1. Remove the plant from its pot. Squeeze or tap the pot to loosen the plant. Gently pull the plant from pot, taking care not to damage the roots.

2. Remove old potting material and dead roots. Remove any old potting material that sticks to the roots of the plant. Also remove any dead roots from your plant. (Dead roots are usually mushy and black or brown and dried out.) Old back bulbs or dead growth may be removed. Try to keep at least three pseudobulbs or 3 growths together.

3. Put the plant in its new pot. Choosing the pot and how you place your plant in the pot are important. Choose a pot that is the same size or one size larger than its previous pot. For example, place Dendrobiums, Epidendrums, Miltoniopsis and Paphiopedilums in the center of the pot. For Cattleya-alliance plants, place the orchid such that the oldest pseudobulb is against the edge of the pot to give the newer growth more room to grow in the pot.

4. Fill pot with potting material. Fill the space around the plant with fresh potting material. (You may also use styrofoam packing peanuts at the bottom of the pot to provide better drainage.) Gently press the potting material around the plant taking to make sure the roots of the plant are covered and the plant is stabilized. If it’s necessary, now is the time to put a stake in the pot to give your plant a little more support. Use twist ties or string to secure the plant to the stake.

5. Water and grow! Water the newly repotted plant thoroughly and place in a slightly shady spot for a week. Begin fertilizing two weeks after repotting. You may use any general purpose fertilizer, or for orchids in bark-based mixes a higher-nitrogen formula will do nicely. Use fertilizer at half strength as most orchids prefer to be fertilized weakly, weekly.