How to grow orchids? Mastering these four secrets is enough

Promote Chinese orchid culture, spread orchid knowledge

Anyone who grows orchids must go through the process from not knowing how to knowing how, from growing them poorly to growing them well, from growing them well to growing them expertly. My "orchid-growing age" is not too short, but my orchid-growing level is still at the "beginner stage". After visiting orchid nurseries and fellow orchid growers who grow them well and expertly, and then looking at my own orchids, I truly feel inferior by comparison. For this reason, combined with my own orchid-growing practice, I have done some thinking and summing up, and arrived at some "rough-outline" points. I have come to realize that to grow orchids well, four relationships need to be handled well, namely the relationship between the orchid and its environment, the relationship between nurturing roots and protecting seedlings, the relationship between the colony and the individual, and the relationship between management and timing.

In terms of the orchid's environment, it needs both shade and moisture as well as ventilation, and the relationship between the orchid and its environment should be handled well. Every kind of plant has its own unique ecological habits. Orchids are semi-shade plants. Wild orchids grow on semi-mountain slopes with scattered light, shade and moisture, ventilation, and loose, fertile, well-drained soil. Therefore, when growing orchids, one should create a microclimate environment that has light but not direct blazing sun, has rain and dew moisture but no waterlogging, and has fresh flowing air while avoiding harsh winds.

When growing orchids in a building, I have had the experience of orchid seedlings being scorched to death by the west-facing sun, and also the lesson of the rainy season being too wet with poor ventilation, causing pests and diseases to breed and leading to orchid seedlings "rotting at the heart" and dying. Therefore, along with expanding and renovating the balcony, I added orchid-growing facilities. The east balcony has shade above and a water pool below, can catch the morning light, and is protected from smoke; the west balcony is covered with movable fiberglass tiles and surrounded with bamboo blinds, so it can both receive rain and sunlight and also prevent rain and provide shade, and can prevent cold windstorms from blowing through, thus improving the conditions for growing orchids.

In orchid cultivation, the potting soil should be moderate, and the relationship between nurturing roots and protecting seedlings should be handled well. To grow orchids, first grow the roots - this is already a common consensus among orchid growers. Orchid roots and orchid leaves are interconnected; damaging the roots will inevitably damage the seedlings. When I was first learning to grow orchids, I found orchid seedlings dying, and upon turning out the pot, I saw that the orchid roots had all rotted. The reason was that the potting soil was compacted and waterlogged, and the orchid roots lacked oxygen. Later I switched to humus soil for cultivation, but some orchid pots, because the soil was too fine, had wet surface soil after watering while the water could not penetrate down, causing the orchid roots to dry to death and the seedlings to die. In order to grow orchid roots well, according to the orchid variety, I used humus soil mixed with red soil in different proportions, so that the soil both ventilates and drains water, and also retains moisture and water. And according to the orchid's root system, I selected suitable orchid pots. When planting, I made the bottom hollow, the middle loose, and the sides firm, with the culture soil at the pot mouth shaped into a "steamed bun shape", ensuring that the orchid roots and orchid stems do not accumulate water.

In orchid propagation, dividing the pot should be done cautiously, and the relationship between the orchid seedling colony and the individual should be handled well. Orchids like to grow in clumps, often with "three generations under one roof" - grandfather, father, and grandchildren - relying on "collective strength" to overcome harsh environments and continue their offspring. I once was eager for quick success and wanted "rapid development", so I divided and transplanted the seedlings too frequently and too singly, and as a result the orchid seedlings were weak and died one after another. Practice tells us that to cultivate a good pot of orchids, it takes at least three to five years. During this period, do not turn out the pot and divide and replant, especially when the orchid seedlings are thriving and flourishing, even more so do not turn out the pot, so as to avoid damaging the fundamental structure, but depending on the situation, supplement the lost soil. Of course, when pests and diseases are severe, the pot must be turned out.

Management requires effort, and the relationship between management and timing should be handled well. Orchids suffer from water damage, fertilizer damage, pest damage, cold damage, and so on. "Three parts planting, seven parts management" - management work is very important. The experience of orchid management has both universality and particularity, and cannot be "uniform in all cases". Taking the Cymbidium goeringii as an example, its whole growth process can be roughly divided into the dry season from November to April of the following year, and the rainy season from May to October. The dry season is the dormancy and flowering period, and the rainy season is the period when the Cymbidium goeringii grows most vigorously. In the season when rain and heat come together, the growth of young seedlings, the sprouting of spring buds and autumn buds, and the formation of flower buds all occur during this period. This period is also the period when orchid pests and diseases are most likely to occur, and is therefore the most important critical period in orchid management. It goes without saying that orchids should be managed differently in these two periods, with different emphases. Watering should be on the drier side in the dry season, but guard against excessive dryness; in the rainy season it should be on the wetter side, but guard against excessive wetness.

Do not fertilize in winter; in the rainy season, apply thin fertilizer frequently. Winter temperatures are on the cold side, which is favorable for orchid dormancy, but guard against the cold being too severe and freezing the orchid seedlings and flower buds; summer is on the hot side, which is favorable for orchid growth and development, but guard against excessive heat injuring the seedlings. For pests and diseases, in winter focus on prevention, and in summer and autumn focus on treatment.

Orchid Bar, your good teacher on the road of growing orchids