Potted Orchid Care Methods for a Beautiful, Elegant Plant Shape

Orchids are a rather difficult plant to grow. If you want them to bloom, they have very high requirements for soil, watering, fertilizing, temperature, and light. So how do you grow potted orchids? Please see the details below.

1. Choosing the Soil

The soil for orchids should be mainly humus soil; you can use leaf mold or mountain forest humus soil. The humus soil from the orchids' place of origin is also called orchid mud. You can buy it directly at a flower market, or you can mix your own. Generally, mix leaf mold, compost soil, and river sand in a 6:3:1 ratio. The resulting soil is slightly acidic.

2. Watering

Different orchid varieties have slightly different watering needs, and you also need to determine this specifically according to your local environment and climate. Watering orchids needs to achieve moist but not soggy, dry but not parched; you cannot water too much or too little. In winter, when temperatures are relatively low, most orchids are in a dormant state, so the amount of water should be relatively small. In summer, the high temperatures are also the period of vigorous orchid growth, so water an average of 1 to 2 times per day. Be careful that water does not get on the leaves, to avoid black spots appearing on them. In summer, you also need to sprinkle water around the flower pot to increase growth and development. The water used to irrigate orchids is best rainwater or snow water; tap water should be left to sit for 2 to 3 days before use.

3. Temperature

The most suitable temperature for orchid growth is 16 to 24 degrees. In winter, keep the air circulating and maintain the temperature at around 10 degrees; in summer, the temperature cannot exceed 30 degrees. If the temperature is too low, orchids will freeze to death, and if the summer temperature is too high, they will be scorched. If the temperature is unsuitable, orchids will very easily die.

4. Light

Orchids are relatively shade-loving and afraid of direct sunlight, so in the three seasons of spring, summer, and autumn, orchids must be shaded. For home potted orchids, you need to control the light and place them on a balcony, windowsill, or under the eaves with a bamboo curtain. Orchids need to be shaded from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and in the early morning and evening they should receive scattered sunlight. In winter, place the orchids indoors in a spot where they can receive scattered light, avoiding direct sunlight.

5. Fertilizing

There are mainly two ways to fertilize orchids: one is to apply base fertilizer in the growing medium, and the other is to apply topdressing during the growth period. Topdressing mainly uses liquid fertilizer and foliar fertilizer, and the concentration should be a bit lighter than for other flowers. The growing medium also needs to be replaced once a year. During the orchid's growing season, you need to apply fully decomposed, thin cake fertilizer water at about 15%, or 0.1% urea fertilizer water plus 0.2% potassium dihydrogen phosphate fertilizer water, once every 15 to 20 days. Before flowering, spray the leaves 2 to 3 times with 0.2% potassium dihydrogen phosphate or plant ash water. Orchids cannot be given undecomposed fertilizer, otherwise root rot will occur.

Orchids are a very delicate flower, and caring for them in daily life takes a great deal of thought. If you are a beginner, when growing orchids you should communicate and learn more, so that you can grow beautiful and elegant orchids.