A Detailed Guide to the Key Period for Fertilizing and Watering Orchids
The key period for fertilizing and watering orchids refers to the stretch of time from the arrival of the plum rain and the summer solstice through the end of August, so growing orchids takes only three months of effort (June, July, and August). If your orchids can make it through this key period safely and healthily, it will bring you a whole year of good spirits, and getting through these three months also means this year's orchid growing has been a success. The focus of this period is to do a good job, on a subjective level, of managing water and fertilizer for the orchids. We know that watering and fertilizing are processes in which a person makes subjective judgments based on objective conditions, so how do you handle this process well? Below are some experiences I have drawn on or summarized for fellow orchid growers to reference.
June to July is the time of year when air humidity is relatively high, and watering needs attention in 4 points:
1. Do not water after rain, and do not spray the orchid leaves when the air humidity is high.
2. This stage is the key period for orchids to grow roots and leaves, so you must achieve a proper balance between dry and wet. A proper balance between dry and wet means watering must be thorough, and after it is thorough, you should try to wait until the planting medium's moisture is below 30% before watering again (even 20% moisture is fine). Only this way is it good for well-developed roots and encourages the roots to grow downward.
3. Keeping the planting medium at too wet a level for a long time puts the orchid's roots and leaves in a saturated state of moisture. If you then water or mist again, the orchid's roots and leaves cannot absorb it, which very easily leads to new shoots rotting, soft rot, stem rot and various diseases. Only by grasping the proper balance between dry and wet can orchids grow healthily.
4. For watering and misting, choosing the evening or early morning is fine; do not do it during the high-temperature, sunny time of day.
For fertilizing, you only need to remember 2 principles: first, apply thin fertilizer frequently; second, whether applying root fertilizer or foliar fertilizer, try to do it in the evening.
