Orchid cultivation: six common mistakes in orchid cultivation

Orchid cultivation: six common mistakes in orchid cultivation

Orchids are much stronger plants of other flowers and are easy to take care of. But it is often heard that orchids are difficult to raise. In fact, orchids are often frustrated because they do not know enough about them and use the wrong methods. In fact, as long as you can re-understand the growth habits of orchids, what is the problem? There are about six common mistakes in planting orchids:

1. Root asphyxia

Most orchids belong to orchids. No matter which cultivation medium is used, if the orchids are watered too frequently and the medium is filled with water, the roots will always be soaked, which will make the aerobic roots unable to breathe. On the other hand, the symbiotic bacteria in the roots will not be able to breathe and die. In this way, the roots will begin to rot and die, and if there is no root to absorb water, the plant will be short of water, showing that the leaves will become shrunken, making people mistakenly think that they are short of water and watering more water, so the orchid will not survive.

There are two ways to judge whether watering is needed. One is visual observation to see the degree of dryness and wetness of the cultivation medium. If it is still wet, don't water it any more. One is to weigh the weight of the orchid basin with your hand. If it is heavy, don't water it again. Usually in the high temperature period of late spring and early autumn, the orchid grows vigorously, the temperature is higher and the water evaporates quickly, so we need to pay more attention to watering as long as the medium is dry. However, in the low temperature period in winter, the water evaporates slowly, and the growth of orchid plants is mostly stagnant, and little water is needed for growth, so the time between watering can be lengthened. In particular, most orchids are tropical plants, such as Phalaenopsis and Oncidium. It is easy to make orchids frostbite when they are watered during the cold spell.

2. Change basins frequently

Orchids grow slowly, so the frequency of changing pots is not too high. In addition, the microenvironment in the flowerpot, such as the symbiotic bacteria, takes time to culture, and often changes the pot to remove the old cultivation medium, which is not helpful to the growth of symbiotic fungi. Unless it is found that the orchid plant is easy to dump, or the water is used quickly, then change the pot. Just change the pot with a larger flowerpot; if you want to split the plant, use a pot of the same size. When changing the basin, you only need to remove the old roots, and there is no need to clean the roots.

3. Random pruning

Most orchids have to be cut off after they have withered, and only a few orchids. Because the inflorescence has the characteristic of infinite growth, there is no need to cut off the pedicels. Pruning is a big taboo for orchids. Unless it is a contagious disease and the affected part must be removed so as not to spread further, do not prune it anyway (sometimes the orchid leaves get sick and the injured or aging leaves will fall off on their own). Because the leaves, stems and thick roots are all places where orchids store water and nutrients, cutting off these parts at will will deplete the orchids' nutrients and make it grow weaker and weaker.

4. The species is too deep

In particular, compound-stemmed orchids will sprout from the base of the stem. If the orchid plant is planted too deep, the new buds will rot easily in the medium, so the height of the medium when planting is only enough to the base of the stem.

5. Apply concentrated fertilizer

Because the roots of orchids have good absorptive capacity, applying thick fertilizer can easily dehydrate the roots, just like the principle of pickling with salt water, the symbiotic bacteria in the roots are also easy to die from fertilizer. Therefore, fertilization should follow the principle of "a small amount of more application". The concentration of fertilizer should be diluted and water should be increased by 1000 Mel and 2000 times. It is suitable for both chemical and organic fertilizers.

6. Lack of ventilation

In particular, the roots of Lan Yunben are mostly exposed in the air, and the leaves grow on trees with good ventilation. Therefore, most of the aerial orchids are planted in special orchid pots with aerated materials and holes in the basin wall, and then hung in an air-ventilated environment, so the orchid plants will naturally grow well.