What good habits should be developed in orchid care?

      First, disinfect your hands when entering the orchid room. Why? Because your hands may carry viruses, fungi, bacteria, and so on. Soap and running water can inactivate viruses, laying the foundation for the work to follow.

      Second, when pruning leaves, only prune the necrotic, blackened, withered parts. Reason:  while leaves that are still green or turning yellow have not completely died, viruses - the terminal disease of orchids - can spread in this way. In fact, this is the single most common operation by which viruses are spread today. In addition, before these leaves die, they have not fully transported their nutrients away. Look at such a small plant - growing even a short stretch of leaf consumes a lot of nutrients. Countermeasure: applying antibiotics to the cut area of the necrotic leaf can effectively stop the lesion from spreading.

       Third, pay attention to the prevention and control of bacterial diseases. After excluding physiological diseases and non-biological diseases, only biological diseases remain. Among biological diseases,  everyone probably understands well how to control pests, and presumably everyone has no problem preventing virus transmission. The key point is that VIPER has found that many orchid growers cannot distinguish fungal damage from bacterial damage. As soon as there is a symptom, they spray thiophanate and carbendazim again and again, and the result is  that the fungal community in the roots is destroyed, while the bacterial disease still is not cured.  Bacterial diseases are characterized by a much lower incidence than fungal ones, but when they do occur (especially after rain),  they develop very rapidly. Some leaves become water-soaked and transparent and spread quickly; if after rotting they release a foul odor when cut open, most are caused by this bacterium.

       Countermeasure: use streptomycin for prevention and control. If it is not convenient to buy in the city, you can go to a pharmacy and buy small bottles of penicillin for injection. The concentration can refer to that of streptomycin.

      Fourth, use scissors in rotation. Scissors are often the biggest culprit in spreading diseases, one could say they kill without shape. So you can add 10% formalin to medical alcohol  . After pruning the first plant, wash and soak the scissors in the solution, then switch to another pair for the next plant.

      Fifth, do not use flood irrigation, because then any virus you can think of can take the opportunity to spread.

      Sixth, good ventilation. This is the important condition second only to light. If there is anyone who still does not understand, they might as well change careers and grow mushrooms.

      Seventh, you can appropriately find ways to raise the soil temperature. Specifically, this can be solved by covering with insulation materials or by supplying warm air exhausted from indoors. As for the air temperature, it is best to have a temperature difference: hot during the day and cold at night. Only in this way is nighttime respiration suppressed, which is beneficial to the accumulation of sugars. If it is constant temperature and constant humidity,  then strong seedlings are out of the question.