orchid

Seeking help re potting an orchid I picked up (bulb only)in Madeira. What medium - is it only orchid (bark) mix with vermiculite and when is the best time to pot it - should I wait till March/early April.

 

Floris, it would help to know what kind of orchid it is.
Is it a bletilla? If it is it will grow in ordinary compost, perhaps with some rotted bark added.

 

Hi floris, orchids vary a lot in their requirements for growing media. Do you know what kind it is? If you don't know and it's in the usual bark mixture I'd leave it and just start feeding it in spring. Only repot it if either a] It's not in orchid bark mix and isn't thriving, or b] It is growing out of it's pot and has just finished flowering.
Dactylorhiza Foliosa is a hardy orchid from Madeira, which will be ok in humus rich mixture, it has purple spikes of flowers.

 

Thanks Liz and pete2255 for info. I picked up this dried bulb (unpotted)with roots and cut off foliage from a shop in Madeira . I have no idea what its name is and can't remember what its flowers looked like (as pictured). It just needs potting and the shopowner told me bark and vermiculite is required. Should I just get orchid mix and when should it be potted. I want to give it to a friend when it has been potted.

 

I still think you really need to know what orchid it is, or at least if its terrestrial (growing in the ground) or epiphytic (growing on trees).
Just a word on compost, I bought a bag of orchid compost recently, and I wanted the very coarse bark type. I tried about three different manufacturers before I found one suitable.
Most were almost the same as multipurpose in texture. :(

 

I found that Pete, although I must admit the peaty looking stuff is very fast draining.