Orchids have beautiful flowers, but they require more care than average house plants. Many varieties bloom once a year, and others wait years to send up a spike of color. If you want a colorful flower in your home but don’t have the time or the inclination to tend a real orchid, an artificial one can be a great choice.
There are several ways to display an artificial orchid, ranging from simple vases to statement-making flower arrangements with multiple blooms. Whatever your decorating style, these beautiful orchids will add a pop of color to any room.
How to Make an Orchid Terrarium
To start your terrarium, you will need your plant, glass jar, rocks, and sphagnum moss. Begin by placing the jar in a shallow bowl of water to rinse off the rocks and any dust or debris that may have built up on them.
Next, you will need to fill the bottom of the jar with a layer or rocks and then top it off with sphagnum moss. This will provide the plant with a good home and prevent it from being crushed.
You will need to keep the sphagnum moss moist so it will not dry out. This will help your orchid to thrive and stay healthy.
If you are unable to find a sphagnum moss mixture in your local store, you can use peat moss or fir bark chips as your potting medium. Both moss types retain moisture and provide the plant with plenty of air, which is important for the health of orchids.
Alternatively, you can mix up a quick-draining mixture of clay pellets or rock wool. This will hold more moisture than peat moss and also dry quickly, so you can avoid overwatering your plant.
Once you have a moss mixture ready, place it in your new terrarium and set your plant on top of it. You can then top it off with a small figure or pretty rock to give your terrarium some decoration.
How to Repot an Orchid
If your orchid came in a plastic pot, remove it from the container it was in and set it aside. Be sure not to cut any of the roots, because they can be hard to remove. Then, carefully loosen the potting soil with your hands and trim off any dead or damaged roots as you go.
Gently loosen the sphagnum moss around the roots with your hands. This will allow the roots to relax and spread out in their new jar home.
You can also place the plant in the center of the jar and then add a layer of sphagnum over the top, leaving the edges lower than the center so the leaves will be nestled up against them. This is a very easy way to repot your orchid without breaking any of the roots.
Once the sphagnum moss is all settled in, you can place your plant on top of it and give it a good watering to ensure it is properly hydrated. The sphagnum moss will soak up the water and you can check back in a day or two to see if it needs more.
