What kind of soil is used to cultivate lotus orchid?

Soil is the general name of cultivation materials here. The cultivation materials used in the cultivation of lotus petal orchid are mostly mountain-based soil or humus soil in western Yunnan, which is used for cultivation of local materials. Due to the different locations of collection, the properties of mountain-based soil are also different, including acidity and alkalinity, so that the fertility is different. However, the mountain base soil generally contains too much soil, so it has the defect of insufficient filtration and ventilation, coupled with the use of a large soil basin when planting, this disadvantage is more prominent. The cultivation of Magnolia in Dali area attaches great importance to studying and solving the lack of using large soil basin and mountain-based soil, and most people mix some rough and decaying branches and leaves of hemp chestnut wood into the mountain-based soil. Such mixed cultivation materials can not only filter water but also retain water, so that there is no stagnant water but sufficient water supply, both fertility and ventilation, to ensure the nutrients and air needed by Langen. At present, Southeast Asian countries are making great efforts on the materials of orchid cultivation, developing and producing special culture granular soil for orchid cultivation. For example, Japan has studied and produced three types of granular nutrient soil: large, medium and small. There are no manufacturers in this area in our country, and orchid growers use local materials, such as mountain base soil, pond mud, thatch residue, bamboo root mud and grass coal to grow orchids. In recent years, it has been cultivated with water moss, rotten wood and bark. According to the practice of successful cultivation of lotus petal orchid, the basin and soil used must solve the problems of ventilation, water conservation, fertilizer conservation and filtration. From the various materials used, the best effect is the use of chestnut leaves or rotten chestnut wood dregs. After half a year of fermentation, the leaves of Castanea mollissima turned into humic materials of different thickness, which can be filled in different levels when planting. Hemp chestnut humus leaves can filter water, loose structure, strong fertility, slightly acidic, the most suitable for the growth of lotus petal orchid. But the disadvantage is poor water retention. Another kind of best effect is to cultivate with decaying chestnut residue or willow dregs, which can be made into lumps of different sizes, large ones on the bottom of the basin, medium ones in the middle, and small ones next to the orchid root and the upper part of the basin. Rotten wood residue can not only filter and retain water, but also breathable and fertile, and has the advantages of acidity and softness, which is in line with the requirements of lotus petal orchid cultivation. The cultivation of orchids with rotten wood dregs has been recognized by the art and orchid circles, and it is not much different from the overseas granular nutrient soil. Of course, rotten wood residue mixed with a proper amount of rotten chestnut wood leaves is better, the combination of the two has its own advantages, and the cultivation effect is better. Where there are conditions, some willow dung is collected and mixed with an appropriate amount of rotten chestnut leaves as fine materials to fill the top of the basin. The best result is that the above mixed cultivation materials are selected to achieve complete ventilation, water supply and fertilizer supply, water conservation and no stagnant water. At the same time, the soil in the basin is slightly acidic. (Zhao Qin, Wang Zehuai, Li Xinhua)