How to care for orchids
You may not be aware of how to care for orchids and the related knowledge of orchid cultivation techniques and management in the green plant aspect. Here is a comprehensive introduction.
Orchids, as one of the top ten famous flowers in China, have been very popular from ancient times to the present, especially among scholars and refined people, who like to keep a pot or two of orchids at home. The cultivation history of orchids is very long. They are plants that require "rich nutrition," which means you have to take good care of them with great attention; otherwise, problems will arise.
Orchids are very delicate plants. When they get angry, they won't bloom, which can be quite frustrating. The main reason orchids get angry is that you might have overlooked some small details during their care.
1. First of all, the environment for raising orchids should be ventilated and bright, with good ventilation. It's best to keep them outdoors rather than indoors. Outdoor cultivation makes the orchid plants stronger and less prone to diseases.
2. Secondly, the soil is crucial. Orchids mostly have fleshy roots, which require very good ventilation. The soil should be loose, not compacted, and must not accumulate water, otherwise, the roots cannot breathe properly and will cause many problems.
In China's regions, loess and compacted alkaline soils are not suitable for planting orchids. Ordinary garden soil can be improved by adding river sand, bark, pine needles, peanut shells, melon seed shells, and eggshells to increase its looseness.
But generally speaking, garden soil is not the best for orchids. For orchids, using a mixture of coarse and fine substrates is the best choice.
The shells we usually collect, such as melon seeds, nuts, and peanuts, are considered fine substrates for orchid care; coal slag and red brick particles are coarse substrates.
When preparing the soil, use a part of both coarse and fine substrates, add some humus to increase nutrients, and this will be perfect for orchids! There is a lot of deciduous humus soil, pine needle humus soil, and bamboo humus soil in the mountains, all of which can be used to grow orchids.
3. Next, let's talk about watering. Watering has always been a key indicator of orchid growth. Most orchids are killed by overwatering, which is definitely not a good thing.
Although orchids like to grow in a humid environment, they also have a certain degree of drought tolerance. Excessive watering can cause the roots to be unable to drain in time or the orchids not to absorb the water in time, leading to root rot and yellow leaves.
When we water orchids, we should water according to the current environmental temperature, maintain appropriate lighting and ventilation after watering to speed up water absorption and evaporation. Spraying water on the orchid leaves more often can also provide reasonable hydration for the orchids.