Eight Key Points for Caring for Cold Orchids at Home
A small plant knowledge: introducing the small knowledge of caring for cold orchids at home, eight key points for caring for cold orchids, let's learn about them together.
The author is an amateur orchid enthusiast with a special fondness for cold orchids. Recently, I read the treatise "Cold Orchids Should Also Be a Bit 'Hot'" by Professor Liu Qingyong, editor-in-chief of the "Chinese Orchid" magazine and an orchid expert, which moved me greatly...
Cold orchids have a tall and graceful株型, elegant and beautiful leaves, colorful flowers, and a long-lasting fragrance. Gathering the beauty of various orchids in one and embodying the spiritual essence of all things. Such an elegant orchid, why is it difficult to enter the ordinary people's homes? Why has it always been unable to "heat up" in the orchid community? Professor Liu's analysis of the reasons is: "Cultivation techniques have not been resolved."
I was born in a cold orchid producing area and have planted thousands of cold orchids in recent years. I have some knowledge of the cultivation of cold orchids, which I now summarize as the "eight elements of home care for cold orchids" for reference by orchid enthusiasts, hoping that the beautiful cold orchids will add interest to your life and bring you good luck. This is also to add a bit of "heat" to the warming of cold orchids in the orchid community!
1. Choose the right growing medium. Whether the growing medium is suitable for the characteristics of orchids and whether it is beneficial to the normal growth of orchids is the key to growing good orchids. I have used pond stones, stone for planting, pottery soil, immortal soil, broken brick particles, and a variety of mixed materials. Through cultivation comparison tests, I found that the cold orchids grown in mixed materials containing a certain amount of mountain soil (humus) have the best growth, not only with developed roots but also with a higher rate of seedling emergence and flowering than the comparison groups using other growing media. Therefore, I conclude that the normal growth and flowering of cold orchids require various comprehensive nutrients, and the nutrient supply that cannot be met by various soil-less cultivation methods can be obtained from the added mountain soil, hence the better growth. I now recommend a growing medium formula proven by several years of comparative tests to be more suitable for cultivating cold orchids: pond stones or stone for planting (can also be replaced with other hard growing media or river sand) 40%, mountain soil (preferably black humus soil from the native area of orchids) 35%, spent mushroom substrate or waste wood chips (sun-dried or disinfected) 15%, snake wood (or replaced with fern roots) 10% mixed together.
2. Provide reasonable shade. Cold orchids grow in dense forests with tall trees providing them with shade. Therefore, when growing cold orchids, we should also artificially create suitable lighting conditions for them. Excessive sunlight can cause leaf sunburn and sunscald, while excessive shading or being kept indoors for a long time can affect the orchids' photosynthesis, leading to poor growth and difficulty in flowering. According to my practice, using a 70% shade net (fixed) in winter and spring and an additional 50% shade net (movable) on sunny days in summer and autumn is most suitable for the growth of cold orchids (no shading is needed on rainy days). In short, ensuring that the leaves are not burned, it is beneficial for the growth and flowering of orchids to expose them to more sunlight, especially the morning light before 9 am.
3. Control watering. Strictly controlling watering, keeping the potting soil slightly moist but not wet, and slightly dry but not dry is the key to growing good cold orchids. Many beginners are afraid that orchids lack water and water them at any opportunity, causing the potting soil to be too wet and the orchids to rot. This is the main reason for the failure of most beginners in the orchid community. Using the above proportion of potting soil to grow cold orchids, whether in large or small pots, generally water once every 8-15 days in late spring, every 4-6 days on sunny summer days, every 5-10 days in autumn, and often not watering for more than 20 days or even a month in winter and early spring. To facilitate the unified management of large and small pots, I adopt a reasonable potting method based on the number of seedlings and the development of the roots, i.e., using large pots for more seedlings and small pots for fewer seedlings, using large pots for well-developed roots and small pots for poor roots. It is also possible to use strong seedlings with weak seedlings or to companion plant rare and famous varieties with common varieties. This not only conforms to the habit of orchids liking to grow together, accumulating orchid bacteria beneficial for growth, but also basically achieves the same watering cycle for large and small pots. The principle is to keep the potting soil slightly dry, water thoroughly when watering, and slightly dry in between, resulting in cold orchids with developed roots, strong growth, and rarely suffering from root rot or premature root aging.
4. Maintain humidity, which refers to the humidity of the air. Cold orchids prefer a growth environment with slightly dry potting soil and high air humidity. Therefore, it is necessary to artificially create a relative humidity of 55%-75% during the day and no lower than 80% at night. This can be achieved by using a humidifier, automatic sprayer, hanging water curtains, sprinkling water on the ground, setting up water ponds or water basins to increase humidity, etc. With high air humidity, the leaves of cold orchids are glossy and green, grow well, and are easy to cultivate into top-quality seedlings with sealed tips. However, it is important to maintain ventilation when humidity is high.
5. Prevent pollution. Cold orchid leaves are long and thin, with many stomata and a large surface area in contact with the air, so they require a clean and pollution-free growth environment. The orchid garden should avoid areas with factories or workshops that emit thick smoke, waste gases, or produce a lot of dust. Home cultivation should be kept away from chimneys, exhaust fans, and outdoor air vents of air conditioners, and the water used for watering should be pollution-free and have a suitable pH level. In other words, any environment that feels fresh to humans, with no smoke, little dust, no odors, and good ventilation is suitable for growing orchids. Any water that humans can drink can be used to water orchids. Additionally, smoking in the orchid room should be avoided as much as possible.
6. Apply fertilizer scientifically. Most cold orchids have relatively small pseudobulbs with limited nutrient storage and are prone to flowering with tall spikes and large flowers, consuming a lot of nutrients. Therefore, when cultivating mature cold orchid seedlings and repotting, it is best to add a small amount of base fertilizer. I found through experiments that mixing 1% of decomposed and fermented sterile pig manure into the growing medium is most beneficial for the growth and flowering of cold orchids. However, newly purchased seedlings that have just been collected from the mountains, those transported long distances, or those with poor root systems should not be fertilized in a hurry, otherwise, they will suffer from fertilizer damage. Phosphorus and potassium fertilizer and orchid bacteria king can be alternated as foliar fertilizers every 7 to 10 days, with an appropriate amount of urea added during the growth period of new buds and high-potassium fertilizer sprayed 2 to 3 times during the maturity period to promote pseudobulb enlargement. To make the nutrients more balanced, a thin organic fertilizer can be applied once a month from April to June and September to October, but be sure to keep it dilute to prevent fertilizer damage.
7. Prevent pests and diseases. Maintaining good hygiene in the orchid garden, completely removing the sources of pests and diseases, and preventing their spread is the key to preventing pests and diseases. Seriously affected and easily infected diseased plants should be isolated or destroyed, and diseased and withered leaves should be burned in a centralized manner. Secondly, it is important to grow cold orchids in pots and on shelves, which is easier to manage, less polluted, and has fewer pests and diseases than ground planting. Next, it is important to spray pesticides at the right time. March to May in spring and October to November in autumn are the peak periods for pests and diseases, during which pesticides can be alternately sprayed every 10 to 15 days, and once a month at other times. Fungicides such as methylthiophanate, mancozeb, carbendazim, kanamycin, and dakning can be used to prevent diseases, and insecticides such as omethoate, su扑杀, jishajing, and dichlorvos can be used to kill insects.
8. Avoid being impatient. Growing orchids is like cultivating character, requiring patience and avoiding impatience and seeking quick success. Some new orchid enthusiasts lack understanding and knowledge of the growth characteristics and laws of orchids and are eager for success. Or they may be overly doting, watering the orchids at any opportunity. Today they dig into the soil to see if there are new roots, and tomorrow they repot with new growing medium, torturing the orchids to near death, how can they grow well? Some orchid enthusiasts, in order to produce more seedlings, divide the plants too singly, resulting in weaker growth or even death. Others, fearing that the orchids lack fertilizer, frequently apply various fertilizers, causing fertilizer damage. These practices violate the growth laws of orchids and can lead to either "seeing flowers in the first year, seedlings in the second year, and pots in the third year" or, in severe cases, "total annihilation" within a short period. Orchids understand human nature; if you understand and care for them, they will naturally produce buds and bloom every year, giving you rich returns. Impatience, overindulgence, or eagerness for success are all undesirable.
The above introduction to the comprehensive knowledge of the eight key points for caring for cold orchids at home can hopefully help you.