Orchid care in autumn: these five key tips you must master

The crisp, bright autumn season is the second golden season for orchid growing. Autumn orchid growing is the annual link between what came before and what comes next: it is both the harvest season when orchid plants mature and the delightful time when orchid buds burst forth. How well you handle autumn orchid care determines the success or failure of the year's orchid growing, and it is also the key to whether next year's orchid plants will grow vigorously. The author sums up the key points of autumn orchid growing as the "five key tips."

Light should be "ample." In the golden autumn with high skies and light clouds, sunlight is a precious source of power for orchids. Except for the need for a little shade in early autumn, orchid plants can be allowed to absorb the full sunshine for most of the autumn. First, it is for toughening the plants. Orchid plants that receive more light will certainly be stronger and healthier, and will inevitably have enhanced resistance and stress tolerance, so infection by disease will naturally be reduced. Second, it is for promoting flowering. Late summer and early autumn is the key moment for promoting flowering. Sunlight becomes the energy factor for the gestation and plumping of flower buds. Orchid friends with collecting experience can find that wild orchids receiving more sun certainly bloom earlier and have more flowers, and home-grown orchids are the same. Just as the ancients said, "More sun makes better flowers." Third, it is for concentrating fragrance. Orchids grown in an environment with ample sunlight will be more delicately fragrant, and the floral fragrance will last longer. This is the main reason why orchids that bloom around Mid-Autumn are more fragrant. Therefore, when autumn arrives, let your orchid plants enjoy a sunbath to the fullest and grow happily and freely; in this way, the orchid plants will flourish and be ready to burst into bloom.

Watering should be "moist." There is an orchid saying: "Autumn is not dry." That is to say, the key point of watering orchids in autumn is to prevent dryness, and to ensure the potting soil is in the best moist state. This is determined by the climate characteristics of dry autumn air and dryness. You must ensure the potting soil is not dry but moist, so as to help flower buds gestate and emerge from the pot strong and timely. The famous Qing dynasty orchid grower Xu Jilou, in the August lunar month care method mentioned in "Lan Hui Tong Xin Lu," referred to "osmanthus steaming" and "water caltrop dryness," both common autumn phenological phenomena. Therefore, to ensure the potting soil does not dry out and damage the roots, grasp mainly two points. First, water according to conditions. According to the degree of dryness of the potting soil, the growth state of the orchid, the number of plants, and the sunny or cloudy weather conditions, appropriately use soaking the pot, watering, and moistening the pot surface to supply water to the orchid. Second, control water moderately. That is, appropriately lengthen the usual watering interval to achieve the effect of toughening the orchid seedlings and promoting flower bud gestation. But never, just for the sake of controlling water, make the potting soil not moist but dry, thus producing the opposite effect and ending up with empty roots and damaged orchids.

Fertilizing should be "skillful." For autumn fertilizing, distinguish different situations and adopt different fertilizing methods to achieve the goal of promoting flowers or promoting shoots. First, gestating buds and promoting flowers. Generally, for strong seedlings growing vigorously with ample sunlight, adopt the method of moderate water control, then combine it with skillful fertilizing, and flower buds will easily emerge in season. For strong seedlings fully undergoing reproductive growth, choose flower-promoting fertilizer and boldly apply dilute fertilizer frequently; when winter goes and spring comes, it will not be difficult for orchid and cymbidium to release fragrance. One-thousandth potassium dihydrogen phosphate plus some boron fertilizer, applied alternately with flower-promoting fertilizers such as Gaocui, can be applied once every three to five days; of course, the shorter the interval, the lower the concentration should be. Experienced orchid friends choose fully decomposed alum fertilizer water to promote flowering, and the floral fragrance is stronger. To save time, fertilizing can sometimes be combined with insecticide and fungicide application; whether for insecticide or fertilizing, adding some edible vinegar will help the orchid plants absorb it. Second, promoting buds and shoots. As is well known, autumn is the second growth period for orchid plants besides spring. In this season, for orchids without flowers or not allowed to bloom, seizing the opportunity to apply fertilizer can provide sufficient nutrient reserves for the sprouting of autumn buds and winter buds. Although there is much debate among orchid friends about the quality of orchid buds produced in the second half of the year, with opinions varying widely, the author believes that as long as management is proper, promoting autumn and winter orchid buds is equivalent to growing half a year more of plants, and they can likewise be grown strong. In fertilizing methods, you can also alternately spray chemical fertilizers and apply organic fertilizers; only in the choice of fertilizer type, mainly choose nitrogen-containing ones, and urea, high-nitrogen compound fertilizer, Gaocui, and Lan Jun Wang, etc., are all fine. In this way, there is even more assurance that the year's new plants will grow strong. Even if the year's bud-promoting effect is not fully realized, it can still lay the foundation for the sprouting of new plants next spring.

Dividing pots should be "careful." "Spring Equinox" and "Autumn Equinox" are the best times for dividing orchid pots. Dividing pots in spring benefits flowering in autumn, and dividing plants in autumn benefits sprouting next spring. Therefore, for dividing orchid plants around the Autumn Equinox, careful and prudent treatment should be given according to different situations; especially for orchid plants with flower buds, it is best to divide after flowering, so as to avoid knocking and injuring the flower buds or suffering infection that damages the orchid. First, divide after flowering. For orchid species such as Jianlan that have already flowered, once the post-flowering dormancy period of more than a week has passed, pot division can be carried out. Second, divide plants to promote shoots. For Chunhui orchids without flower buds or with buds gestating in late autumn, dividing pots at the Autumn Equinox can add about one month of shoot-growing period for the orchid plants, which is very beneficial for the orchid plants to start strong and robust next spring. There are two points worth noting in autumn plant division. First, delaying the "settling water" is the common practice for autumn pot division. Because pot division breaks the orchid plant's growth cycle, the next growth must begin after the "dormancy period" of one week after division; therefore, watering immediately after division risks water accumulation and root damage. Second, performing the "half-separation technique" is one of the important secrets for producing many shoots. The so-called "half-separation technique" is to pinch with both hands the pseudobulbs on both sides of the plant's connection point, twist 90 degrees, both breaking and tearing the connection between the pseudobulbs and keeping them attached to each other. In this way, the chain connection between pseudobulbs is broken through, promoting the exertion of the plant's apical dominance, thereby stimulating bud points to sprout and achieving the goal of producing many shoots.

Protecting flowers should be "discreet." Enjoying flowers is the unremitting pursuit of orchid friends in orchid growing, and the blooming of orchid buds is the best reward for orchid friends' hard work in orchid growing. There are three key points in caring for flower buds: First, select the superior and eliminate the inferior. The nutrients accumulated by an orchid are limited, so according to the principle of selecting the superior and retaining them, weak flowers with poor growth should be unhesitatingly removed, leaving an appropriate number of excellent representatives, so as to supply the strongest flower buds with the most sufficient nutrients, facilitate smooth blooming, and ensure the flower quality is up to standard. Flower removal should be carried out in late autumn; if too early, after removal the plant will set flower buds again, vainly consuming nutrients. You can remove flower buds by pinching them and twisting 90 degrees, then sprinkle some thiophanate-methyl, etc., on the wound to prevent infection by pathogens. Second, sterilize and remove insects. Regularly spray insecticides and fungicides. Insecticide is to prevent pests from biting, or even drilling into the buds to devour young shoots; fungicide is to eliminate flower mold disease, and not let the orchid-growing results cultivated through years of hard work be destroyed in an instant. Third, avoid rain as much as possible. Orchid plants with flower buds should not be allowed to be frequently rained on, and when watering, do not let water wet the flower buds; try as much as possible to avoid rainwater soaking and rotting the flower buds. Do these well, and the hard work of a year of care will finally usher in the enjoyment of delicate fragrance filling the nose!