Growing orchids in the scorching heat: these practices can easily give your orchids heatstroke, and it is not too late to learn now

After mid-July, Jixi in Anhui Province, where Haoshe Farmer lives, officially entered high-temperature mode. Weather forecasts in recent days show that the highest temperatures have already been above 35°C. Real summer has arrived, and every year between July 20 (Major Heat) and August 20 (End of Heat) is the hottest period, and also the hardest season for urban orchid growers.

Preventing heatstroke in midsummer is not only needed by people and animals, but by plants as well. Orchids in particular need protection from the heat. Can orchids get heatstroke? If the following few things are not paid attention to, orchids really can get heatstroke.

First, many orchid enthusiasts know that orchids need shade in summer, but their orchids are placed on urban balconies. Although the top is shaded, the concrete floor of the balcony is very hot, which causes the orchid pots to heat up. At this time, the temperature of the potting soil cannot be lowered, and the orchid roots will likewise get heatstroke.

Second, some orchid enthusiasts may ask: did not Haoshe Farmer previously make a video about a cymbidium that grew for several years on a mountain in a place without shade? Why must our orchids be shaded? That is right, there is such a cymbidium. But its growing environment is in the ground, not in a pot. No matter how high the temperature is for ground-grown plants, it will not scald the orchid roots (the same principle as why wild mountain orchids and potted orchids differ in their ability to resist cold in winter).

Third, in order to lower the temperature, and because the medium is a hard material, orchid enthusiasts think that watering more should be fine. With hard medium, watering more is indeed not much of a problem, but if ventilation is poor, the temperature of water under high heat is higher than that of the air. If it is exposed to the sun at this time, the medium in the pot can absolutely reach a temperature that harms the orchid roots.

Fourth, sudden cold and sudden heat. Some orchid enthusiasts feel sorry for their orchids and, when they come home at noon and see that the balcony is very hot, immediately move the orchids into an air-conditioned room. Orchids are like people: moving suddenly from a hot environment to a cold one makes them very prone to catching a cold.

When growing orchids in summer, it is still that old saying: ventilate, lower the temperature of the micro-environment as much as possible, and do not water under the sun.