Dad grows orchids, and with this kind of soil plus 1 ingredient, they sprout plenty of shoots and grow strong

Right now is orchid sprouting season, and many orchid growers have already reaped a full harvest, while quite a few are still waiting anxiously. As a not-so-seasoned orchid grower, Dad actually got 11 orchid shoots this year, and the neighbors were green with envy. What is the secret? It turns out Dad used this soil, plus 1 ingredient, and the orchids sprouted plenty of shoots and grew strong.

There is a river near my home, and Dad loves to take walks there because there are lots of willow trees, and whenever he has a moment he picks up a bag of willow bark and brings it home. Mom kept grumbling that ever since Dad started growing orchids, he is like a ragpicker, always bringing something home every time he goes out. Dad shot back, saying these are all good things he picked up, reusing waste and being thrifty, that is the trend! Fine, Dad, you win. After bringing it home, there was no pot big enough to boil it, so Dad soaked it in carbendazim for two days, then took it out and sun-dried it to sterilize and disinfect it.

Once that was done, Dad cut the willow bark into smaller pieces and laid them at the bottom of the pot. For the growing medium, he used pine needle soil dug from the mountain plus some potting soil, roughly a 1:1:0.5 ratio. Usually he puts the orchids under the wisteria trellis in the yard, and when he has time he drinks tea and admires the orchids, living quite a comfortable little life. Everyone knows willow bark contains salicylic acid, which promotes root growth in plants. Besides that, willow bark can also promote sprouting and make orchid plants grow vigorously, so using willow bark to grow orchids does have its benefits.

To make the orchids grow even better, Dad was very careful with fertilizer and water. He started busying himself 1 month before sprouting, using a special organic nutrient solution for orchids once every 7 days to promote leaf bud differentiation. This nutrient solution can be diluted and poured directly, which is quite convenient. Dad's persistence paid off well. The Shizhanghong he had grown for a year burst out with lots of new shoots this year. Dad counted them, 11 in total. That is quite a fierce burst of shoots. Dad kept fertilizing, and the shoots grew tall and strong, which made Dad secretly delighted!

After using this soil, the orchids grew quite steadily and had no problems, and with Dad paying attention to light but frequent fertilizing and water management, the orchids naturally grew vigorously and burst out with lots of shoots this year, so growing orchids still requires care. Actually, no matter what soil you use, what works best for you is most important. Some people like to use pine bark or oak bark, and that is no problem either, as long as it suits your own care rhythm.

I wonder how many orchid shoots everyone has this year?