How to grow orchids for beginners
Main text introduction: This article shares tips and methods for growing orchids and caring for them, providing readers with essential knowledge. Our website editor will introduce this topic next.
Orchids have a graceful and elegant posture, adding a touch of sophistication and cultural atmosphere to the home when placed indoors. Therefore, many orchid enthusiasts like to keep several pots of orchids for appreciation.
Experienced orchid growers know that this plant has high environmental requirements, such as soil, temperature, and humidity, which makes it challenging for many beginners to care for. However, orchids are not as difficult to grow as people think. As long as you follow their growth habits, you can keep them thriving. For beginners, remember these four key points to ensure healthy growth and prevent root rot.
Cultivation materials should be water-retentive and breathable
Caring for orchids is different from other flowers, as they have high requirements for growing soil. In the wild, orchids often grow in loose, breathable humus soil. When cultivating orchids at home, we should also provide loose, breathable materials to ensure strong root growth and prevent empty or rotting roots.
Why do many beginners have orchids with rotting roots at home? It is usually because the potting soil used is too sticky and has poor breathability, causing the soil to remain moist for too long after watering, leading to root rot. Therefore, the first step to growing healthy orchids is to prepare good-quality growing materials.
There are many materials used to prepare orchid growing media, typically categorized into hard and soft materials. Hard materials include volcanic stones, vermiculite, coal slag, and broken bricks, while soft materials include fermented pine needles, bark, peanut shells, and coconut bran. Regardless of the type of material used, it should be loose and breathable and also have some water retention, as roots can easily dehydrate if the soil dries out too quickly.
How to water orchids properly?
There is a saying, "To grow orchids, one must master the art of watering," indicating that watering orchids can be challenging. While everyone may have their own watering methods, the same approach may not suit all orchids. There are two main reasons for this. First, different growing media have different water evaporation rates. If the media is breathable but not water-retentive, it dries out quickly and must be watered when dry, not on a fixed schedule.
Second, the watering interval varies with different seasons. The evaporation rate of water in summer and winter is significantly different, so you cannot stick to one watering method throughout the year. You must adapt to your orchid's needs to find a suitable watering method, rather than simply following someone else's schedule.
Many orchid enthusiasts say, "Dry for orchids, wet for chrysanthemums," meaning that excessive watering can keep the potting soil constantly moist, leading to root rot. However, it is not good to let the soil get too dry either. In fact, orchids grow better in slightly moist but not wet soil, making it easier for them to produce new shoots.
Orchid fertilization issues
All plants need nutrients to grow, and orchids are no exception. When the nutrients in the growing media are insufficient, especially for orchids grown in hard media, the plants may become weak and the leaves may turn yellow if they are not fertilized regularly.
Improper fertilization can also cause root burn and yellowing of the leaves. Beginners should avoid fertilizing randomly, especially with organic fertilizers that have not been fully fermented, which can lead to root rot.