Could someone please tell me why you don't plant orchids in the ground? I have never seen this done.
Hey Hayley, orchids are generally epiphytes in that they get their moisture and a lot of their nutrition from the air. in fact many orchids naturally thrive in a crevice of a tree or in amongst rocks.
They need a good air flow around their roots, though the proximity of something that holds water, like Sphagnum Moss, is always welcome as they don't like to be dry for too long.
The good thing about keeping them in pots is that it becomes much easier to water and fertilise them - which you do by placing the pot in a weak solution of fertiliser for five minutes then letting them drain. As you pot them in a coarse bark (with some added sphagnum moss), they drain very quickly. You wouldn't be able to do that if they were planted in soil.
This doesn't mean they can't be grown in the ground, but you have to have the best possible drainage.