If your orchid is in a cache pot, it is recommended to remove its growing pot first. Water it in the sink and then place it back in the decorative pot after water has stopped dripping from the moss. This method is the simplest way to water an orchid, as it involves filling a container with water and placing the wick or bulb in the container. The water will gradually seep into the soil, and the best way to water an orchid is not to pour water into the top of its pot but to give it a “weekly plunge into room-temperature water”.
When watering your orchid, ensure the pot has drainage holes and run it under a faucet for a full minute, allowing the water to seep into the pot and come out of the holes. Orchids need excellent drainage to prevent water from sitting around the roots. Neglecting proper drainage can lead to soggy roots.
If your orchid is in a cache pot, it is recommended to pull the growing pot out of the decorative pot first. Water it in the sink and then place it back in the decorative pot after water has stopped dripping from the moss. If the roots are still green, they are moist and can be left alone. If the orchid does not drain at all, consider repotting it into a pot that drains, even if it has blossoms.
In summary, orchids need excellent drainage to prevent water from sitting around their roots. If your orchid is in a cache pot without a drainage hole, it is recommended to remove its growing pot first. If the orchid does not drain, consider repotting it into a pot that drains, even if it has blossoms.
📹 Orchids in no drainage pots? – Do this as soon as possible!
Today we take care of an orchid I just got from the flower shop, potted in a decorative container with no drainage! More info …
📹 How to water when you have no drainage holes | House Plant Journal
In this video, I’ll show you how I determined the *amount* of water that is held in a volume of soil or sphagnum moss.
Hi Danni! For me you are the Best Orchid Care Educator here in YouTube. I tried perusal other Orchid articles but I am not fully satisfied with the information that I get. I respect and appreciate all Youtube creators but I always go back to you! I appreciate all your hard work & effort. I fell in love with this hobby because of you. Sending you happy thoughts and good wishes this Holiday Season from California. 😘
Your articles are so good. I work in a garden center where we sell commercially produced orchids, and I refer so many customers to your website. I try to teach them how to repot them as often as I can, but when I can’t give them all the info I want to, I tell them to check out your articles. I’ve learned so much from you!
Hello Danny, “drainage” holes at the bottom, “ventilation” holes on the side, well said Danny. Some pots are also designed such that the bottom of the pot doesn’t sit flat on a shelf and the bottom holes allow ventilation upward through the medium. Thanks for sharing and for being so explicit, beginners like me appreciate that very much.
Very useful article. I keep mine in no drainage pots though but I remove them from the ceramic pot it was bought in and keep it in the little plastic pot. I then move that to a wider decorative ceramic pot without drainage and elevate it with those flat back glass marble things so it will be out of the water but will still have the humidity benefit from the water. Sort of making a built in humidity tray. 😀 My orchids seem happy with this set up. The roots also get sunlight through the clear plastic pot since there is space around it and it is elevated. I also added extra holes to each little plastic pot along the sides. when I do pot them again in the future I will not be removing any medium from around the roots. I firmly believe that is why my first 3 orchids died as they died soon after repotting. I will just move them to a larger clear plastic pot and let the roots grow where they want to. – Heidi
I got mine in a shallow glass pot which obviously has no drainage. I added lava rock at the bottom, bark media on top and live moss as a topper. I purposely let water pool the water at the bottom where the lava rocks are to add humidity and as a self watering system. I them mist the top layer whenever it is dry. Hopefully, my orchid will be happy with that cause I really like the glass terrarium I have right now XD
I have 2 orchids that where in very bad condition when I got them and I had no pods with drainage wholes and I put them in decorative containers to see if they would survive. I water them and turn the whole thing around to empty the water. They have been in there for almost a year and have been happy and blooming and have had a normal cycle XD
Hi, Danny! I have been perusal you for almost a year now and I’ve earned a lot from you. Thank you for all your articles. Recently I moved cities and, long story short, a few of my orchids suffered from frostbites (they were in -5 degrees C for over 6 hours. On a lot of my phals leaves fell off (top 3 or 4 leaves generally), but the roots seem to be ok. Most of the affected phals are planted in bark and a bit of sphagnum moss. Do you have any recommendations as to what I could do t try and recuperate some of them?
Hello) I live in Ukraine and climate differs from yours. As for my climate I can use pots with holes and without, as people call it opened and closed setup. Now I have couple of phalaenopsis in closed setup, rest in opened (pots with holes) and one masdevallia with a lot of holes pot. Some pots with expanded clay (keramzit) at the bottom – little clay “stones” for drainage. That works well. To my mind climate is above all my potting habbits. I use whatever suits flowers and what will not harm. If ine day I will be your neighbour I’ll do holes in all my pots! TY for new vid. XO
Hi Dani, I want to learn about potting vandas – can we pot them even in 40 C and 75 to 85% humidity or in low humidity. I potted Rhyncostylis in charcoal many of the roots rotted and once i made them bare root it grew beautifully. Then i decided to never pot vandas. My second question is do we use moss in media only when humidity is low? What is the alternative way to reduce watering less often in a very hot and humid climate apart from potting.
It’s good to see you back. I am one of those who drills holes. I don’t want to think too much when I’m gardening. Most of the time my thoughts are shared between gardening and other responsibilities. Thanks for the info. When I retire, or when the grandkids move out, I’ll spend more time with my plants.
Thank you!! That was a great tip! For years I’ve been growing plants in pots with no drainage holes, and about to do my next round of planting, so it was great to discover your method. I find that watering plants with hand-held pump pressure water sprayers with semi-mist steadily moving over the surface saturates the soil evenly throughout the planter, but it was always a guessing game with moisture meter in terms of how much to add. I’m going to combine your method and measure out exact water amount in the bottle. THANK YOU!!
Hello sir. Glade I saw your website. Here’s the thing, I’m perusal a plant person, plant in pon all she cares for and no drain holes, she stated she hates them😏 Any who she uses plastic cup I’ve seen when she re pots, her big boys phili, Anthui. Are in larger vases with pon, per lite, bark, yet no drain holes. Help me with this, she recently had our break in her Hoyas mealy bugs, my thoughts was cause it’s packed with pon, no air, I’ve asked her to explain yet she no respond 🤨 Thank you for taking the time her sir 🥰
Whith all my respect…. Sir … Does this tecknic apply has a general use ? and for ALL Plants in ALL conditions ? and would you have to measure wright amounts of water all the time for different kind of plants ? depending of pot size ? and is there a special mixture or kind of soil used whith this tecknic ? I use Akadama + pumice+ perlite + vermiculite and of course holes in my Pots and all is great no root problems and growth is exceptional all lushish and green and encourages flower growth…of course each speecies in the wright LIGHT🌟🌟🌟 Thank you 🐝
Very helpful, thanks. Too bad I didn’t see it before I killed the sanseveria I bought in the jar without the drain. She was very beautiful in that special container that came with her. I watered it roughly for 2 years and than I became too cockeye and I killed her 😪. It was my fault I became too confident…. In the end I never again bought plant with cointainer with no drainage no matter how beautiful they look together. After I watch this article I don’t know, we shall see if I have the courage…. 👋
What about an experiment (starting from not completly watering in a plant in a fabric pot) measuring how much water your plant uses, between just right for them & too dry, before watering a similar amount. This could be fine tuned over time? With fabric pots it’s not at all convenient to water them until they leak
Any advice on how to fix hydrophobic soil in pots without drainage holes? Ive had succulents die from a lack of water despite being watered. I hadn’t realized the issue until I was cleaning it out and found water at the bottom and bone dry soil that hadn’t absorbed a drop. Ive tried soaking it to the rim to let the soil absorb then tipping it to let excess water drain out but it seems the bottom part never dries out,even when the top is like dust.
Water near the surface readily evaporates and does so at a rate that is only limited by the energy available. This so-called energy limited evaporation lasts as long as a certain amount of water that evaporates, 0.47 inches for sandy soils and 0.4 inches for silt loam soils. The time it takes to reach the energy limited evaporation depends on the energy available from the environment. Bare soil with no crop canopy on a sunny hot day with wind receives much more energy than a mulched soil under a crop canopy on a cloudy cool day with no wind. So I don’t need drainage lol.