Orchid wrapped in a plastic bag sprouts 8 buds overnight, even veteran growers are impressed

Autumn is a great season for orchid growth. Orchids have a treasure called the old pseudobulb. Don't underestimate this thing - wrap it up and it can sprout tender shoots. Raise it well and you'll have a new pot of orchids, saving quite a bit on buying flowers. Let's see how Huahua does it below!

Wrap the pseudobulb up and new shoots emerge in half a month

1. When repotting, gently peel off the orchid's old pseudobulbs (they must be fresh, plump and disease-free), soak them in potassium permanganate solution for half an hour to disinfect, then let them dry.

2. Prepare clean sphagnum moss. If you don't have sphagnum moss, clean moss free of pests and diseases will also work.

3. Wrap the old pseudobulbs with the sphagnum moss, moisten it, then seal them in a transparent bag and keep it in a warm, sunny spot for a period of time. Be careful not to make it too wet, or the old pseudobulbs will easily rot.

4. Open the bag every few days to let in some air. After more than half a month the pseudobulbs begin to sprout. Once they sprout, poke a few holes in the bag for ventilation and drainage.

5. After the new shoots from the old pseudobulbs open their leaf mouths and grow new roots, they need to be transplanted. First line the bottom of the pot with coarse potting medium, then plant the young seedlings in a mix of fine-grained mountain soil and small clay pellets. Bury the pseudobulbs 1~2cm deep in the medium.

Notes

1. Shrivelled and blackened pseudobulbs cannot be used. Such old pseudobulbs have no regenerative ability left, and no matter how long you wrap them, no shoots will come out. Just throw them away.

2. Don't be impatient and don't keep digging open the potting medium, as it easily damages the new shoots.

3. Never fertilize during the bud-wrapping process, otherwise both the pseudobulbs and the new shoots will rot.

What to do if orchids don't bloom in autumn?

1. Insufficient phosphorus and potassium fertilizer prevents blooming

Some orchids grow very well but simply never bloom. That is very likely because there is plenty of nitrogen fertilizer but not enough phosphorus and potassium fertilizer, causing them to grow only leaves and no flowers.

Solution: Spray some monopotassium phosphate on the leaves, once every 10 days. After 2~3 times in a row you will see results. (Note: do this in the early morning or at dusk)

2. Dividing the pot too early prevents blooming

Don't divide orchids for no reason. Even Chinese cymbidiums need a fairly large clump to bloom, let alone other varieties. With three to five seedlings per pot, it will be hard for them to bloom even after years of growing.

Solution: Generally a pot needs 30~40 seedlings to bloom well. Unless they really can't grow any further, don't divide the pot.

3. Too small a temperature difference prevents blooming

Orchids in their natural habitat generally grow on rocks or in deep valleys, where the temperature difference between day and night is very large, which is what allows them to send up flower spikes. Grown indoors with too small a temperature difference, they will not bloom.

Solution: After autumn begins, as the temperature difference between day and night increases, move the orchids outdoors for ventilation and care. Don't keep them stuffy indoors all the time.

What to do if orchid leaves turn yellow?

Yellowing orchid leaves are very common, mainly caused by the following reasons.

1. Water-induced yellowing

If the tender leaves are dull and lustreless and the new shoots shrivel, it means you have watered too much.

Orchids like moisture but dislike stuffy, airless conditions. Just regularly spray water or mist around the leaf surfaces. Water by the principle of "dry then wet", but there must be no standing water. After each watering, open the window for ventilation.

2. Fertilizer-induced yellowing

When too much fertilizer is applied, the old leaves turn yellow and drop off, and although the new leaves are thick and glossy, they are uneven and don't spread out flat.

Orchids are not plants that love heavy fertilizer. During the flower bud differentiation period, spraying monopotassium phosphate solution twice a month is enough. At other times, don't apply too much fertilizer.

3. Light too strong

When grown outdoors, if the light is too strong, the leaves will turn yellow with dry tips, and the new shoots will be very small.

The summer heat has not completely faded yet, so be careful to shade them at noon~

4. Soil stuffy and airless

If the soil is too sticky and heavy, stuffy and airless, the orchid leaves will turn yellow.

Check whether the roots are rotting. Cut off the rotten parts, disinfect and dry them, then repot with fresh soil. When growing orchids in plastic pots, the potting medium must not be too fine, to prevent root suffocation.

Fellow flower lovers, have you all learned it?

Don't keep your orchid-growing tips to yourself,

Remember to share them with your friends~