A Detailed Guide to Cultivation and Care Methods for Orchids in Balcony Greenhouses

How to Make Full Use of a Balcony for GrowingOrchids, developing a balcony economy, and enriching people's material and cultural life is a topic of great concern to orchid enthusiasts living in cities and towns. Greenhouseorchid growingfor 1 year is equivalent to the number of new shoots produced in 2-3 years of naturalorchid growing, greatly shortening theorchidpropagation cycle, greatly improving economic returns, and letting many orchid growers enjoy the benefits. In the past two years, more and more orchid growers have taken up greenhouseorchid growing. If yourorchidinvestment is large and you have many fine varieties, building a balcony greenhouse is very necessary. Morning sunlight promotes orchid photosynthesis and raises the temperature of the orchid room, while the afternoon western sun has excessively strong ultraviolet rays that easily scorch orchid leaves. "Facing the morning sun and avoiding the western sun" is the basic principle to follow when choosing abalcony for growing orchids. Our country lies north of the equator, so balconies should preferably face southeast, followed by east, south, and north, and should not be chosen facing southwest or west. At the same time, orchids most fear the hot air, oil fumes, and dust discharged by kitchens, restaurants, and factories, so one should try to avoid or stay far away from these. If you are choosing a new home that will also be used for growing orchids, you may give priority to a ground-floor unit where a courtyard can be used for growing orchids or a top-floor unit where the roof can be used for growing orchids. Whether you live on the ground floor, the top floor, or in between, you can use abalcony for growing orchids; whether an indoor balcony or an outdoor balcony, either can be modified and used for growing orchids. To run an enterprise, you must build factory buildings and add equipment; to grow fine orchids, you must also be willing to spend money to build a greenhouse.Growing orchids on a balconyis relatively harsher than the natural state, with strong light, strong wind, and easy drying. Therefore, the balcony must be appropriately modified, and the ecological environment must be artificially simulated and cultivated so that it is as consistent as possible with the natural state, and efforts must be made to solve problems such as sun shading, rain sheltering, heat preservation, moisture retention, and theft prevention. To solve the problems of heat preservation, moisture retention, and rain sheltering, the orchid room needs to be enclosed. The outer wall of the orchid room can be made into a sliding door and window structure using sunlight panels or white glass plus an aluminum alloy frame, or it can be enclosed with plastic film, so as to facilitate the penetration of natural light and make it convenient to open the orchid room for ventilation, with screens installed to prevent mosquitoes and dust. The top of the orchid room on an outdoor balcony is best designed with a double layer, with a double-layer roller-blind shade net installed outside. It should preferably be made in an "umbrella" shape rather than a flat top, to facilitate shading and cooling in midsummer and water drainage. The humidity of a balcony greenhouse can be automatically controlled with a humidifier. Commonly used ones include automatic humidifiers produced in Taiwan, China, and temperature and humidity automatic control equipment produced in Pengzhou, Sichuan. An inner balcony usually has a closed outer protective wall of a certain height. If orchid pots are placed directly on the ground, the protective wall will affect the ventilation and lighting of the orchid room, so a ventilation fan can be installed, and a support of a certain height can be used to raise the orchid pots so that they are level with or slightly higher than the outer protective wall. If leakage will not occur, water-absorbing material can be laid on the floor of the orchid room, with water replenished at regular intervals, to regulate the air humidity in the orchid room. If the floor of an indoor balcony is eroded by water for a long time, it easily causes leakage between floors and affects neighborly relations. To maintain the humidity of the orchid room, a "pot-sitting style" can be used, that is, using a support to hold up a water tray 4-5 cm deep, and placing the orchid pots directly in the water tray; a "hanging style" can also be used, that is, placing the water tray at the lower end and using a support to suspend the orchid pots, which can both achieve the purpose of heat preservation and ensure that no water runs onto the floor when watering, with the water ultimately remaining in the water tray. Temperatures at different heights in the orchid room will differ somewhat, and placing orchid pots in multiple layers affects orchid lighting and makes management inconvenient, so it is best to place only one layer. There are many heating methods, but each has advantages and disadvantages. The main heating equipment includes: 1. Air conditioner. For an orchid room with an area of 10 sq m, a 2P-type air conditioner can be used, but air conditioners often have good cooling effects and poor heating effects. In winter, the temperature displayed by the air conditioner differs too greatly from the actual temperature of the orchid room and cannot achieve the expected effect, and the electricity cost is high. 2. Hot air blower, electric oven, radiator. The heating effect is good, but the sudden decrease in air humidity in the orchid room causes the humidifier to work continuously, resulting in high costs, and the loud noise of the hot air blower affects rest at night. 3. Natural gas heater. The heating effect is good and the cost is moderate. The combustion of natural gas mainly produces water and carbon dioxide. Water can increase humidity, and carbon dioxide is a gaseous fertilizer that can increase the carbon content in the air indoors, which is beneficial to photosynthesis and produces more nutrients. Orchids absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen during respiration and photosynthesis. By comparison, if conditions permit, it is best to use natural gas, but safety regulations must be strictly observed to prevent accidents such as poisoning. Cooling methods mainly include using an air conditioner to cool and spraying water on the outside of the orchid room and shading to cool. The Sichuan Basin has many cloudy, rainy, and foggy days with insufficient light, so plant lights can be installed within 50-100 cm of the orchid leaves to supplement light for the orchids. The site selection and construction of the orchid room must also consider its safety to prevent theft. Commonly used anti-theft methods include: reinforcing the orchid room with steel bars, iron mesh, and security doors; installing alarms and television monitoring equipment; guarding by dogs and watching by people. (Sichuan Xiuying Orchid Garden, Jiang Shoujun)