How to care for orchids in summer? Master these 3 tricks and they will no longer die

Promoting Chinese orchid culture and spreading orchid knowledge

Experienced orchid growers know that in hot and humid summers, orchids are prone to blackening and yellowing at the base of the leaves, after which the orchid gradually rots and loses its vitality. This phenomenon is generally caused by soft rot and stem rot in orchids. These two diseases are the most common orchid diseases in summer, and their destructive power is enormous. The infection speed is extremely fast, and the disease cycle is extremely short. In about 1 week, an incredibly healthy orchid can be killed. If these 2 diseases appear and are not controlled in time, the final result will definitely be looking at the pot and sighing. As for how to deal with orchid diseases, today I will teach you 3 tricks. Learning these 3 tricks can bring you more success and fewer failures on your orchid-growing journey!

Trick 1: Identify orchid diseases

First judge by position. Yellowing from the top down is generally not a big problem, but yellowing from the bottom up is a serious problem and must not be taken lightly. The common ones are stem rot and soft rot. These 2 diseases are the most severe and occur most frequently in summer. Today I will pick these 2 to explain to everyone!

First, let us understand the disease cycles of these 2 diseases and see how severe they are

Soft rot: the orchid plant becomes infected and dies within a week,

Stem rot: one month or even as long as half a year,

Impressive, right? Especially soft rot. Before you even react, the orchid is dead!

Next, let us understand the characteristics of these 2 diseases

Soft rot: generally starts from new shoots. Water-soaked lesions first appear at the base of the leaves or the upper part of the roots. They are pale grayish-yellow, and the plant tissue becomes sticky, wet-rotted, and mud-like, with a foul odor. The lesions spread upward, downward, left, and right, causing the stem base, roots, and leaf stalks to rot.

Because the tissue at the stem base becomes brittle after being damaged, orchid leaves fall off very easily; with a gentle pull they come off. In the late stage of the disease, the affected plant collapses on its own. Treatment method: use antibacterial agents for control, such as copper hydroxide, copper oxychloride, copper succinate glue copper and other copper-based preparations. The usage instructions are all on the packaging bag.

Stem rot: the initial symptom is that the base of the leaves turns brown, the leaves lose green color and droop slightly. After the diseased area rapidly develops upward, the whole plant withers and dies, with leaves hanging down but not falling off. The cortex of the diseased stem shrinks, and the epidermal tissue rots and becomes spongy. After the disease spreads to the roots, the root cortex rots. In the late stage of the disease, some leaf stalks still have toughness but have already lost water and shrunk, while some leaf stalks turn yellow, are extremely brittle, and break easily. Treatment method: use antifungal agents for control, such as carbendazim, chlorothalonil, potassium permanganate, thiophanate-methyl, etc. The usage instructions are all on the packaging bag.

Trick 2: Strengthen ventilation for orchids

We know that most harmful bacteria threatening orchid life are anaerobic bacteria. An unventilated environment reduces the oxygen content in the air, providing favorable conditions for anaerobic bacteria to reproduce, while an environment with no air movement also allows large numbers of fungal spores to reproduce in one place. When they reach a certain harmful quantity, orchids are prone to disease. Therefore, ventilation for orchids should be strengthened. In summer, orchids should be placed in a well-ventilated place, but do not ventilate excessively, as leaves rubbing against each other can damage the leaves. If placed indoors, open the windows, and you can also use fans and other equipment to strengthen ventilation. Only when ventilation is done well can the beneficial bacteria in the flowerpot that are good for orchid growth reproduce quickly. Beneficial bacteria are also called "aerobic bacteria." Beneficial bacteria and anaerobic bacteria are in a process of one growing while the other declines, and ventilation is an important means of optimizing this!

There is also a rather blunt method, which is to optimize through medication. In summer, use a fungicidal agent once every 7-15 days. Generally, antifungal agents are used, such as carbendazim, chlorothalonil, potassium permanganate, thiophanate-methyl, etc. Some people will ask, does this not kill both beneficial bacteria and anaerobic bacteria? There is no way around it. Doing this is safe, which is why you are told to strengthen ventilation for orchids. Also, definitely do not fertilize in summer. If you do, you will definitely regret it!

Trick 3: Do not water too much

There is a very interesting phenomenon in orchid cultivation: "Beginners tend to drown them, veterans tend to drought them." Most beginners do not understand the principle that water accumulation in orchids easily causes root rot. If they understood, they would not use non-breathable soil for planting or keep watering all the time. There is also a saying: "Dry cultivation leads to fewer diseases, wet cultivation leads to more diseases." I am not teaching everyone to grow them this way, but for beginners, doing so is relatively safer, so orchids will not frequently develop diseases or die. Veterans can solve problems such as potting medium and ventilation, and can use heavy watering, which gives a high germination rate and fast seedling growth. Beginners should not imitate this, because their overall ability is not at the same level after all. Beginners should first keep them alive and then seek to grow them well. Lean toward dry management. First, it can increase the opportunity for sunlight sterilization in the potting medium environment; second, it reduces the possibility of pathogens spreading in a soaked potting medium environment. Use a potting medium with fingernail-sized granular particles, good air permeability, and fast drainage. Avoid potting media that easily compact and retain water. In particular, do not use soil to grow them, as problems easily arise. I recommend using fingernail-sized stones and Songliwang potting medium mixed 1:1. This formula drains quickly and also retains moisture. It also does not require fertilization, is safe and reliable, and is suitable for beginners. When the surface of the potting medium is dry about 2cm down, you can water. Do not water or spray the leaves during the day in summer. Put watering at night to teach!

Only when orchids are difficult to grow do you truly understand orchids. When encountering diseases, do not be afraid. Learn more, summarize more, proceed step by step, and continuously improve yourself. Different regions have different strategies, and different environments require different methods. Do not copy mechanically; apply them flexibly. Once you understand the principles involved, things will naturally fall into place. Mastering the above 3 tricks can let orchids safely pass through summer. Thanks for reading! Author: Mei Fei, founder of the Orchid Bar forum, secretary of the Orchid Association of Jingshan City, Hubei Province, and an internet celebrity in the orchid industry on major self-media platforms!

Orchid Bar, a good teacher on your orchid-growing journey