Raise orchids occasionally-talk about plant materials

Plant material is one of the food of orchids, is the basis of orchid cultivation, with good planting material, orchid cultivation is more than half of the success, the importance of planting material is self-evident. The orchid people attach great importance to and pay close attention to the plant material, and the evaluation of the plant material is different. It can be said that it is reasonable and reasonable, and the choice of plant material is varied. Today's plant materials from hard to soft, from large to small, from traditional to modern are varied, it can be described as a full range of categories.

No matter what kind of plant material, no matter what characteristics it has, it has the commonness of changes from wet-wet-moist-dry-dry after draught. From the commonness of the change of plant material after draught, it is easy to evaluate and distinguish the difference and excellence of plant material.

Plant materials that you think are good should be two long and one short. The change period from wet to dry is long, the time from wet to dry is long, the time from wet to wet is short, and the second long time is long, then the moistening time is also long, then the plant material is good, otherwise, the plant material is poor.

In order to meet good standards, plant materials should have five characteristics:

One is the aggregate structure. Regardless of the size of the plant, even if it is very small, it must be agglomerates, which should be formed naturally or naturally and will not dissolve after watering, so that they will be loose and breathable.

The second is to absorb water quickly. The very dry plant material can absorb water quickly and evenly, and there will be no waterway, external wet and internal dry, upper wet and lower dry, so it can be kept dry.

Third, drainage should be fast. After the plant material is full of water, the excess water can be discharged quickly in order to meet the requirement of short change time from wet to tide. Watering will be easy, and orchids will not be afraid of the rain.

Fourth, water conservation should be better. The water retention performance of plant material determines the quality of plant material, and the water retention performance of plant material is good, and the time of change from tide-moistening-dry will grow.

Fifth, it is necessary to have natural fat, trace elements and minerals.

At the same time, the plant material with five characteristics can only be in the soil. Since raising orchids, I have been searching for orchids in the mountains, looking for orchids in the mountains, seeing orchids at Lan Nong's house, and visiting orchids at the place of Orchid Friends. Except for orchids, they are plants. Pay attention everywhere, spend a lot of effort, still step on iron shoes nowhere to be found. In the autumn of 2003, after my Lanyou accidentally found the "lazy land", I got the treasure. It took no effort to get it. Lazy soil is amazing, with five characteristics of good planting material. After sieving the powder with 60 yards, the soil is all agglomerates of different sizes, which do not melt in water and are very loose and breathable. After the basin soil is dry, the hand can be inserted into the orchid basin. Very dry lazy soil absorbs water quickly, and there is a squeaking sound when absorbing water. Watching lazy soil absorb water on a transparent cup, the water goes down layer by layer, with a clear boundary between dry and wet, and water absorption is very balanced. It is also a kind of enjoyment to watch lazy soil absorb water. After the lazy soil is full of water, no matter you pour the most water, it can be discharged quickly, and the time from wet to tidal change is about 4 hours, which is comparable to that of granular plants. Lazy soil has excellent water retention performance and long moisturizing time. During the high temperature in summer, the small basin raised by lazy soil is watered once every 8 days, and the others are watered more than 10 days. Lazy soil is humic soil, with natural fertilizers, trace elements and minerals. Another feature of lazy soil is that there is no grass, which is really strange. Now I use all lazy soil to plant orchids, no fertilization, no spraying, simple and easy, bluegrass grows well, enjoy the happiness brought by lazy soil.

In the selection of plant materials, I have experienced a variety of choices, used a lot of plant materials, have not paid attention to plant materials, copied blindly, blindly follow the trend, only pay attention to loose performance, but ignore other lessons. Please pay attention to four points in the selection of plant materials.

1. The plant material should be suitable for the environment and management of orchid cultivation. Now there are a variety of plant materials, all have their own performance, strengths and weaknesses, in any case, orchids will adapt, but may not be suitable for you. Other people think that good plant materials may not be good for you, the selection of plant materials must be based on the reality of the orchid environment, according to their own management methods to determine. Balcony natural planting, strong light, good ventilation, low humidity, requires good water retention of plant materials, otherwise it will only increase the watering workload and increase the risk. If you like watering, and have time to water, to choose good drainage performance, water retention performance of the general plant, so that you can often water.

2. To have a comprehensive understanding of plant materials. After selecting and purchasing the plant material, do not rush to put it on the basin, be sure to do it yourself, experiment on the water absorption, drainage and water retention performance of the plant material, fully understand the performance of the plant material, and have a clear idea. You can't just listen to Lanyou and read the book introduction. Although it is the same particle or soil, its performance will be different for a variety of reasons. The soil of the same mountain has different properties, the mountain on the top of the mountain is different from the soil on the hillside, the soil on the shady side is different from the soil on the sunny side, and the shallow soil is different from the deep soil. This is a problem that most orchid friends are easy to ignore.

3. Pay attention to the moisturizing performance of plant materials. At present, in the selection of plant materials, there is an emphasis on looseness and drainage performance, while ignoring the deviation of water and moisture retention performance. The water retention and moisture retention of plant materials is not good, and the time of wet-drying change is very short, which not only affects the growth of orchids, increases the risk, but also sharply increases the amount of watering.

4. The planting material should not be changed frequently. Everyone has such a mentality, as long as they hear that there is a good plant material, they all want to give it a try. When there are some problems in the process of raising orchids, the first thing to consider is to find the reason on the plant material. Impatient people often change plant materials, last month particles, this month mixed, next month is soil, such a result can only make bluegrass weak, small, dead. Any plant orchid will adapt, the difference is just the length of time to adapt, what we need to do is to adopt targeted management methods according to the performance of the plant, to enhance our strengths and avoid weaknesses, to seek advantages and avoid disadvantages, but not to change plant materials.