Dendrobium - Dead cane with roots

[estación seca]

It comes with experience. Most of the orchids we grow are epiphytes, meaning they grow on trees with their roots exposed to air all the time. They may be wet most of the time, but their roots are exposed to the air.

Growing them in pots is walking a fine line between water and air to the roots. People in different climates use different combinations of pot size, chunk size of the medium and watering frequency to ensure moist roots with air at the roots.

With large-chunk bark, you can water every day and still have air at the roots. The same situation occurs if you mount the orchid on a piece of wood. But this means you have to water every 1-2 days. Not everybody has time for that. So people experiment until they find a pot/ medium combination that works for them. What works well for you in southern California will not work well for me in Phoenix.

Look up one of the orchid societies near you. They are very welcoming to visitors, and they can teach you a lot.