How to raise scorpions and lotus flowers

Scorpion lotus, also known as crab claw lotus, crab claw orchid, its flowers are very beautiful, flowering for a long time, flowering from October to February of the following year, for ornamental plants. So, how to raise the scorpion lotus?

1. Soil

The basin soil should be loose, fertile and permeable slightly acidic soil, and the basin bottom should be covered with a layer of fine sand to facilitate water seepage.

2. Temperature

The suitable temperature for the growth of crab claw orchid is about 20-25 ℃, and it goes into semi-dormancy state when it exceeds 30 ℃. In winter, the room temperature was kept at about 15 ℃, lower than 10 ℃, and the sudden change of temperature and excessive temperature difference led to the drop of flowers and buds, and the best temperature during flowering was 10-15 ℃, which was moved to the place of scattered light to prolong the viewing period.

3. Lighting

Scorpion lotus is a short-day plant. Under the condition of 8-10 hours of sunshine every day, it can blossom in 2-3 months, and the flowering period can be adjusted by controlling the light.

4. Moisture

Follow the principle of "no dry, no watering, watering thoroughly", less watering, avoid being caught in the rain, so as to avoid rotting roots, and spray water to the ground near the plant to increase air humidity and reduce temperature.

5. Change the basin

Crab claw orchid generally change the pot every other year from March to April, combined with the weak and dense branches, and cut them moderately short, in order to sprout tender and strong new branches and bloom.

6. Pruning

After the flowers fade in spring, cut short from the 3-4 stem nodes under the residual flowers in time, and at the same time remove some old stems and overdense stem nodes to facilitate ventilation and home maintenance; in the cultivation of crab claw orchid, sometimes 4-5 new branches grow from the top of a node, 1-2 should be deleted in time. If there are too many weak buds on the stem nodes, you should also pick some of them, which can make the flowers of the same size and bloom vigorously. For the plants cultivated for 3-5 years, 3-4 thick lead wires can be used as pillars, which can be inserted into the soil along the basin wall, and the upper part will be tied into 2-3 layers of circular brackets, so as to avoid the superposition and disorderly of stem nodes, and at the same time, some uneven stem nodes can be deleted to make the plants umbrella-shaped, which can be beneficial to photosynthesis and display.

Because the stem of the scorpion lotus is too long, it is overhanging, so it is often made into a hanging orchid for decoration. Flowering coincides with Christmas and New year's Day, plant type hanging, suitable for windowsill, entrance and exhibition hall decoration.