How to grow wild orchids? Cultivation methods and precautions

Generally speaking, wild orchids dug up from the mountains are not worth much, but if cared for properly, their flowers are just as beautiful. So how do you grow wild orchids?

1. Care before planting: Place freshly collected or purchased wild orchids in a cool place promptly and untie them to avoid overheating and scorching. If they are not to be planted in pots for the time being, lay them flat on the ground and temporarily cover the roots with moist sand and damp soil. When they look dry, mist the leaves appropriately.

2. Debris removal and disinfection: Trim off plants on the pseudobulbs, rotted hollow roots and leaves infected with pests or diseases. Rinse clean with water, let dry, then sprinkle the whole plant with 0.2% potassium permanganate or “zineb”, “carbendazim”, “thiophanate”, and plant after drying.

3. Potting soil preparation: The best potting soil is mountain subsoil, bamboo root mud, mountain red soil or gray-black surface soil from mountain hollows; a small amount of river sand can also be mixed in. It is even better if it can be disinfected with steam or by sun exposure.

4. Careful cultivation: Newly potted wild orchids should first be kept indoors until new roots grow to 5-10cm, then moved outdoors, with good temperature control, ventilation and moisture retention.

5. Foliar feeding: Wild orchid seedlings, after collection, transport and pruning at planting, are covered with wounds and are essentially semi-dehydrated. To promote recovery and growth, spray the leaves weekly as a foliar top dressing with “monopotassium phosphate” diluted 1200-1500 times plus rice vinegar diluted 250 times, or add 100-200 micrograms of vitamin B12 and 20 grams of urea per 25 jin of fertilizer water. Remove withered leaves promptly and trap and kill pests. Once new shoots grow to 5-10cm, they can be managed like established plants.