Orchid Growing Tips: What Kind of Soil Is Best for Growing Orchids?

Those who have grown flowers should know that growing flowers has relatively high requirements for soil. Only a good soil medium can produce beautiful flowers. If the soil is poor, at best the flowers will not grow well, and at worst the flowers will be killed outright. The same principle applies to growing orchids. Below are several soil media for growing orchids to make sure your orchids bloom like crazy.

1. Mountain soil

Mountain soil from under broadleaf forests or mixed pine forests is the best. It is formed by years of rotted branches and fallen leaves, and has the characteristics of loose texture, good aeration, drainage and water retention, and is rich in humus and minerals accumulated over many years. However, before use, mountain soil needs to be sun-dried for one or two days, then sieved and graded for later use.

2. Pond mud

Pond mud generally contains 0.% nitrogen, 0.16% phosphorus and 1% potassium. The best is hard in texture and dark green-black in color, with good water absorption, drainage, moisture retention and aeration. It does not easily dissolve after long soaking in water, and is most beneficial to orchid growth. Before use, it also needs to be sun-dried for 3-5 days to remove harmful substances in the mud, then divided into large, medium and small portions for later use.

3. Peat soil

Peat soil is mostly dark brown, with the characteristics of loose texture, slight acidity and high organic matter content. It generally contains 1.4%-2.5% nitrogen, 0.4% phosphorus and 0.9% potassium. It is a very good slow-release fertilizer, and its nutrients can slowly decompose for orchids to absorb. However, note that it tends to be on the acidic side, so it needs to be used in combination with other growing media.

In addition, sawdust, spent edible mushroom substrate, coconut shell and the like can also be chopped, sun-dried and mixed with other media to grow orchids. Some flower lovers with relatively rich experience in growing orchids often mix organic fertilizers (peanut bran, soybean bran, rapeseed bran and dried cow dung, etc.) evenly with various growing media, sprinkle on an appropriate amount of water, and seal them in a plastic bucket to compost for 2-3 months before use.

Also, for media that are relatively sticky and heavy, such as mountain soil, leaf mold and burnt soil, we had best mix in ten percent fine sand or twenty to thirty percent sawdust and stir evenly before use. If other growing media are strongly acidic, flower lovers can add 5%-10% rice husk ash, mix well, and then use.

Orchid Growing Tips, 5 Orchid Growing Tips and Methods

For orchids to bloom abundantly, with true flower color and good flower quality, you need to master some small tips for growing orchids. Growing orchids cannot be bound by convention. If many growing tips can be put to good use, growing orchids will yield twice the result with half the effort. Take a look at the following 5 orchid growing tips.

1. When the orchid is close to its flowering period, repot it and let the orchid roots dry slightly, which is beneficial to flower bud differentiation.

2. The growth points of old pseudobulbs can be fully utilized not only on the pseudobulbs themselves, but also within the leaf sheaths. As long as you observe carefully, you will find that growth points are still hidden at the junction of the leaf sheath and the pseudobulb. You only need to remove the leaf, or cut the leaf sheath halfway open with a blade, then carefully pry it open with tweezers, and tend it carefully; it will soon sprout.

3. Old pseudobulbs of the third and fourth generations have intact roots and leaves, but are not easy to sprout. You can cut off 1/2 or 1/3 of the leaves to reduce nutrient consumption and provide more nutrients to the growth points, then plant them in sphagnum moss or coarse river sand; in this way they sprout quickly and the sprouts are large.

4. Usually when fertilizing orchids, from small sprouts to mature plants, the fertilizer composition is strengthened in the order of nitrogen first, then potassium, and phosphorus last.

5. Soak thumb-sized pieces of charcoal in water first, then place one piece at the bottom of the pot before planting the orchid. This is beneficial to root elongation, and the roots will be snow-white and thick.

How to Make Orchids Sprout, Orchid Growing Tips

Orchid Growing Tips: How can orchids be made to sprout more? There are very many points to note when growing orchids. In order to help everyone do a better job in growing orchids, let us now gain a detailed understanding of some common knowledge about orchid growing.

Under normal circumstances, orchids begin to sprout spring buds at the end of March each year, and may also sprout new buds again from October to December, which are autumn buds. The more sprouts, the more robust and beautiful the orchid. Through the orchid growing tips mentioned below, the orchid sprouting rate can be effectively increased.

We all know that new orchid plants grow from the pseudobulbs of the orchid. Theoretically, each mature plant can produce at least about six orchid seedlings, but under normal circumstances it only produces one seedling, sometimes two shoots, and a few produce three seedlings, while the remaining bud points remain dormant. We should try not to let dormant buds sleep, and find ways to awaken them, so as to achieve the goal of more sprouts.

Those orchids that have no roots or very poor roots are mostly old plants that have taken nutrients away from the new plants. The "apical dominance" of orchids inhibits the sprouting of other dormant buds. Moderate division can induce orchid plants to produce seedlings. From past practice, moderate division is also completely necessary. Only timely division can promote orchids to sprout and produce more seedlings. This is already an indisputable fact.

Twisting the connection between pseudobulbs to promote more sprouts is a traditional experience accumulated by predecessors in China's orchid circles. It is correct in theory and also successful in practice.

Specific method: in spring from March to April, take out the orchid plant, hold the middle-upper parts of two pseudobulbs with both hands (do not pinch and injure the bud points) and twist them in opposite directions by 90-180 degrees respectively. A "bi pa" sound is enough. Note that the connecting stem must not be completely twisted off; it should be left in a semi-separated state. Apply thiophanate-methyl powder to the twisted part to prevent bacterial infection, then plant the orchid plant into the pot. Before long, the grandparent, parent and child pseudobulbs in the semi-separated state can each send out new sprouts, and some can even send out double shoots. The sprouts produced by this method are also relatively robust.

The so-called hormones are plant growth regulators that can promote cell division and activate dormant buds. Their use can make both new seedlings and old plants produce more new sprouts. When the new sprouts have not yet matured, they can successively send out new sprouts again. In this way, producing two to three generations, or even four generations, of seedlings in one year is entirely possible. Science has finally made the dream come true.

Orchid flower buds generally form on the parent plant. Flower buds produced by upper buds consume a large amount of nutrients and easily inhibit the sprouting of other bud points. Therefore, removing flower buds at the right time can make orchids grow better.

The so-called old pseudobulbs are old corms with roots but no leaves, leaves but no roots, or neither roots nor leaves. These corms are mostly peeled off when repotting and were originally things that should be thrown away, but old pseudobulbs of relatively precious orchids may as well be used to make the dormant buds still remaining on the old pseudobulbs sprout again, so as to cultivate new orchid plants. This is also a method of increasing the orchid sprouting rate. However, the orchid plants obtained by this method are ultimately small seedlings and weak plants, suitable only for propagation of precious orchids for seed preservation. For ordinary orchids, there is no need to go to such great lengths.

In a year, orchids have two growth peaks, in spring and autumn, and also two dormant periods. When the temperature in midsummer is higher than 30oC, they stop growing, and when the temperature in winter is lower than 15oC, they also stop growing and enter dormancy. Accordingly, we can use the method of strengthening management and improving the environment to appropriately extend the orchid growing period and achieve the goal of more sprouts.

Orchid Growing Tips: How can orchids be made to sprout more? The above are several methods for growing orchids, and we hope they can be of help to everyone. In addition, strengthening the daily management of orchids is also the key to increasing the orchid sprouting rate. Doing a good job in daily care according to the growth habits of orchids is the most basic and also the most important thing.