Can't keep orchids alive? Many people go wrong with this potting medium

Whether orchids grow well or not, the potting medium plays a big role. If the potting medium is mixed correctly, growing orchids gives twice the result with half the effort; if there is a problem with the potting medium, orchids are very hard to keep alive, let alone grow well.

What potting medium should be used for orchids? On these points, Haoshe Nongfu has explained in previous articles and videos, and interested orchid growers can look them up. Today I am talking about a real case. A few days ago, an orchid grower talked with Haoshe Nongfu, and his orchids (10 pots) almost all died within roughly the same period of time. He described in detail the process from acquiring the plants to planting them, and factors such as watering, fertilizing, ventilation and disease were all ruled out.

So I had him repot the orchids to look at the potting medium, and what I saw was something I could hardly believe. Half of the contents of his orchid pots was charcoal, not plant ash but the kind of charcoal left after burning firewood. He said he added the charcoal to make the orchid pots drier, and the rest of the potting medium was humus soil. From the orchid roots, you could see that the roots near the pseudobulb base had grown quite well, while most of the root system had already rotted. Because this was also the first time Haoshe Nongfu had encountered such a situation, he did not dare to be certain whether the charcoal was the problem.

It just so happened that Haoshe Nongfu's neighbor also liked orchids. He was a rural mason and tiler, and after Nongfu told him about this matter, he laughed and said: Your friend is very naive, how can charcoal be used to grow orchids?

People who have lived in the countryside should know that when building a house in the countryside (whether a residence for the living or a tomb site), in order to prevent grass roots and tree roots from growing into the house, they bury a ring of charcoal around the foundation, and this is called a "charcoal trench." Once grass roots and tree roots reach the charcoal trench, they cannot go any farther, so you can see how much harm this kind of charcoal trench does to plant roots.

When Haoshe Nongfu previously explained orchid potting media, he also said that there are several principles for mixing orchid potting medium: loose and airy, non-toxic, with its own fertility, and full of life. A potting medium mixed with this kind of charcoal clearly has none of the above points, so Haoshe Nongfu thinks charcoal cannot be used in orchid potting medium, and even using it as a drainage layer at the bottom of the pot does more harm than good to orchids.

Finally, Haoshe Nongfu believes that while orchid potting medium follows the above principles, it can be applied flexibly and by analogy according to what is available. For example, some orchid growers do not have pine bark, so they use willow bark, coconut husk and so on instead, and the results are also quite good.

You are welcome to join the discussion on orchid growing in the comments section and leave your valuable opinions