Orchid care methods and key points for July

Rainy season and peak heat: the most important thing is watering

    Environmental management

    The single most important point in summer environmental management is cooling.

    In temperature management, artificial cooling is limited. But because it is the rainy season, temperatures this month will not rise too high. The problem is that occasional sunshine raises the temperature inside the orchid room. The shading rate should be adjusted to above 60%, and all windows should be opened so that the orchids are not exposed to suddenly rising high temperatures; this point is very important. For balcony orchid rooms where it is difficult to install shading material, windows at positions where shading material could not be installed and that only block the orchids should be fully opened.

    Shading alone is not enough; ventilation must also be done well. Ventilation can use devices such as blowers or fans, but natural ventilation through skylights and windows should be used as much as possible. You can also frequently sprinkle water on the floor of the orchid room to lower the temperature through evaporation.

In response to the tropical night phenomenon that begins to appear from late in the month after the rainy season ends, the water in the pots should be drained as much as possible. Reduce the amount of watering slightly, and ventilation must be carried out after watering.

    Nutrition management

    The temperature during this period is mainly high temperature and high humidity, so basically no fertilizer is applied, but the growing new shoots must be taken into consideration. At this time, do not do real fertilizing; simply do foliar feeding as a way of supplying nutrients.

When doing foliar feeding, carry it out on cloudy days or in the evening as much as possible, use a lower concentration than usual, and fertilize frequently. However, after the rainy season ends, not fertilizing is the safe choice.

    Pest and disease prevention

    This is the period with the highest likelihood of pests and diseases occurring.

    First, pests such as slugs and armored scales reproduce very vigorously. Slugs in particular must be watched for, as they will eat the new shoots. During the day, slugs hide in dark and damp places and are hard to find. At night when they come out and are active, turn on a flash and observe; slugs can easily be found around the orchid pots. If there was pest damage last year, it will also appear this year, so be sure to watch for it.

    On the other hand, armored scales mostly appear in dry and hot environments. They mainly suck sap around the dorsal spine, and applying pesticide is ineffective, so attention should usually be paid to killing them.

    Second, rot disease and soft rot are representative disease spots in summer. For example, rot disease only damages the new shoots, but soft rot spreads to the entire orchid plant and brings fatal consequences. Remember clearly that these diseases are very difficult to find on healthy orchids or orchids that are watered normally. Usually, watering and environmental management should be done thoroughly to prevent these pathogens from attacking the orchids.