Post-flowering management of butterfly orchids

If you want Phalaenopsis to return to flower in the second year, then the post-flowering management of Phalaenopsis is very important, which has a direct impact on safe summer and flowering in the following year. After years of practice, the author has summed up a set of post-anthesis maintenance methods, which are introduced as follows:

1. Go to the flower garden:

After all the flowers of Phalaenopsis have withered, the flowers should be cut off from the base in time to reduce nutrient consumption. Some people keep the flowers and let them blossom for the second time, which is very undesirable. Because the probability of secondary flowering is not high, even if there are flowers, the quality is not good, the flowers are small and few, and the second flowering of Phalaenopsis is poor in quality and even does not blossom the following year, so the flowers should be cut off in time.

two。 Heat preservation:

Soon after the failure of Phalaenopsis, the heating will be turned off in the northern region, and tropical flowers are very sensitive to low temperature, so they should be treated with heat preservation. Cover the flower pot with plastic film, control the water and stop fertilizer, put the flowerpot covered with the film on the indoor sunny place, through the light to increase the temperature of the small environment.

3. Change the basin early:

Change the pot in time after the butterfly orchid, no later than mid-April at the latest. When changing the basin, knock the plant out of the basin, cut off the necrotic roots, and remove the rotten matrix, but be careful not to hurt the roots. At the bottom of the basin, the drainage layer should be made of broken pieces or ceramsite, and the culture soil should be prepared with coarse river sand, rotten leaf soil and vermiculite at the ratio of 1 ∶ 1 ∶ 1, and mixed with 15 to 25 grams of matured fermented sesame sauce residue and 10 grams of sulfur powder. Mixing sulfur powder can sterilize the soil on the one hand and reduce the pH value on the other hand. When changing the basin, we must pay attention to the pressing force of the basin soil should not be too large, in case the root system is broken and damaged.

4. Water skillfully:

Watering is very important in the maintenance of Phalaenopsis. Before the May Day, the potted soil should be kept moist and watered once a week. If it is too dry, the plant will die because of water loss. If it is too wet, it is easy to rot its roots. After May Day, it can be watered every four or five days, and the leaves can also be sprayed when the temperature is high at noon. The water in the north is alkaline, and long-term irrigation is easy to cause basin soil alkalization, so some ferrous sulfate should be properly irrigated every other week or so.

5. Enough light:

It is very necessary to give sufficient light in the post-maintenance of butterfly orchids. It can be placed in a place with sufficient light before the middle of May, and because the temperature is getting higher and the ultraviolet radiation is stronger after the middle of May, the direct light at noon should be avoided, and semi-shade should be carried out in summer.

6. Prevention of diseases and pests:

Spring is the season of frequent occurrence of diseases and insect pests in Phalaenopsis. Common diseases and insect pests are leaf spot disease, leaf soft rot, shell insects and aphids. If they occur, in addition to strengthening water and fertilizer management and good ventilation, leaf spot disease can be controlled with broad-spectrum fungicides such as chlorothalonil, soft rot should be treated differently, bacterial soft rot can be controlled with 72% agricultural streptomycin 1000 times solution, fungal soft rot can be controlled with chlorothalonil, carbendazim, methyl thiophanate and so on. For scale insects and aphids, they can be killed manually when the number is small, and 1000 times of omethoate EC can be used to control when the number is large.