ORCHIDS ARE HER OBSESSION and her DOBERMAN'S -- my motivation!It should never be said that I suffer from a slow learning curve, but those well canined Dobe's sure keep me on my toes. Marie McCooey, one of my youngest employers has been growing orchids for some forty years. Luckily for this gardener, she migrated to the Pacific North Wet about the same time I did. The onslaught of her horticultural passion came not from orchids, but from ferns, begonias and yes, even Cacti. So what happened?
As I heard the story it all began with the purchase of a greenhouse. The greenhouse suppliers, then slipped her a freebie -- an orchid. Like myself she never had thought of growing orchids. 'They are too hard, too difficult!' Being the person she is, she researched their needs, joined the Orchid Society and was hooked into those monthly plant sales. Then of course came the gifts from other members. Her real life hostage situation began. Maybe it was just the amazement that anything could bloom while growing on a piece of craggy bark.
That ONE Orchid has now multiplied into the thousands that presently own her. She needed help! Last year I began helping Marie with the Cattleyas.
Not only did they need repotting, but they also had mealy bugs and a few, even sang to scale. Marie taught me how to clean them (my resume now includes "Orchid Stripper" extraordinaire) but how to pot them. Before doing this, we had to do something about the bugs. Not wanting to deal with chemicals I suggested dipping them in a bath of water to which Sun Oil, garlic and cinnamon had been added.
WHAT? Well it worked, and although those Cattleyas were even sadder to look at than normal -- they came through the ordeal bug free and are beginning to put out spikes this spring. I came home smelling of garlic and cinnamon.
The bare rooted Cattleyas were put under a bench and left to dry out for near two weeks until we were able to repot them. A soil mix shortage problem. Since that fall we have resorted to using Neem oil as an insecticide alternative in the greenhouse, and there have been no new bugs at all. I look forward to seeing these Cattleyas regain their strength and composure; their blooms are simply so spectacular. Some of these Cattleyas are even fragrant! So are the zygopetalums and many other orchid species. 
Considering my many other frosty work alternatives, I somehow manage to drag myself to these greenhouses and weekly transport myself to another world, another season. Winter no longer exists. There are orchids blooming every month of the year. By March all the benches will be overflowing with blooming orchids. Some orchids are bold and showy, others scary, resembling spiders or pirates that capture the imagination. There are butterflies of color of every shape and size and one cannot help but compare them to tropical birds and animals. There are thought to be over 25,000 individual species in 400 to 800 genera worldwide and hundreds of thousands of hybrids, making it one of the largest plant families. In Mesoamerica the ancient Aztec Indians used the the Vanilla to flavor drinks, a popular flavoring that has spread throughout the world today. 
The soil mixes I have written about are basically a return to fir bark, perlite and charcoal.
An introduction to a few ORCHID and BEGONIA SOIL mixes
Time to repot! Most experts suggest repotting orchids at least every two years, although some species prefer to be repotted on a yearly basis. It is best to repot when young roots are just forming, and or immediately after flowering. There are many different potting mixes, as well as formulas. Their success or lack thereof, may also depend upon where you live and the kind of water you have. Generally one begins with a high-grade of fir bark (sold specifically for such a use), sphagnum moss, crushed charcoal, tree fern fiber, fibrous peat mixes and perlite, pumice or sharp grit. The ratios depend much on the cultural requirements of the orchid species, but equally upon the growing/climate conditions the plant must face.Northwestern greenhouse culture mixes will be different than those grown elsewhere, be they on a cooler window culture in a home, or even outside in warmer regions of this country. The one most important thing to remember in using any of the following bark formulas is to presoak the bark first, and then to pour off the water and all fine sediment.
Terrestial orchids: As the name suggests, these are orchids that by habit grow on the ground or in sheltered sites such as on the forest floor. Although widely distributed in many different kinds of climate, the following mixes are for the evergreen, greenhouse varieties such as the slipper orchids belonging to the genus Paphiopedium.
Epiphytic orchids: are fundamentally a very different kind of plant to 'pot.' As the Greek derived name 'epi', upon and 'phyton', plant suggests, they make their home within or upon the structure of another -- usually trees. Epiphytic does not mean parasitic, as these plants do not feed off the tree, but simply lodge there, accepting nutrients from rainwater and debris collected around their roots. Cattleya and Odontoglossum species and hybrids have have very strong creeping rhizomes. During each growing season new growths set forth from growing points on existing rhizomes and form pseudobulbs in which food is stored. Other epiphytes such as Phalaenopsis and Vanda's do not form such growths.
Although most epiphytes can and do grow in pots, these aerial performers have developed a life style adapted to open conditions, so they have trouble enduring the 'normal' potting soil for most other plants. Orchid mixes must drain quickly, yet must retain some moisture for the plants success. Soils that waterlog will quickly kill an orchid. A general epiphyte mix would be 4 parts of medium-grade bark (washed and dust free) mixed with one part of sharp grit, perlite or pumice, 1 part fibrous peat (Osmunda Fiber or Coco husk chips) or dry leafmold. To this one should add some charcoal, especially if one has hard water.
A terrestial mix also requires a free-draining potting mix. One general mix would be 4 parts fibrous peat/fir bark mix to two parts coarse grit, one part perlite with the addition of one part charcoal. Adding broken pieces of (sterilized) pieces of crocks also helps to provide drainage as well as giving some weight to the pot -- something plastic peanuts do not!
Some orchids will thrive best simply mounted on bark or tree fern with moss at their roots. A few, known as lithopytes (Gk, lithios -stone) live in a similar manner on rocks.
This said: here are the mixes we have been using in the Pacific Northwest.
