For most people, growing orchids successfully is not easy. The main problem is the extreme difficulty in telling exactly when an orchid requires watering. Orchids, unlike the majority of the pot plants, do not show wilting symptoms even when they are desperately short of water, there is no way of knowing exactly when an orchid is suffering from water stress. Often, it is too late by the time water is given to the plant as the orchid would have already suffered some set backs  which, though not apparent superficially, will certainly reduce the production of blooms. Taking a Petunia plant for comparison, it starts to wilt the moment it experiences shortage of water, so it is pretty obvious to anyone that the plant should be watered right away so it can recover.

Orchid growing couldn't be easier with the Autopot Systems. It is as simple as planting your orchids into the Autopot planters, and either connecting to the Autopot pumping & dosing system or just filling up the reservoir with nutrients for the Double skin models.  That is all you need to do, as the day to day watering and feeding of the orchids will be taken care of by the Autopot Systems. Not just for a week, or a month, but for years. We have specimens that have been growing and flowering extremely well every year  in the Autopot Systems since 1991 - that was 15 years ago!

Why Do Orchids Grow So Well In The Autopot Systems.
The answer lies with the fact that the Autopot Systems is a Plant Driven system ..... for more information on the plant driven concept, please click here. The Autopot plant driven concept will work on all plants, including orchids...all orchids. We have grown orchids in low humidity (40%) even though they came from high humidity areas. Please click here to view example. The photo gallery below shows a range of orchid varieties growing happily in various Autopot containers.

Our methods of growing orchids differ from conventional methods in several ways.
1. We do not recommend the use of Spagnum moss.
The reason is Spagnum moss will decay over a period of time. It lasts perhaps for 2 to 3 years and thereafter ceases to serve its purpose (mainly holding moisture in the orchid mix). That is fine for conventional orchid growing methods since it is the general practice to repot (and divide) the orchids every 2 to 4 years.
Unlike conventional orchid growing, with the Autopot Systems we rarely need to repot or divide our orchids for the life of the plant. That is the very reason why we do not use Spagnum moss as it will breakdown in a couple of years.  We use granulated rock wool instead as part of the growing medium for the orchids. Rockwool, being inorganic, will never breakdown and hence will retain its moisture absorbing properties indefinitely.

2. We do not need to repot our orchids even when they are pot bound.
One might argue that when an orchid becomes pot bound it will not grow properly unless it is repotted and divided. But this is not the case with plants grown in the Autopot Systems. Even when orchid plants get pot bound,  it does not seem to bother the plants. They continue to grow healthily and flower really well every year. We feel that the pot bound factor is not an issue  as long as we can keep up with the moisture and nutrient needs of the plants and the Autopot Systems are able to do just that.

3. We expose our orchids to more sunlight.
We expose our orchids to more sunlight than conventionally recommended and we have  found that our plants produce more and longer spikes, larger flowers and much stronger colours. Exposing  plants to more sunlight makes it more difficult to keep up with  their moisture requirements when watered by conventional techniques. Hence, such plants are more likely to suffer from underwatering on days when they require a lot more water than usual e.g. during hot and windy days. With the Autopot Systems, the watering and feeding is controlled by the plants, keeping up with their moisture and feed requirements is not a problem.

4. We use standard hydroponics Part A & B mix plant food.
Hydroponics fertilizers provide  a more complete nutrient formulation than the usual orchid fertilizers. We found that our orchid plants thrived on our standard hydroponics fertilizers and we can understand why. It is because orchid growing is actually a form of hydroponics -  for example epiphytic orchids occur naturally on tree tops where they survive purely on foliage debris.
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Coelogyne cristata in A/pot H/basket

Clonal Cymbidium yr 1 in W/boxes

Cymb. Spp in T/wall China

Catelya raising clones Caplus tables

Vandas in A/pot Hydrotray Malaysia

Sarah Jean in A/pot H/basket

Award winning in A/pot H/basket USA

Award winning in A/pot H/basket US

Phalae in A/pot T/wall Melbourne

Note exceptionally long spike - KL

Dendrobium in A/pot H/basket

Same plant 1 yr later from left.