Repotme Orchid Supply offers the highest quality orchid supplies, orchid mix, media, orchid pots and fertilizer for orchids.

May Orchid Care

To Do Now:

Fungus Gnats, those pesky little fruit flies that spring forth from damp mix, are not just pesky, they actually feed on orchid roots! Get rid of them organically by interrupting their life cycle with Gnatrol. We now carry the sought after new granular version - Gnatrol WDG.
May is the time to begin feeding at summertime levels. We like to increase food during the orchid's most active growth months by 50-100%. We recommend FEED ME! MSU Orchid Fertilizer for all year-round fertilizing.
Many orchids benefit greatly from spending summers outside. Many popular genera such as Cattleya, Cymbidium, Dendrobium and Oncidium really grow better and bloom more reliably when treated to the summer outdoors. One point to consider, if an orchid is classified as "high light" it does not mean the kind of full sun that tomato plants require. "High light" is a relative term and refers to the light requirements of the Orchid Family. Dappled shade is a good bet for many "high light" genera.

Looking Ahead:

Native orchids abound and there are hardy varieties suitable for the garden in many areas. We are anxiously awaiting the bloom on our spiking Bletia Striata which grows in the garden next to the Lily bulbs.
In June we are at the height of active growth for most orchids, today's new leaf or pseudobulb is tommorow's new bloom spike. Protect new growth and old from bacterial infection with Physan 20.

Looking Back:

In April we were well into repotting season in our greenhouse. We've got most of the paphs, oncs and a few others done. Our phals are a bit late to bloom this year, many are in spike and only a few have begun to open their blooms. It's going to be a wonderful display once they all open up! We've been putting off repotting the dendrobiums because we haven't seen many new pseudobulbs appearing just yet. It seems this crazy Spring weather has gotten to them too. We expect that just about any day now they will begin their active growth phase and we'll be repotting them too. If you have a lot of orchids to repot, consider getting orchid mix by THE BOX. Prefer our exclusive Imperial Orchid Mixes? THE CUBE is for you.
With Spring comes Orchid Shows and new orchids! Check out our care sheet on new orchid acquisitions for some practical care tips. If this is your first time acquiring one of these incredible plants, check out our First Orchid care sheet.
During the repotting process it is critical to keep everything clean and not spread any disease across the collection. Physan 20 is a good general disinfectant, we use it to sterilize cutting tools between plants. We will rotate between 3 Fiskars clippers allowing 2 to soak while 1 is in use. Be careful if you reuse pots, they need to be sterilized between plants. It is easier to use new pots than it is to try to clean the pot. We will reuse a pot on the same orchid if it does not need a change in pot size but that's about it. Stakes and labels, rhizome clips, etc, can all spread disease if not cleaned or replaced.