whether it is wet through. With just a little watering, water runs out of the bottom of the pot, and looking through the pot holes, a lot is still dry! How should this be handled?

The potting mix is too uniform and too loose. This kind of mix should have good air permeability and moisture retention, but once dry it cannot take in water for a while, so when you soak the pot the potting mix floats upward, and after absorbing water it sinks again. This is not good; the orchid roots never have a stable footing, which is bad for orchid growth.

The solution is to add 10% crushed stone or rubble, in sizes like broad bean, soybean and mung bean, to the potting mix used. First carefully take the potting mix out of the pot, exposing half of the orchid roots, then carefully refill with the potting mix mixed with crushed stone and rubble, taking care that the potting mix and orchid roots are tightly combined with no gaps left. If that does not work, it means the lower part also needs some crushed stone mixed in, so mix the potting mix evenly and repot.

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