The special topic of orchid cultivation: moss and orchid cultivation

Orchid is a very elegant indoor ornamental plant, especially the charming fragrance of the national orchid (Chunlan, Jianlan, Chunjian, Huilan and other places) when it blossoms, which has always been respected by the ancients and is afraid of sun exposure. It is also a typical indoor green plant. The orchid culture, which has been formed for thousands of years, has influenced the aesthetic concept of flower appreciation in some surrounding countries (such as Japan, South Korea, etc.). In the past ten years, with the gradual improvement of living standards and the improvement of indoor living environment in our country, people's demand for appreciation of the indoor furnishings of the national orchid has been greatly increased, but when it comes to orchids, everyone thinks that it is very difficult to feed them. Therefore, the problem of orchids being difficult to raise has hindered orchids from further entering more families.

Is it really difficult to raise orchids (I mean national orchids, the same below)? According to my personal experience, orchids are the easiest to cultivate among all plants. They mainly master root ventilation, ensure moisture, and grow in a certain degree of light.

I would like to introduce a very simple method to ensure that your orchid survival rate is 100%, and the management (mainly watering management) is relatively casual, which is very suitable for indoor families (large-scale orchid farm is not effective).

To raise orchids, the choice of plant material is the most critical, you choose plant materials at the same time also doomed whether the orchid seedling will survive in the future. Because the main growth elements of orchids are air permeability, water conservation, nutrition and proper light. Air permeability and water conservation are the most difficult techniques for orchids to master. Orchids are fleshy roots and need good air permeability, and water is a necessary condition for all plants to grow. However, there is a contradiction between the two. More water will squeeze the air out of the plant material, so that the root can not breathe and die. It is even more difficult to do without water, and any plant will die, so it is very important to find a plant that is both breathable and water-retaining, and the amount of water and the interval of watering have no great effect on the orchid. Generally speaking, as long as the plant material has a good grasp of the amount and interval of watering, orchids can grow very well, but there are four seasons in a year, and the country has north and south, and the change of temperature makes it difficult to grasp the amount and interval of watering. As a result, many people's orchids either drown or die of thirst, of course, more drown than die of thirst. Therefore, the good plant materials are those with more and less water, longer watering time and shorter watering time have little effect on orchids.

I introduce a kind of plant material that has this characteristic, that is, moss (water moss, moss, etc.), see figure:

This is a downhill lotus petal orchid that has been planted with moss for 3 months. from the leaves, the growth is still very normal. Now how about the roots? Lift the moss off the surface, as shown in the picture:

The root grows well and the new root sprouts very well. Take a look at the lower part of the root.

The following roots are also growing well, how, this method is quite good!

Water moss is a kind of bryophyte, which belongs to the bryophyte family, also known as peat moss. It can be divided into coarse-leaf peat moss and fine-leaf peat moss, which generally grows in tropical and subtropical tidal wetlands or marshes in mountainous areas with an altitude of more than 800 meters. The length is generally about 8cm-30cm. Its PH value is generally between 5 and 6, the water moss is very soft and highly absorbent, the amount of water absorbed is equal to 20 times of its own weight, and it has very good special functions such as water retention, fertilizer conservation, ventilation and so on. Therefore, water moss can create good cultivation conditions for indoor flowers and plants, and it is widely used in all kinds of orchid cultivation, and it is the main plant material for planting Cymbidium. Taiwan is an important producing area of Cymbidium in the world, and a large amount of water moss is imported from foreign countries every year as a plant material for planting Cymbidium.

Because the water moss has the characteristics of excellent air permeability and strong water retention, it is good in principle to use it to grow national orchid. To this end, I use water moss actual cultivation, there are more than a dozen pots of orchids, has been almost 2 years, the effect is very satisfactory. Take a look at an example:

This is a pot of golden ponytail (Jianlan)

It is very convenient to take up the basin. You can check the growth of the root at any time. Take a look at the root from the pot

The following is a pot of Jian Lan Da he Su.

Look at the root:

It's pretty good, right? let's take a look at the newly planted Chunlan:

The condition of the root:

Below is Dendrobium planted with moss, which grows very well.

The main advantages of using moss as plant material are:

1. Plant materials are relatively easy to obtain, if there is a local, can be collected locally, if not, you can go to the market or online purchase, the price is not expensive, as an orchid plant, there is little difference in quality, as long as it is natural, there is no artificial dyeing on the line.

two。 Planting in the pot is very simple, prepare a suitable flowerpot, put some foam blocks on the bottom of the pot to increase air permeability, then wrap the root loosely with water moss, put it into the flowerpot, and then cover the pot surface with water moss, and complete the planting process when it feels beautiful and appropriate.

3. Watering management is very casual, after planting can be watered, can be watered every day, can also be watered once a week, how much water can be irrigated, excess water will flow out by itself, will not accumulate water, it is easier to grasp.

4. Clean, neat and light, if you buy a relatively pure water moss with almost no soil, wash it with water before you use it, it will be very clean, it will not bring out the soil from the basin because of watering, and the pot of good orchids is very light and can be held and placed at will.

5. The pot surface water moss can be opened at any time to check the root growth, which is beneficial to observation.

6. If you water more frequently and have a high degree of wetness, the fresh water moss laid in the basin can generally survive, and the green water moss against the tall and straight orchids will add a lot of color to this pot of orchids.

The light and fertilization are the same as orchids planted with other plants, but it is best to use compound fertilizers, which are clean, convenient, and will not produce odors and pollute the environment. The compound fertilizer with 15% nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium content is 1/1000 mixed with water once a month, or you can lift the water moss on the basin surface, scatter an appropriate amount (no more than 1 gram) of compound fertilizer particles near the root, then cover it with water moss, water it and slowly dissolve and absorb it.

Special point: because the water moss is very loose, the gap is large, and for a long time, the water moss in the lower part of the basin will decompose, and the lower orchid root has no attachment, which will affect the absorption of nutrients by the lower root, and the basin surface will collapse (you can feel it by gently pressing the basin surface water moss with your hand). Therefore, half a year later, you need to add the water moss at the root below, which is very convenient, hold the basin surface with the palm (the orchid seedling clamps properly between the fingers), turn the basin upside down, hold the outside of the orchid basin with the other hand, and gently try to pull it out. I feel that the plant material and the basin are loose and put the orchid basin. Gently lift, the whole plant material will be completely out of the basin. Check the root, fill the large gap in the lower part of the root with fresh water moss (how much), and then put it back into the basin according to the original position, almost without any effect on the root. You can immediately carry out normal placement and management (note: do not destroy the integrity of the formation of water moss and root in the operation).

It is very complicated to say, very simple to operate, if the necessary things are ready, the water moss plant a pot of orchids in about 2 minutes, which is really done in minutes.

Of course, you can also use moss alone or add some granular broken bricks and other things to pot. The moss should be white and dry, but the quality of the moss is poor if it is dusty and tea-brown. The ventilation and water absorption of moss are good, so it is beneficial to the growth of roots and buds, but the fresh moss itself lacks nutrition, and the water absorption capacity decreases and the air permeability becomes worse with the extension of use time. Therefore, the amount of watering must be strictly controlled, otherwise it will easily lead to root rot. Usually moss should not be used for more than 1 year. If you mix moss with charcoal, broken bricks or fern roots, you don't have to change the pot material every year, and it can be extended to about two years.