Tutorial on How to Grow Orchids

Taking a Cutting

• 1

  Cut into the soil around the orchid plant in the ground, leaving 5 to 6 inches of soil untouched on all sides of the plant stem. Dig 5 to 6 inches down with the spade and turn the spade in toward the plant to cut the soil beneath the plant; cut as few roots as possible. Once the soil feels loose, hold the bottom of the plant stems and pull the plant upward out of the ground. If the plant is in a container, run the spade around the outside of the soil where it touches the inside of the container. Hold the plant at the base and tilt the container upside down to remove the orchid plant and soil.

• 2

  Remove as much of the soil as possible from the bottom of the plant with your hands. If you cannot remove enough dirt to easily view the rhizome at the base of the stems and the bulbs below the rhizome, dip the base of the plant into warm water to clean the rest of the dirt away.

• 3

  Sterilize a sharp knife by rubbing it with rubbing alcohol and allow the alcohol on the blade to dry before cutting. Make a slice down through the base of the orchid plant between two of the plant’s stems, so that you split the rhizome in half and a bulb remains on the bottom of each stem.

• 4

  Wrap the base of one half of the plant in a moist paper towel. Return the other half of the plant to the ground or the container that it came from, pushing the soil back around the base to secure it. Water the plant until the soil is moist throughout.

Planting Cuttings or Bulbs

• 5

  Fill a container with potting soil if you want to plant the orchid cutting, or a new orchid bulb, in a location where it cannot be planted in the ground. Dig a hole roughly the same depth as the orchid bulb or bottom of the cutting, from the rhizome down, in the ground if you want to ground-plant the orchid.

• 6

  Place the orchid in the center of the soil in the container, or center it in the hole you made in the ground. Press the soil around the base of the orchid plant so that it stands upright.

• 7

  Water the soil in which you plant the orchids until it is moist, and begin a watering schedule that keeps the soil moist at all times; this may require 2 to 3 waterings per day in some regions. Make sure the orchid remains in temperatures over 60 degrees and reaches temperatures of 80 degrees during the day.