Makarimi Abdullah
There have been many times my post focused on the orchid show. That is the most precious gift for each orchid enthusiasts.
How to grow orchids from scratch to presentable orchid for orchid show? Many methods has been used by the orchid collector, and every one has its own way.
I also learned this technique from my friends, and shared it here,  how the most effective and most successful way replant the orchid.
Roots of orchids requires adequate ventilation for healthy growth. So begins the life cycle of orchids with their roots, then the leaves and flowers. Without healthy roots, no leaves or new shoots. If no new shoot, no flower will grow.
This post will answer to questions from Autumn Belle and some friends, how I grow my orchids.
Replant is the beginning ... the rest is care. Light, air flow, food (watering and fertilizer) and medicine (fungicide / pesticide) for orchids.

What do you need?

    i. Cutter
    ii. Sulfur powder
    iii. Pot
    iv. Rope
    v. Hanging material
    vi. Orchid plant


- Cutter should be heating with fire, to kills the bacterias.
- Orchid will be deducted from the base of pseudobulbs (at the rhizome -the joint of the pseudobulb).



- Effects of cuts should be rubbed with sulfur powder to prevent infection.


- All the roots of the pseudobulb should be completely cut off, to encourage new root growth.


- Pseudobulbs is then bound to the material that has been hanging in the pack in the pot. This is to ensure that planted pseudobulbs are not moving on the pot. Good ventilation will assist the rapid root growth. Avoid putting the media (charcoal) in the pot.


- After root growth occurs, approximately 1 inch, charcoal will be placed in the pot. Root growth is dependent upon pseudobulbs are cut. Front reference pseudobulbs roots will grow normally after two weeks, the middle pseudobulbs 3-6 weeks and back pseudobulbs around 4-8 weeks or some times up to 4 months. Normally this pseudobulb can live until 5 years, depends on the genera and species or sub-species.




- Light during this period was approximately 70% of sunlight.
- Watering plant were once a day.

Respond and comments are welcome...may be you can share your method and experience replant your orchids.
Good luck.
15 Responses
  1. Sangat sejuk posting anda. Seperti penanaman berbeza, aku akan menanam semula di akhirat nanti, ikuti bimbingan anda dan melihat bagaimana ternyata penanaman di lingkungan kita, baik dalam penerbitan akar baru, seperti di tunas dan juga dalam penampilan daun.
    Terima kasih atas maklumat anda.


  2. mohdfarazi Says:

    good info with clear picture...

    were i can buy sulfur powder? its posible if i use cinnamon powder?


  3. Can we wipe the cutter with ethanol to clean it up instead of heating it? Does orchid live well in partial shade as I imagine that they live on tree branches naturally in the forest, orchid won't received that much sunlight. The picture make it easier to follow:)


  4. p3chandan Says:

    Besides charcoal, can we use pieces of broken bricks or sabut? When do you start fertilising the plant, what fertiliser do you use, liquid or tablets? Waaa..so many questions!:)


  5. Ron Says:

    Nice clear instructions.


  6. Valeria> Terima kasih, atas komentar yang cool. Maaf saya tidak tahu berbahasa portugis.

    mohdfarazi> you can buy sulfur powder in 'mamak shop', ask them 'belerang' to avoid snake enter the house. 1 pack = RM 3.00, ~ 300g (in Penang), I don't know in Johor, is it the same prize? I heard about cinnamon powder, but i never use that, maybe after my sulfur powder finished, i can try. Thanks for remind me!

    Malay-kadazan girl> Instead of heating the cutter, you also can use ethanol or spray with 'Dettol'. I prefer to heat it, b'coz the bacteria easily spread out with liquid. So it will effect to new cutting edge. Yes orchid can live with partial shades depends on the genera. Normally the market offers the common type of orchids, and these orchids need 50-70% of sunlight. If too much shade the orchid don't want to have flower, only have dark green leaves. If you cannot prepare the special place, just hang it under the big tree. BTW thanks for commenting.

    p3chandan> Yes we can use broken bricks or broken pot, but you must ensure that, the material not keep too much water. Normal Cattleya and normal dendrobium, don't like too much water. There are special sub-species/ hybrid cattleya and dendrobium need more water, usually this type of genera only the hard core collector have. 'Sabut' or coconut husk TOTALLY not recommended! It will keep too much water and this material become too acidic for the roots. So this roots will rot, when it rots, this root cannot supply food to orchids...and the orchid will die slowly. I know most of the orchid from Thailand using this material, but you must keep in mind they manage to control the water to the orchid by control their environment. I think we cannot do that, because we are not doing business.
    Normally you can start to fertilizing your orchids after the roots attaches to the material (charcoal/broken pot). I use both liquid and pallets, i will post the related topics time to time.

    Ron> Thanks for commenting...maybe you can share you experience in your blog dealing with the special genera. I don't have that types of genera. For most of orchid collector within my region,I'm sure they never see that orchid species before.


  7. Andrea Says:

    hi thanks for visiting my post. I can see you are into orchids too, some of my commenters asked me to put "how to's" for orchids but i don't seem to like that as i post spontaneously from my head without preparation. By the way, your discussion seems a bit confusing as sometimes you mention bulb, sometimes you mention tree, sometimes plant; as followes ("Bulb is then bound to the material that has been hanging in the pack in the pot. This is to ensure that planted trees are not moving on the pot"). I'd like to suggest that different orchids have different terms for their stem, Bulbophyllums have bulbs, Catleya is not called a bulb or a tree. These are just reminders to make the message more understandable. thanks.


  8. Andrea> Thanks drop here and corrected me.


  9. Unknown Says:

    Makarimi, Its good to know that what I've thought you is being put into practice. Dettol spray kills 99.99% of germs and bacteria, so the chances of bacteria spreading is very slim. Regards : Shamas


  10. This is a great tutorial. Thank you!


  11. fer Says:

    Very nice tutorial! It made me consider if i could have a orchid in my garden. Thanks


  12. Autumn Belle Says:

    This is a great tutorial for me. I'm sure I have not been doing it correctly since I never used sulphur powder or other germ killer. I have lots of sulphur powder which I can put to good use now. I have this cattleya too.


  13. James David Says:

    I really like your idea of starting with the root first, never thought that without putting any media for the root material can cause the roots to spring so many roots.
    The problem I face is the fear of killing the plant when removing all the roots and the plant slowly dies.
    I have reed orchids with me but they don't seemed to flower for years, even with so many application of fertilisers.
    How long should I continue trying?
    (or should I throw it away and get a better hybrid?)


  14. Shamas> Thanks Sifu...;-)

    Fer> Thanks. You should try planting orchid in your garden. Phalaenopsis is more tolerant with your environment, i think.

    Autumn Belle>Thanks. Maybe you should try to replant your cattleya and share your experience in your next post.

    James Missier> Thanks for visit. Don't worry to have bare roots pseudobulb cattleya or allied hybrid, they will growth more roots after you removed all of them, the only thing you need to remind yourself is, pls ensure your cutter is free from bacteria, by using dettol/ethanol/ burn it.
    Don't throw away, maybe your orchid not enough expose to the sunlight, try to change the place for 1 month and see what happen, if still not have flower, don't watering that plant for a week and watering back after that. If still not success you can send me mail and i will explain in detail.


  15. Unknown Says:

    How long do i hv to wait for the new root to grow?