Cultivation and management of lotus flower orchid

1. The lotus petal orchid is traditionally cultivated in western Yunnan, usually using a black waist drum-shaped tile basin. The height of the pelvis is 35-45cm, the diameter of the waist is 30-35cm, and the mouth of the pelvis is slightly smaller. This kind of basin has thin ground and good water permeability and air permeability. The lotus petal orchid plant is tall, the root system is particularly developed and sturdy, the root length of the plant with good growth can reach 35-40cm, and dozens of roots can grow all over the basin. Jianchuan, Yunnan Province is the main producing area of this kind of basin, and it is also one of the original and traditional cultivation areas of Cymbidium. The production of this special orchid basin was specially made by the orchid ancestors to meet the growth and development of the lotus petal orchid.

In order to meet the needs of large-scale cultivation, high barrel-shaped plastic orchid pots are the most widely used at present. This kind of basin has the characteristics of low price, light and convenient, not easy to be damaged, ventilated and breathable, suitable for intensive production and so on.

2. The use of soil is the preparation of cultivation substrate. The forest vegetation of lotus petal orchid origin is better, and the litter layer dominated by oaks under the forest is thicker. People in producing areas are used to using oak leaves to prepare the soil for the cultivation of lotus petal orchid. There are many species of oak, and at present, it is customary to use smaller leaves and thicker Quercus variabilis leaves. Because of its thick and hard texture, this kind of oak leaves are not easy to decompose quickly after pot cultivation, and can maintain good aeration and water permeability. After the leaves are picked and exposed to the sun for several days, they are retted with pots, jars and other water before use. In order to achieve the effect of disinfection and sterilization, retting leaves are often steamed in a boiler or retort for dozens of hours. Boiled oak leaves can be set aside after drying. In addition to spiny oak leaves, oak bark is often mixed with oak bark and processed into small pieces of 1-2cm square, and the fibers of serpent-tree fern stems are cut into small pieces of 3-5cm, which are cooked the same way and set aside. Some also add fire to burn red clay, blue stone and so on. The proportion is usually 70% Mel 80% for oak leaves, 5% Mel 10% for oak bark and snake wood, and 10% Mel 15% for burning red soil and blue stone. After strict disinfection, the cultivation substrate prepared in this way can avoid the infection of bacteria, and its particles are thicker, ventilated and ventilated, which can ensure the growth and development of the stout root system of lotus petal orchid. Quercus variabilis leaves continue to have sufficient nutrients to meet the needs of orchid development in the process of ripening. After a year of cultivation, the leaves of Quercus variabilis have been basically decomposed, and the particles become small, so it is necessary to turn the basin to change the soil and replace the new cultivation substrate.

3. Changing the clump into a single plant, as the old saying goes, "Lanxi grows in clusters". In the practice of modern orchid cultivation, orchid farmers in lotus petal orchid producing areas often divide the superior varieties with high value into individual plants. The main purpose of this is to improve the seedling rate of the orchid plant in order to obtain the maximum economic benefit. The reason that Lanxi grows in clusters is right. Clumps of orchid plants can better adapt to the external environment, facilitate daily management and ensure flowering. However, the large clump of orchid plants suppressed the chance of dormant buds (or dormant buds) to germinate new seedlings on the pseudobulbs of orchid plants. One or two latent buds may be born on the "leaf scars" of each mature orchid plant, and these latent buds may be activated and germinated into new plants under suitable environmental conditions. Divided into individual plants, as long as the management measures are proper, the strong seedlings planted by a single plant can germinate 1-2 generations of new seedlings in the same year. In this way, within a year, an orchid seedling can produce as many as 5-9 seedlings, and as little as 3-5 seedlings is also a common phenomenon.

In addition, the normal life of an orchid plant is about 3-5 years, and then it will gradually age, and the outer leaves will gradually yellowing, withering, falling off until death. There is a closely connected horizontal axis between the aging pseudobulbs in the clumps of orchid plants, and the leaves of the aged seedlings can still carry out photosynthesis, and the accumulated nutrients are transported downward through this underground horizontal axis to new seedlings and buds for their growth and development. this is the reason why the "leading direction" of the orchid cluster is easy to produce new seedlings. If we break off the aging seedlings in time and plant them separately, then the nutrients accumulated by photosynthesis of this aging plant will be enough to activate the germination of latent buds on the pseudobulbs of the old plants and grow into new plants. this is the valuable experience accumulated by the majority of Orchid families.

4. Water and fertilizer management traditional orchid cultivation requires higher air humidity, while the basin soil should be kept dry and moist, that is, the so-called "dry orchid and wet chrysanthemum", in order to maintain ventilation and ventilation in the basin. It is required that the water should be thoroughly watered once and after it is dry. The interval between the two watering is longer, usually once a week in the rainy season and once a week in the dry season. Fertilization is usually less, and the nutrients released by leaves during ripening can already meet the needs of orchids.

This year, Lanyou, the main producing area of lotus petal orchid, summed up some completely different practices for water and fertilizer management in the cultivation practice. For example, Dali Lanyou Mr. Jiang Li summed up the "method of cultivating orchids with heavy water": the so-called heavy water, on the one hand, requires a large amount of water each time, and should be watered thoroughly; on the other hand, it means that it should be watered more times. In order to cultivate orchids with heavy water, we should master the four links of "small basin, coarse soil, heavy water and sunshine", that is, "looking at the root to select the basin, seeing the basin to match the soil, heavy water management, and moderate lighting". The four links are interdependent, conditional and inseparable. First of all, "looking at the root to select the basin" is to determine the size of the basin according to the length and development of the plant and root system. The basin should be slender, the diameter of the basin should be small, and it is appropriate for the root system to be placed naturally in the basin. "look at the basin to match the soil" is the preparation of plant materials based on the principle of "water and air permeability", usually using coarse oak leaves and hard particles. The size of the plant material should be determined by the size of the basin, with coarse material for large basin and fine material for small basin. "heavy water management" is unlimited amount and frequency of watering. Because of the use of coarse plant materials and small pots, then no matter how much watering will not accumulate in the basin to cause rotten roots. The advantage of pouring water is that the flow drives the airflow in the basin, renews the air in the basin and promotes the symbiosis of roots and bacteria. At the beginning of the orchid plant pot, the plant material fermented rapidly in the presence of water, which will produce high heat and a lot of waste gas, which will harm the orchid root, and heavy water can reduce the heat and wash away the waste gas. The practice of "heavy water management" is that the water can be watered 1-3 times a day in spring and summer, and the cold weather can be reduced to 3-5 days in autumn and winter. At the same time, master the principle of more watering in hot days, less watering in cold days, more watering in sunny days, less watering in cloudy days, more watering of new soil, less watering of old soil, mostly watering of evaporation and less watering of evaporation. "moderate light" should grasp the principle of "strong light does not shine, weak light does not avoid". For sturdy plants, flower bud germination in winter and spring can appropriately increase light. On the contrary, thin plants and hot summer can appropriately reduce the light.

In Heqing County, the hometown of famous orchids in western Yunnan, orchids use sheep dung as base fertilizer when they pot orchids. Orchids that have applied sheep dung only need to be watered without any fertilizer during the one-year cultivation cycle. A year later, the basin was turned over to change the soil, and the old basin was poured out. Sheep dung in the soil was completely mature, but the sheep dung particles were still there and did not decompose. This shows that the decomposition of sheep dung is very slow, it can continuously release nutrients to supply orchid plants for a long time, without causing harm to the roots of orchids. In the autumn of 2007, the author visited Mr. Li Yousheng, a famous orchid family in Heqing, and he personally demonstrated the whole operation process of using sheep dung on the pot: the roots of washed and dried orchid plants were placed in a basin with foam blocks and large chunks of plant material on the bottom of the basin. The left hand holds the false bulb of the root system, and the right hand constantly fills the plant material into the center of the basin and the internal gap of the root system, until the plant can stand firmly in the basin. Then use the palm of the left hand toward the root system, and then fill the plant material between the root system and the palm, and fill the sheep dung between the back of the palm and the basin wall, each basin to catch 3-4 handfuls of sheep dung, about 100-200 grams. Then cover the basin surface with plant material, press the topsoil, cover the water moss, soak the basin and pour water thoroughly to complete the basin process. According to Mr. Li Yousheng, it does not matter whether the sheep dung used in the pot is rotten or not, just make sure that the root system does not touch the sheep dung directly. When Mr. Li cultivated orchids in this way, the orchids thrived, not only with a high seedling rate, but also blossomed year after year. The famous orchid he cultivated has won the highest awards in all kinds of orchid exhibitions across the country and the province every year, and has been unanimously recognized as an orchid master in Yunnan orchid circles.