Repotting - these are epiphytes, people!

Red Cattleya species

Everybody says not to touch orchids in bloom. Don't move them, don't repot them, make sure they dry out between watering, but mostly just let them bloom. 

But how was I supposed to leave that crazy, beautiful thing in an ugly nursery pot where I couldn't tell how moist it was? You're just supposed to watch them and then wait a damn YEAR before you can display them as you want to?

To hell with that. I want them on display while they're blooming. I often have to cut the pots off anyway since they are so bound to the roots. 

I open up the pot as soon as I get home. I loosen the roots and leave them outside the new pot for air. Let me just list the things I do "wrong" constantly:

- I don't ever use pots with drainage; I only use glass. I can stare at their roots for hours, and the roots want sun as much as the leaves do anyway. Let those roots hang out; DO NOT let them sit in water. In fact, I don't let the roots touch water - I plant them on top of rocks and watch the rocks. 

- I don't use potting medium; I only use rocks. Rocks have plenty of dirt on them to feed an orchid. Orchid roots want air, not soil. They are epiphytes - they live in trees in rainforests, not on the ground. 

- I have some of mine in zero natural light with no grow lights (Note to self - get grow lights), but I rotate them back into bright light at the first sign of stress. 

- Unless an orchid is EXTREMELY happy where it is - it is finally blooming or putting out new shoots or pseudobulbs when it was not before, I move them all the time. Like, every day. I can't help it. 

- I don't spray or rinse the leaves often. Apparently, they love being sprayed, so I may start. 

Oncidium species in terrarium