If you don't pay attention when caring for orchids, it's no wonder they grow into leeks

Orchids are one of China's top ten famous flowers and, together with plum, bamboo and chrysanthemum, are known as the "Four Gentlemen", so many people like to keep one or two orchids at home, but many fail to master the techniques and end up growing their orchids into "leeks". What exactly are the reasons? Today I'll analyse them for you.

1. Too much fertiliser

Everyone says orchids are hard to grow, but only those who have experienced it themselves know exactly how hard. Fertilising in particular: too little fertiliser and they don't grow; too much and the seedlings may burn. But there is another outcome: if there is plenty of fertiliser but the nutrition is not complete and the seedlings don't burn, the orchid will simply keep growing. Although the orchid keeps growing and stays lush and green, it will not bloom, so it becomes a "leek".

2. Too much water

The second reason is the water problem. When growing orchids, you need to water so that they are "moist but not wet", but achieving this still requires skill. Many orchid growers water very diligently, but without looking at the orchid's condition or the potting medium used. This kind of "diligent" watering makes orchids prone to root rot, or makes them prone to only growing bigger without blooming.

3. Too little sun

The third reason is the lighting problem. Although orchids are shade-loving plants, they do not have to be kept in a cool shady spot all the time. Some flower lovers overlook this point and only know to put them in a shady place, not knowing that orchids need to be "sunned" to produce flower buds. So the consequence of keeping them in the shade all the time is that they only grow leaf buds and no flower buds, and thus are grown into "leeks".

To solve the problem of orchids being grown into "leeks", you can start from the following aspects, and not only will the orchids grow well, they will also bloom.

1. Apply light fertiliser

Orchids are honoured with the title of "gentleman", so feeding them "big fish and big meat" will ruin them. Although orchids like rotting fertiliser, this kind of fertiliser should be relatively "light". So when fertilising orchids, apply light fertiliser and make sure the nutrition is fairly complete, covering flower-promoting elements such as phosphorus and potassium. You can apply an organic liquid fertiliser specially made for orchids, diluted 1000 times with water into a light fertiliser, which not only provides complete nutrition but also helps the orchid's root system grow.

2. Water less

If you don't want your orchid to be grown into a "leek", then you need to water less. An orchid with plenty of water has no sense of a survival crisis and will only grow desperately without blooming. So extending the interval between waterings and giving the orchid a proper sense of a survival crisis can promote the growth of flower buds. However, note that the principle of watering is also "water when dry, stop when wet". And in hot weather, avoid watering at midday; you can water appropriately in the early morning or evening.

3. "Full sun"

The "full sun" here is not really full sun, but appropriately increasing the orchid's time in contact with sunlight. Orchids are shade-loving plants, and different orchids have different degrees of shade preference. For orchids that are relatively tolerant of sun, you can appropriately increase their time in contact with sunlight (generally sun them before 9 in the morning, when the sunlight is relatively mild). For orchids that are not tolerant of sun, you can appropriately move them to a brighter place, ensuring the orchid gets enough "sun" to promote flower bud differentiation.

So when growing orchids, if you don't want them to be grown into "leeks", pay more attention to the above three points. If these three points are not done well and they are grown into "leeks", then it's no wonder at all.