How to divide orchids? Master these key points and you can grow orchids well too

Orchids generally need their potting medium changed about every year and a half, and when a clump grows too large, it is time to consider dividing the plants. Do not water or let them get rained on for a week before repotting, keeping the potting medium dry, so that the damage to the orchid roots during division will be much less. To ensure the orchid seedlings do not decline after repotting, you can spray a foliar fertilizer once a week before dividing.

Tip the orchid out. After years of cultivation, the orchid roots are mostly tangled together. First use sharp scissors to cut away some of the poor roots at the sides, which makes separation easier. Then make a preliminary plan of how many pots you need to divide into and where to cut. In theory, old, middle-aged and young growths stay in the same plant.

But through his own experiments, Haoshe Farmer found that overly old seedlings should not be divided together with young and vigorous seedlings,as they will rob nutrients. It is better to cut them apart separately and pot them on their own, as this gives a greater chance of the old clump producing new shoots. I once potted vigorous seedlings separately, and in that year one seedling produced two new vigorous growths; while another pot with three generations, old, middle-aged and young, produced only one new shoot.

Divided seedlings need to be left to dry in a semi-shaded place for half a day before potting. Generally, soaking the roots in a chemical solution for disinfection is not recommended. If they are disease-free orchids grown in your own orchid garden, absolutely do not soak them in chemical solution!!

When potting, hold the seedling with your left hand,and lift the pseudobulb base to be level with the rim of the pot (key point, circle it, it will be on the test!!), then fill in the potting medium. After planting, what you see on the surface of the pot is a small mound like a steamed bun. The advantage of this is that the pseudobulb base and leaf axils can receive more fresh air, which promotes new shoot growth and flower bud formation.

The benefits of raising the pseudobulb base do not stop there. Haoshe Farmer once did experiments showing that some common orchid diseases can also be treated by raising the pseudobulb base in addition to using medication, with an effect much stronger than medication alone.

Potting medium with 20% moisture content is moist. After potting with this kind of medium, you do not need to water for a week, giving the newly divided seedlings a dry, breathable space to recover, which helps them establish in the pot.