Be cautious about watering orchids with yogurt; both the amount and the method matter
Some flower enthusiasts have had a wild idea and plan to water their orchids with yogurt, or they have seen orchid growers online say that orchids grew better after being watered with yogurt. Here we need to tell orchid growers that you must proceed with caution, because other people's methods are not necessarily suitable for you, and it is not necessarily the yogurt that deserves the credit for orchids watered with yogurt. Below we will look at two cases.
Case one: On National Day in 2013, I gave my father-in-law a pot of an ordinary Cymbidium goeringii (spring orchid) and planted it for him. When I went home for Qingming Festival in 2014, I saw at a glance that he had raised it at home in a half-dead state, with almost no leaves left. I replanted the few remaining shoots again, and on the whole it was as good as gone. When I went home for Spring Festival in 2015, I looked at this pot of plants and found it strange: it had turned into a large clump! I asked my father-in-law whether this was that pot of orchids. He said yes, only that several times he had rinsed out yogurt bottles he had drunk from and used the water to water the orchids! I do not know whether yogurt really has such a miraculous effect! Today this matter suddenly came to mind, so I will try it too and see the effect!
ps: Perhaps this was just a coincidence. As said in the first paragraph, perhaps the yogurt was not what deserved the credit for the orchids' growth.
Case two: 6 or 7 years ago I saw someone in a forum say how good watering with yogurt was, so I went and tried it. I also used common orchids for a test first. After half a year, seeing there were no problems and the orchids were growing very well, the next year I expanded the range of watering. In between I continued to strictly follow orchid fertilizing requirements: do not water in summer, do not water in winter, do not water newly potted plants, small plants or weak plants, and control the concentration. After another half a year, when autumn came, I found several pots of plants were not right and hurriedly repotted them. The result was bad: most orchid roots had turned black and rotted, and some had already become hollow roots. The heartache and regret are beyond words. I hurriedly repotted them, changed the medium, and took measures to save their lives. Several varieties of Cymbidium goeringii (spring orchid) died, while 2 pots of Cymbidium faberi (Huilan) did not die until the following spring. Orchids accumulated over more than 10 years nearly suffered a devastating disaster. This is my experience and lesson, for everyone's reference.
If you really must try it, here are a few points from my experience: 1. The concentration must be low; 5 parts per thousand is better; 2. It must be fermented and decomposed; 3. It is only suitable to water once every 15-20 days in April, May, October and November; 4. It can be watered only when the nutrient level of the medium in the pot is below medium; newly potted plants cannot be watered in the first year, and only in the second year when nutrients are insufficient can it be watered; 5. On the second day after watering, flush with water. These are my observations, for reference only.
Actually, we are not short of fertilizers, and there is no need to give orchids these unverified organic substances. I hope orchid growers can act cautiously!