Orchids and Water

Sunlight, air and water are indispensable conditions for the growth of all kinds of organisms. Scientists explore whether there is life in extraterrestrial bodies, mainly to see if there is water there. Water is very important to orchids. Without water, orchids cannot grow.

The ancients said that "dry orchid and wet chrysanthemum" refers to the relative humidity requirements of these two kinds of flowers to the culture medium in the pot. Like chrysanthemums, orchids also like to be wet. In order to discuss the water supply of orchids, two aspects should be considered, one is water supply and water conservation in the basin, and the other is environmental moisturization.

Orchids are acid-tolerant (H +) and alkali-weary (OH-) plants, which should be paid attention to when using water. Most of the drinking water in modern cities is disinfected with bleach, and it still contains CI when it leaves the factory. Because chlorine is toxic, tap water should be parked for one or two days. The sky falls into the water must be tested by the test paper before it can be used to water orchids, the PH value should be between 5.5 and 6, not more than 6.5. In recent years, the air content of fluorine (F) and sulfur (S) in large and medium-sized cities is relatively high, and there is more acid rain, such as watering orchids with fluorine and sulfur for a long time, acidity on the basin, bluegrass poisoning, and easy to cause stem rot. On a windy day, or after a rain, the air is fresh, and the falling water is pure and can be used. The orchid basin should be drenched with moderate rain and light rain, and be covered with covering materials when it rains heavily. In addition to using humus to plant orchids, we do not advocate using rice washing water to wash other substances to water orchids. Any washed water must contain impurities or organic matter, which will bring conditions for the reproduction of fungi, bacteria and viruses.

Water flows from high to low, and the orchid water supply mainly depends on pouring water into the basin from the mouth of the basin. Infiltration and wettability are very important for supplying water to various parts of orchids, which can be poured directly to leaf tips and flowers. But Langen is infiltrated for a long time can cause disease, put basin water can not be too much. Water has different evaporation with the rise and fall of temperature. at high temperature, the basin orchid cultivated by the granular medium may volatilize the floating water in the basin in four or five hours and must be replenished frequently.

The orchid can be planted and watered for three years. Whether orchids are planted well or not depends on whether they are well watered. The root system of orchids is reported to be fleshy, relying on water to maintain vitality and can not be short of water. But too much water, mycorrhizal soaking too much, will also produce reverse osmosis, so that nutrients released, a long time will cause decay. Therefore, it is required that if it is not dry or watered, it will be watered thoroughly. Especially in the weather with high humidity and low temperature, the culture medium is not easy to dry and can not be watered frequently. If high-grade grass needs to be planted, the weighing method can be used in order to be sure. When the grass is strong, it should be watered when it is dried to 40% water content; if the grass is weak, it can be watered again to 20% water content. We can dry up and water it again in winter. However, the large particle medium should not be too large, so as not to be ventilated and wither the roots. We must not forget the old motto that autumn is not dry and winter is not wet. We advocate that the spring and autumn weather should be dry and the air should be kept as humid as possible. The spring wind is dry, the spring bud is late; in autumn, the wind is dry and the grass is not enough.

We do not advocate using seat basins. The absorption of water in the pedestal basin is more suitable for humus, but for the granular medium, there will be the malpractice of floating culture medium. Watering is best to spray down from the whole basin with a thin-eye spray can, especially in summer, can wash the floating dust falling in the air, increase environmental humidity, and wash roots. The excreta of root bark in the process of growth can be washed off with watering.

The amount of water in the basin can be seen not only from the surface, but also from the hole and bottom of the basin wall. If these tacks are wet, it means that there is no shortage of water in the basin. If it is not hot weather, water should be properly deducted to prevent waterlogging.

The granular medium in the bluegrass basin should be watered twice at 10:00 and 02:00 to replenish water and wash the roots. At night, the basin is empty, so that the air to participate in growth activities, but also to make full use of moisture volatilization, to maintain the humidity of the air. The humidity during the growing season should be kept between 40% and 70%. Special attention should be paid to dry days in spring and autumn. When it is too low, it must be sprayed to increase air humidity and protect orchid leaves. The small environment moisturizing is solved by spray, and the blue shed had better be equipped with a commercial humidifier. When it is low in winter, the humidity should be kept at 30% Mel 400, and the rest of the time it should be 500 Mel 700.

It is better to store tap water for two days and use it after volatilizing chlorine. However, it is not suitable for long-term storage, such as water stored in large containers for more than half a month, not suitable for pouring. Because running water does not rot, still water is apt to produce chemical changes. The water molecule is monooxygen and dichloride. Under the condition of flow, the binding mode of hydrogen and oxygen atoms remains unchanged, and part of the oxygen is dissolved in the water. If stored for a long time, the original dissolved oxygen will evaporate, and the water molecules will be connected to each other into a chain and poured into the basin soil. It is not easy to be absorbed by Langen. Regular storage of water, should be often stirred, when used, there will be no chain water, some people use large containers to store water to water orchids, orchids always show water loss, this is the reason. Also, pure water is not good for watering flowers, because the so-called pure water contains more sodium (Na) ions, which can decompose water and release hydrogen, which is not conducive to the absorption of nutrients by Lange.

Different varieties of orchids are watered differently. If the flowers with high scape advantage should be given enough water during the scape period, and for the grass that the accessory calyx is easy to hang or turn back, it should be properly watered during flowering to keep the flower shape dignified.

In addition, for brick, tile and pond-based stone orchid basins, 1% ferrous sulfate plus acid water should be applied once a month to prevent excessive alkalinity. After spring flowers, more nitrogen fertilizers such as urea should be used and sodium carbonate should be applied once or twice to prevent the acidity from increasing. When the acidity is too heavy, it is easy to produce diseases such as anthrax and white silk. (Guan Wenchang, Zhu Hexing)