Several practical methods for fertilizing orchids at home

In southern regions the climate is relatively warm, so fertilizing can begin right after the Spring Festival; in northern regions, because of the cold climate, it is best to wait until the third month of spring to early April. Gardeners with experience growing orchids use decomposed dry cow dung, mix in 10 times its volume of potting soil, and add a small amount of phosphate fertilizer, applying this base fertilizer together with the potting soil. Gardeners living in cities who have difficulty finding decomposed dry cow dung can instead add various water-fermented cake meal scraps to the potting soil, such as soybean cake, rapeseed cake, cottonseed cake, and hemp cake; cattle and sheep hoof and horn shavings can also be used as base fertilizer. Bury one of these organic fertilizers into the soil at the edge of the pot. Note that it should not come into direct contact with the roots, because fertilizer sticking to the roots will cause them to rot. During the growing season, liquid fertilizer can also be applied: ferment various cake meals with water, then dilute with 5-10 times its volume of clean water to make a fertilizer solution, and apply it about once every half month. The simplest method is to use a chemical fertilizer with a relatively complete nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium content, keeping the concentration at 0.025% to 0.1%, that is, about 1/3-1/4 of the amount used for ordinary herbaceous flowers is more suitable. In addition, when spraying pesticides you can also add a small amount of chemical fertilizer at the same time and apply it to the leaves, which also has a certain effect.

Orchids are most afraid of excessive fertilization; beginners can apply extremely dilute organic fertilizer, so as to avoid "carefully planting flowers that never bloom".