How to care for orchids in summer? A full analysis of the key maintenance and management points

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We can now say summer has arrived, and there is a lot online about the key points of orchid summer maintenance and management. This article is a flower lover's experience in growing orchids in summer, summarized from their own orchid-growing experience, covering ventilation, shading, watering and more. For beginner flower lovers, it is a very good reference.

Getting orchids through the summer is a great test of an orchid grower's skill, because in the hot, humid summer, if management is poor, the orchid plants are prone to disease. In mild cases, the orchid plants grow poorly; in serious cases, it causes plant collapse. Therefore, when growing orchids in summer, I personally think the following points need attention:

1. Strengthen ventilation: In the hot summer, the only way to lower the temperature of the orchid house environment is to strengthen ventilation. Of course, if you have air conditioning equipment, you can use it to cool things down, but ventilation is still indispensable; otherwise, a long-term enclosed space will instead make the orchid plants more prone to disease. Also, after watering the orchid plants well, strengthening ventilation will quickly dry the moisture on the leaf surfaces, especially the moisture in the center leaves of new shoots, soft rot. I have always believed that what many veteran orchid growers say - that ventilation is the first priority - is not just idle talk, but a wise saying accumulated from their long-term orchid growing.

2. Shade the sunlight appropriately: In fact, many orchid growers in orchid-producing areas can notice this. In summer, where orchid plants grow, the trees above the orchids are already densely covered with leaves, and when people walk in, it is incomparably cool. It is clear that the leaves not only block sunlight, but also absorb a lot of heat. Therefore, for us orchid growers, simulating a natural shading method for orchid plants is a task that must be done. Because the shade nets we use now are black; although they can block sunlight, since they are black they absorb even more heat, and under sunlight the area near the shade net has a higher temperature. Therefore, when I shade orchid plants in summer, I use several layers of shade net with a certain distance between them, so as to achieve the purpose of shading and cooling.

3. Be mindful and careful with watering: For watering orchid plants, I follow the principle of not watering if not dry, and watering thoroughly if I do water. And after watering well, strengthen ventilation to dry the moisture in the center leaves of new plants as quickly as possible. When watering, try to avoid the hottest times. Generally, early morning before the sun comes out or after ten o'clock at night is best.

4. Fertilize cautiously and avoid repotting: Fertilizing and repotting in summer, I personally think, are major taboos in orchid growing. Because summer temperatures are relatively high, orchid roots are in a semi-dormant state. If you fertilize, the orchid roots will not absorb it and convert it into nutrients. It easily causes fertilizer damage and root burn, so fertilizing at this time is counterproductive. As for repotting, after the orchid plant is repotted, the previous small environment has been destroyed, and to let the orchid roots adapt to the new environment, that is, to settle in, takes half a month to a month or even longer, and it is easy for stagnant buds and plant collapse to occur.

5. Observe more and pay close attention: As soon as any sign of disease is found, deal with it immediately; in this way, losses can be reduced to the lowest degree.

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