How to Use Styrofoam in a Pot for Proper Orchid Care

Orchids are a finicky but beautiful and diverse flowering plant. If you've never cared for an orchid be prepared for a little more trial and error. Even seasoned orchid lovers experiment and fail with these lovely exotic blooms. Here are some tips about potting your orchid with styrofoam.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. Choose a small plastic pot when you repot your orchid. Plastic pots are easier to detach the orchid. Most orchids prefer growing in a pot with lots of air pockets. Their roots are covered with velamen, white cells that are like water sponges that keep the roots cool and hydrated.

2. Keep your styrofoam peanuts and test them by dousing them with water. Only use the kind of styrofoam pieces that won't disintegrate when watered. Colored packing styrofoam, for example, is typically the biodegradable kind and will fall apart. The styrofoam will ensure that the orchids drain completely between watering instead of sitting in water which will likely kill them.

3. Fill the bottom inch or two with the styrofoam. Lay fir bark chunks, stones, peat moss or dried fern on top of the peanuts while holding the orchid with the roots laying just on top of the styrofoam.

4. Secure the plant with some wire or pipe cleaner by lightly wrapping it around the base and an inserted stick once. You can remove the wiring later after the roots have taken hold in a few weeks.

Tips & Warnings

• Don't repot your orchid unless the roots are growing out of the pot or the plant is tilting from heaviness. Moving an orchid out of it's habitat unnecessarily will prohibit them from thriving.