Several Formulas for Orchid Substrate
Today, I will provide a detailed introduction to the orchids in the orchid family for netizens, including several formulas for orchid substrates, which are very good experience and knowledge, it is recommended to collect哦!
By volume ratio:
① Soil-based culture substrate blending.
The first formula: 50%-60% soil-based substrate (30% humus soil or sandy loam, 15% pond mud or peat soil, 5% "aerated sand"); 40%-50% "Xian soil" or artificial particle soil.
The second formula: 60% soil-based substrate; 25% organic substrate; 15% inorganic substrate.
The third formula: 50% husk charcoal (when the husk is fully combusted, pour water immediately to prevent it from turning into ash to enhance its water permeability and ventilation, and reduce the fire gas); 35% humus soil or sandy loam; 15% pine needle leaves. Especially suitable for plants with few roots.
The fourth formula: 30% aerated sand; 40% humus soil; 30% wood shavings or pine needles. Most suitable for the domestication and cultivation of mountain orchids.
The fifth formula: 20% sandy loam; 10% "aerated sand"; 10% humus soil; 20% husk charcoal; 20% completely combusted coal slag (after leaching to reduce fire gas); 20% pine needles or foam plastic chunks. Good for the transformation of line art orchids.
② Soilless culture substrate blending.
Full inorganic substrate: 30% foam plastic chunks; 50% brick and tile chunks; 20% perlite or kaolin.
Full organic substrate: 30% tender branches; 30% peanut shells; 30% pine needles; 10% water moss chunks. Good water retention and fertility, suitable for non-professional orchid growers to use.
Combined formula: 30% foam plastic chunks; 30% brick and tile chunks; 20% tender branches; 10% pine needles; 10% water moss. 50% high-phosphorus stone; 30% foam chunks; 10% pine needles; 10% water moss. 50% coarse river sand; 30% foam chunks; 10% pine needles; 10% water moss.
The above formulas have been proven feasible by orchid friends, but the resources and climate vary from place to place, specific operations can be changed, and there is no need to stick to a certain formula.
The basic composition of orchid substrate includes orchid base stone, "Xian soil" particles, green stone, pine bark, and coconut bran. Other materials are added according to the habits of the orchid master. For example: snake wood, peanut shells, sawdust, wood shavings, pine needles, chestnut leaves, walnut shells, peach (apricot) kernels, etc. The specific proportions also vary from person to person. Orchid friends in Yunnan often use chestnut leaves accounting for 50%. It is best to determine according to the local humidity and wind conditions.
The substrate is the material basis for the survival of orchids with fleshy roots. Mastering the characteristics of orchids and formulating substrates suitable for orchid growth is a key element of successful orchid cultivation. In the orchid growing area, orchid friends can easily buy orchid substrates from the orchid market, such as Emei Xian soil from Sichuan, T-W, and塘基兰 stone from Guangzhou, as well as Japanese植金石 and domestic orchid bacteria soil, all of which can be freely selected. However, orchid friends without purchasing conditions are not so lucky. Therefore, self-preparing orchid substrates has become a practical choice for orchid friends and a necessary path to improve orchid art. Formulating the right substrate is the key to successful orchid cultivation. For working-class orchid friends, using local materials to prepare substrates saves money and is a pleasure. In addition, it is one of the important ways to master orchid nature.
Coal slag: Coal slag is the residue left after coal combustion, which is easily accessible and widely used by urban and rural orchid friends, especially the slag from domestic honeycomb coal, which can become the main component of the substrate after screening and removing dust, used for planting orchids, with good water drainage and ventilation, water retention and fertilizer retention, light texture, non-caking, free of bacteria, and high in phosphorus and potassium content, which is beneficial for root development and artistic transformation of orchid plants.
Brick particles: Some orchid friends use red or green bricks for crushing and processing to make brick particles. You can also directly collect brick fragments堆积ed at the edge of the kiln in the brick factory, screen them, and make them into coarse and medium particles for future use. This hard planting material has strong water absorption, drainage, and ventilation. The disadvantage is that it is prone to dryness in autumn and winter, and contains less nutrients.
Stone particles: Coarse sand is commonly used in construction sites for screening into fine sand for wall painting, and the coarse stone particles the size of peanuts and mung beans that are removed can be very suitable for use as particle material for planting orchids, or can be sieved from rivers, removing large cobblestones and fine sand, and retaining coarse and medium particles for future use. The advantage of small stone particles is that they are easy to obtain, easy to water, cool in nature, and quite suitable for orchids, thus causing fewer diseases. It is popular among orchid friends in Zhangzhou and Guangdong Shunde to use small gravel and coconut bran heated and padded for planting orchids, which results in white orchid roots that meet export standards.
Mountain soil: Mountain soil is formed by the accumulation of plant leaves and stems over a long period of time, becoming decomposed, light in texture, porous, with good ventilation and a certain acidity, rich in organic matter, generally known as humus soil, which is favored by orchid friends in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Yunnan regions, with sufficient fertility, strong seedling growth, and fast flowering. However, for new orchid friends, it is difficult to grasp watering, and if sterilization is not enough, it is prone to diseases.
Fire-burnt soil: It is soil that has been calcined with fire, known as grass skin soil in Fujian and Jiangxi, and soil skin ash in Guizhou, which is commonly used as a base fertilizer for vegetables and crops by farmers. Fire-burnt soil is usually alkaline and becomes weakly acidic after being rinsed by rain several times. Because it is calcined and smoked at high temperatures, the soil has high fertility, rich in phosphorus and potassium fertilizers, and is loose and ventilated.
Waste mushroom soil: Also known as香菇土, it is the abandoned mushroom筒 used for producing edible fungi and tea tree fungi, which is also a good planting material for orchids. It is loose and fertile, but high in bacterial content, so it should be strongly sterilized, otherwise it is prone to soft rot disease.
Dry cow dung: Commonly used as farmyard manure in rural areas, after fully decomposing and sunning for a week to kill bacteria and destroy eggs, it can be used as an additive for orchid planting substrates, which not only loosens the soil but also adds fertility, without hurting the roots.
Sawdust: It can be obtained from furniture factories and wood processing plants, with good water absorption, containing certain minerals and organic matter, and is better after composting and maturing. Cedar and mixed wood are suitable, while pine sawdust contains oil components and is not suitable for selection.
Bark blocks: The bark is loose and light, with good water and fertilizer retention. Especially willow bark is the best, as it is moisture-resistant, corrosion-resistant, and contains natural salicylic acid (aspirin), which promotes root growth and leaf photosynthesis in orchids. Adding willow bark to the orchid cultivation results in vigorous plant growth. At the same time, aspirin has anti-inflammatory, bactericidal, and preservative effects, which can effectively prevent root rot.
Decayed wood blocks: Easily obtained when collecting orchids in the mountains. Decayed wood is rich in organic matter, absorbs water and retains fertilizer, keeps warm and散热, and is a superior medium for planting orchids. Mixed with coarse particles, it can be used to pad the pot and does not need to be replaced for two or three years.
Charcoal: Lightweight and low in density, with super water absorption, and wood materials rich in phosphorus and potassium after calcination become the top choice for mixed padding materials and are also good for eliminating waterlogging in the pot.
Plastic foam: Modern people's purchases of household appliances and daily necessities often use foam material packaging, and many urban orchid friends use foam made into particles as orchid planting materials, with good results. Foam for planting orchids has the advantages of no waterlogging, good heat preservation, good permeability, clean without diseases, and high germination rate. The disadvantages are that it does not absorb water and has no nutrients. It can be used as a padding material for the pot or as a particle material to replace red brick particles. In addition, volcanic rock, peat soil, sugarcane slag, coconut bran, etc., are also good orchid planting materials, but they are not easily obtained by most orchid friends. There is no planting material that is perfect in all aspects; while having certain advantages, there are always some shortcomings. Practice has proven that a single medium is difficult to meet the growth needs of orchids, only by reasonably mixing according to the type of orchids, coordinating benefits and drawbacks, and mutual complementation, can the ideal substrate be formulated.
1. The main ingredient is particle material: Loose and ventilated is the most basic requirement for orchid planting substrates. Traditional orchid cultivation mainly uses mountain soil, but modern orchid cultivation practice has proven that selecting particle materials is easier to meet the needs of orchid ventilation and water permeability. Particle materials easily absorb and retain water to meet the water supply needs of orchids. Especially coarse particles are essential for padding the pot and are a good solution to eliminate waterlogging. The disadvantage of particle materials is the lack of fertilizer and nutrient elements, but now various special orchid fertilizers have basically made up for this defect of particle materials. You can mix bone meal into the substrate to increase fertility, or apply slow-release fertilizers such as Zhikang and Okangdu after the orchid has taken root, or use Guolian Yebao, Lan Jun Wang, Gaoxue喷施 and root irrigation to supplement fertilizers, all with good results. The choice of particle materials is quite extensive, and the mentioned coarse coal slag, broken brick particles, small stones, fire-burnt soil, etc., are all good particle materials. By complementing them with other materials, a good substrate for raising strong seedlings can be formulated. It should be noted that coal slag, brick particles, and other materials calcined by fire should be soaked for three days and water changed daily to remove "fire poison" before blending.
2. Pay attention to the combination of hard and soft materials and the balance of yin and yang: With the hard particle material, it is also necessary to properly mix some soft materials to achieve the effect of yin-yang balance. relatively speaking, red brick particles, coal slag, and fire-burnt soil are hard materials, with strong fire and yang. While materials like sawdust, bark blocks, and decayed wood are soft materials, which are more yin. Generally speaking, when these two types of materials are reasonably mixed in a certain proportion, a clever orchid planting material is made. As for how to mix them, it requires orchid friends to experience and carefully ponder during the blending process. It can be said that the process of formulating substrates is the process of understanding orchid nature.
3. Reasonable use of mud materials: Wild orchids live deep in mountains and old forests, living with mountain soil all their lives, it can be said that the closest friend of orchids is mountain soil. Therefore, mountain soil has become the main material for traditional orchid cultivation and is still used by some experienced orchid masters, with strong and vigorous plants grown in mountain soil. However, for modern orchid cultivation, especially for new orchid friends, the difficulty in controlling moisture is the main reason why people are reluctant to use mountain soil for orchid cultivation. Mountain soil collected from primeval forests needs to be exposed to the sun for three to five days, and can be exposed for more days if conditions allow, then sieved, impurities removed, fine soil discarded, and coarse and medium particles retained for blending. If there is no mountain soil, using fire-burnt soil or mushroom soil as a substitute can also maintain the "muddy nature" of the substrate.
4. Finally, according to the "three-in-one" model of particle material, mud material, and soft additive material, several substrate formulas are recommended for orchid friends to choose from.
1. River pebbles or fine stone particles 30%, coconut bran 30%, fire-burnt soil 30%, bark 10%
2. Coal slag 30%, river pebbles or fine stone particles 30%, mountain soil particles 30%, sawdust 10%
3. Coal slag 30%, red brick particles 30%, mountain soil particles 30%, dry cow dung 10%
Abovementioned are several formulas for orchid substrates for reference by netizens.