How to Use a Plant Spa Pot for a Dendrobium Orchid

Plant spa or self watering pots are designed to deliver consistent moisture to your dendrobium with less weekly maintenance. Self-watering pots come in two parts: the top, in which you plant your orchid, and a lower chamber, which is filled with water for the plant roots to sip through capillary action on an as-needed basis. Dendrobium orchids like consistent moisture but can easily be killed if their roots are immersed in standing water. Self-watering pots can be ideal, allowing the orchid to reach for a drink as it needs.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You’ll Need

• Self watering plant spa pot the same size or up to 5" larger than your orchid
• Dendrobium orchid cultivar of choice
• Water
• Orchid bark or planting medium

1. Choose a spa pot with a planting area roughly the size of your dendrobium or up to 5-inches larger in diameter if it has not been re-potted recently.
2. Tilting the dendrobium pot onto its side, very gently coax it out of the pot by lightly pulling the base of the main stem outward toward you. Loosen any roots that are encircling the root ball or that have old bark embedded in them. This will help encourage new root growth and uptake of nutrients.
3. Set the dendrobium into the top portion of the self-watering spa pot. Collect any of the orchid bark or planting medium that may have fallen away during the transplant process and put that into the pot.
4. Add additional orchid bark or planting medium so that the orchid is stable and supported in the pot.
5. Pour water into the lower reservoir to its maximum level. Monitor your orchid in its new home daily for several weeks to gauge the uptake of moisture. This will help you to establish a regular water refill schedule.