How to cultivate orchids
This article introduces how to cultivate orchids and the steps for orchid planting, with the following specific content:
As the saying goes, orchids require 30% planting and 70% management, with long-term management accounting for 70% and a single day's planting only 30%. This shows the importance of planting orchids, and it can be said that proper planting is a key step to caring for orchids, laying a solid foundation for future management. Otherwise, frequent diseases and pests can be problematic. To make it convenient for everyone, the method of planting orchids is summarized into 8 steps for reference. Only after carefully cultivating a pot of orchids does the sense of achievement in growing orchids begin. As long as you manage them properly, the healthy growth of orchids will continuously bring you surprises and allow you to enjoy the pleasure of orchid art.
Step 1: Prepare the planting material
The planting material for orchids should be ventilated, breathable, water-draining, moisture-retaining, and rich in fertility. There are many types of orchid planting materials to choose from. To meet these requirements, it is best to choose orchid planting materials with stable particle properties, such as pine cone king, Xian soil,植金石 (stone), pond stone, orchid bacteria soil, etc. You can also use locally available materials such as charred soil, volcanic rocks, weathered rocks, coal slag (sifted into coarse and medium particles, removing dust), broken bricks, broken tiles, small stones, coarse sand, charcoal, willow bark, pine needles, pine bark, sawdust, etc., which are all good orchid care materials. Generally, they can be divided into hard media and soft materials or inorganic and organic materials. Mixing hard media with soft materials and then planting can also achieve very good results, and there is no need to use them separately. There is no universal formula for orchid planting materials, only by referring to others' experience and practicing on your own, adjusting in experiments, and optimizing the best solution. It can be said that the day you find a suitable orchid planting material for your environment is the beginning of your success in growing orchids. The planting material I use is a mixture of pine cone king and植金石 in a 1:1 ratio, which works very well. Pine cone king is an organic material, also known as soft material, which is moisture-retaining and rich in fertility, while植金石 is an inorganic hard medium, which is ventilated, breathable, and water-draining. The combination of the two perfectly meets the environmental needs for orchid root growth, making management simple and convenient without any diseases or pests!
Step 2: Choosing an orchid pot
There are many types of pots for planting orchids, but we should still be cautious when choosing. Although the size, shape, material, and color of the pots may vary, they can generally be divided into four types: ceramic pots, purple sand pots, earthenware pots, and plastic pots. Ceramic pots are beautifully made but have poor breathability and are not usually chosen by non-experts; purple sand pots are aesthetically pleasing and have some breathability and water absorption functions, but they are expensive and costly, suitable for planting high-quality orchid varieties and placing in nice spaces to enhance personal style and variety, very elegant and generous. Earthenware pots have good breathability and water absorption, and when combined with loose planting materials, there is no worry of waterlogging, but they are slightly less attractive; plastic pots are lightweight, inexpensive, and practical, but the pot walls do not have the water absorption of earthenware pots, and if the planting material is not mixed properly, it can easily accumulate water. One point to note about the four types of orchid pots is that new purple sand and earthenware pots must be soaked to remove "toxicity" before use.
Step 3: Clean the orchid plant
First, clean the roots of the orchid with disinfected scissors to cut off diseased and rotten roots, but for orchids with few roots, the残根 (remaining roots) need to be treated differently: if there are fewer than two roots, try to keep the broken roots and retain the root core (center column) without outer skin; if there are more than four good roots, the other rotten roots can be cut off. If the wild grass grows too vigorously, consider cutting off some of the excess orchid roots. Next, clean the leaves of the orchid, as rotten leaves often become the breeding ground for fungi and insects, and must be carefully cleaned and pruned to keep the leaf束 clean; also remove withered pseudobulbs, but be careful not to injure the leaf buds, flower buds, or bud points. Prune the leaves of the orchid by cutting off leaves with disease spots and withered leaves. For leaf spots in the leaf heart, you can use a toothpick to remove them or burn the diseased area with a cigarette. For leaves with few spots, you can delay pruning and apply medicine for treatment, maintaining growth until new buds are strong enough, then prune.
Step 4: Disinfect the orchid plant
Orchid seedlings, pots, and planting materials all need to be disinfected. The common method for planting materials and pots is to expose them to sunlight for more than 3 days. Alternatively, use a pressure cooker or steam boiler for high-temperature disinfection. For chemical disinfection, you can choose fungicides such as methyl thiophanate, carbendazim, chlorothalonil, potassium permanganate, etc., using an 800-1000 times solution. It's best to seal the planting material after disinfection for more than a week before use. Some orchid friends also find the microwave method practical for disinfecting a small amount of planting material. For orchid seedlings, you can soak them in a fungicide solution of 1000 times for half an hour, then rinse with clean water and dry before planting when the roots are soft.
Step 5: Prepare the pot for planting
Use a special conical filter cover or select coarse planting material to place at the bottom of the pot, with a thickness of 15%-30% of the pot height. If you cannot buy a conical filter cover, you can make one with a mineral water bottle or beverage bottle by cutting the top or bottom to a length of about 10 cm and using a hot electric iron or steel wire to make small holes in the cover wall, which can also achieve the effect of water drainage and ventilation.
Step 6: Plant the orchid
Place the orchid seedling in an appropriate orchid pot, comb the roots to make them smooth and natural, and be careful not to break the orchid roots. Slowly fill the pot with the pre-mixed middle layer planting material, occasionally shaking the pot and tapping the pot wall to make the orchid roots closely contact the material. You can place the pseudobulb of the orchid lower at first, then gradually raise the plant as the material is filled. Note that orchids should be planted shallowly, not deeply. Large pseudobulbs can be exposed, while smaller ones can be covered by half or up to 2 cm above the pseudobulb, as deep planting can hinder the germination of orchid buds.
Step 7: Mulch the orchid
After the orchid plant is shaped, you can use stones,植金石,陶粒 (陶粒), etc., high-quality materials to mulch the surface of the pot. This can prevent the planting material from being splashed out of the pot when watering the orchid, exposing the roots, and can also keep the plant moist and warm. Beautiful mulch stones can also enhance the overall appearance of the orchid.
Step 8: Water the orchid
The first watering after planting orchids is called "watering to set the roots," and the timing of this watering depends on the condition of the roots, weather, and moisture level of the planting material. If the roots are good and the weather is warm and sunny, you can water immediately after planting. If the roots are damaged, you need to wait two days for the root wounds to heal before watering. Be especially careful when watering in cold weather, as newly planted roots absorb less water, and once waterlogging occurs, it can cause problems.
The above steps provide a detailed introduction to how to cultivate orchids and the steps for orchid planting, hoping to bring some plant knowledge to green enthusiasts.