Different planting materials should be selected for different orchid pots.

According to their years of experience, many orchid farmers and their predecessors have selected a variety of available orchid plants, such as mountain mud, pond mud, rotten leaf soil, moss and volcanic stone, pond cornerstone, ceramsite, charcoal and so on. It can be divided into two categories, one can be called soft plant, such as mountain mud, pond mud, rotten leaf soil, moss, etc., and some, such as volcanic stone, pond cornerstone, ceramsite, etc., that is, hard plant material. Soft plants are small in size, high in density, rich in humus, loose and breathable, while hard plants have large particle size, low density, excellent air permeability and water permeability, no miscellaneous bacteria and are not easy to cause diseases and insect pests. Both of them are beneficial to the growth of Langen, and both are good plant materials.

Because of its low density and excellent water permeability, the ancient mud basin is respected by many orchids as a good choice for orchids, but its appearance is rough and slightly indecent. The purple sand and plastic orchid pots with pores on the basin wall are favored by some orchids in recent years because of their beautiful and elegant appearance and light and clean body. However, due to the high density of the basin and poor permeability, it is easy to destroy the orchid once it is not mastered.

How can we use plant materials and orchid pots correctly? This requires us to seriously analyze and master the dialectical relationship between the two. As mentioned earlier, soft plant material is rich in humus and has a high density. if this plant material is used in orchid cultivation with coarse tile basin, the orchid will be prosperous. On the contrary, if it is used with the same density of plastic, purple sand and other pots, it is easy to cause orchid root dyspnea, stagnant water in the basin and eventually lead to rotting roots. By the same token, if we use hard plant materials with large particle size and low density, it should be equipped with porcelain, plastic, pottery and other pots. If tile pots are used, the air permeability of flowerpots and plants will be too strong and the principle of inverted water absorption will result in long-term drying in the orchid pots, which will eventually lead to the lack of enough water in the orchid roots and leaves and dry up and die.

In short, when using plant materials with high density and good water retention, we should consider the mud basin with low density, good air permeability and good permeability; on the contrary, with plastic, ceramic and other containers, we should choose some plant materials with low density and excellent water permeability.

Taking the author and Mr. Cui Yukuan from Liaoning as an example, we are in the same cold and dry area of Northeast China, and the climate of the two places is slightly different. But our ways of raising orchids are very different. Mr. Cui is good at using rotten leaf soil as planting material, with earthen pots. On the other hand, the author often uses ceramsite, volcanic stone and so on as planting materials, together with porcelain pots or plastic pots with good moisture retention. However, our orchids are all growing well, and we have summed up some of our own experiences in growing orchids. The reason is that we have consciously or unintentionally straightened out the dialectical relationship between the pot and the plant material in the use of orchid basin and orchid plant material. (Heilongjiang-Liu Jun)