Lechuza Orchidea Planter Review

Reviewed by Cath Joyce

One of the most common orchids that you can buy from the supermarket is the Moth Orchid, also known as a Phalaenopsis orchid, these plants are striking to look at and make a stunning gift as their flowers can last for months.

Once the flowers have fallen off most people tend to dispose of the plant, but they are actually quite easy to look after and if you cut back the stem to the next nodule once the flowers fall off you are likely to see a new flower spike forming after a couple of months. These spikes do grow fairly fast and before you know it your orchid is flowering again! Orchids will last many years and flower repeatedly if they like the conditions they are grown in. I have orchids that I have had for over 10 years that still flower regularly and it is quite exciting seeing the new shoots appear, knowing that I am going to have a new burst of flowers to enjoy.

Whilst I have quite a collection of orchids, I am certainly not an expert and have never tried to repot one, so I was quite excited to receive the Orchidea planter from LECHUZA to review. I do have a couple of orchids that are looking a little tired and would benefit from re-potting so this was the perfect opportunity to give it a try! The Orchidea planter has been specially designed for orchids, providing them with everything they need to thrive which means having the right balance of water, light and air. It achieves this by having several special features, an irrigation system adapted to the needs of orchids, a semi-transparent, removeable plant insert to provide the roots with sufficient light and the addition of LECHUZA’s orchid substrate ‘Orchipon’, these features all provide the plant with a balanced supply of water, air, vital nutrition and a constant pH value.

I decided to repot one of my favourite larger orchids as the pot is reasonably large (18.3cm x 17.9cm x 19.5cm) and I felt it would look better with a larger orchid in it. There is a small instruction booklet in the box with illustrations of how to put your orchid into the pot, the images were clear but made much more sense once I had watched the video on the LECHUZA website. I found the video more helpful as you could see exactly what to do at each stage and would recommend that you watch this before trying to follow the instructions.

You do need to assemble the self-watering part of the planter, but this was simple to do once I had followed the instructions. Once this was assembled and attached to the plant insert, I was ready to repot my orchid. Again, the video was really helpful as it showed exactly what to do with my plant, I put some of the Orchipon orchid substrate into the bottom of the pot and then took my orchid out of its pot, shaking the old orchid compost off the roots before placing it into the new planter and finally putting the rest of the Orchipon around the top of the plant, making sure the air roots were on top of the substrate. It was much easier to repot it than I expected and after a week it is still flowering so it obviously likes the new pot!

Over the years I have worked out the best way to water my orchids, but I have both overwatered and underwatered and lost plants so I was very pleased to find that the Orchidea planter has a water level indicator. This is really helpful as you can check how much water is available in the reservoir, whether it needs a top up and therefore avoid waterlogging the plant, which I know from experience that orchids really do not like.

I received a white Orchidea planter but it is also available in scarlet red and slate grey so you can choose a planter to suit most colour schemes.

As the planter costs £19.99 I would say that it is more suitable for people that collect and enjoy orchids and it would make a lovely gift for any orchid fan.

Rating: 4.5/5

RRP: £19.99

This product can be purchased from Lechuza here.