A detailed guide to growing Dendrobium at home: even beginners can learn it easily

The home growing methods for Dendrobium described in this article are mainly aimed at home gardening enthusiasts, and are the experience and insights of flower growers, explaining experience to fellow growers from every aspect such as pots, growing medium, fertilizer, and watering!

1. Dendrobium pots: as shown in the picture, Dendrobium is an epiphytic orchid, its roots need air circulation, and the pot should be a special orchid pot.

2. Growing medium: there is a lot of information about Dendrobium media, including sphagnum moss, clay pebbles, orchid stone, bark, coconut coir, and so on, but in Hunan there is a lot of rain, and the best thing I have tried is still clay pebbles as a bottom layer, with pine bark on top.

3. Fertilizer: Osmocote slow-release fertilizer, 10-20 granules at a time, and Miracle-Gro sprayed before the flowering period, at a concentration of 1000:1.

4. Watering: it depends on the season. Spring: water at noon; I just spray wildly with a nozzle, because there are too many.

Summer: Water in the evening, avoid the high heat and water every day, because the growing medium really does not retain moisture, and lack of water in this season will seriously affect the formation of flower buds.

Autumn: Dendrobium orchids enter their flowering period, and when watering, avoid the flower spikes, otherwise the flower spikes may stop developing.

Winter: I keep them indoors for care, and at noon I use a spray bottle, spraying only the growing medium and avoiding the branches and leaves, otherwise I am afraid they will freeze.

5. Temperature: for Dendrobium, temperature is extremely important. Dendrobium is a plant that fears cold, and the suitable temperature for most Dendrobium is 10-35, while some can tolerate 0 degrees. The wintering temperature required by autumn Dendrobium is generally not lower than 10 degrees, and for spring Dendrobium generally not lower than 5 degrees, and when spring Dendrobium is forming flower buds in early spring the temperature must not be too high, otherwise the flower buds will stop developing and turn into leaf buds. In winter I keep mine on an enclosed balcony, using an air heater to maintain a constant temperature of 15 degrees (an air heater costs about 70 yuan each, the heating wire can be used for 3-5 years before being replaced once, and the electricity bill is about 100 yuan a month). If growers in the north use heating, they should pay attention to increasing watering. If you do not grow many flowers, using an air heater seems too costly; you can use a small warming rack, but Dendrobium is very tall and takes up space, so you cannot fit many pots on it.

6. Dendrobium's growing medium is light, the stems are tall, the center of gravity is high, and the medium is loose, so you must be careful to prevent the flower pots from tipping over. I once knocked over a pot while turning around, and while cleaning up that pot, I crouched down and my bottom knocked over a whole bunch more, and cleaning up drove me to despair...

7. Potting: there is no need to bury all the roots. I like pot culture, and I also have some mounted on boards, but there is just one point: it must have air circulation!