How to grow potted Phalaenopsis?

Phalaenopsis is an epiphytic plant of the family Phalaenopsis. Its scientific name means "butterfly-like orchid" in Greek. It is native to the subtropical rain forest. During the Spring Festival, plants draw long pedicels from leaf axils and blossom like butterflies. They are favored by flower fans and are known as "queen of foreign orchids". Let's take a look at how potted Phalaenopsis is raised.

Growth habits of Phalaenopsis

Phalaenopsis is native to the tropical rain forest. The forest trees along the river coast with high temperature and humidity are the places where Phalaenopsis attaches and grows. The most suitable relative humidity range is 60~80%RH, but it is often accompanied by diseases in too humid environment. The sex is warm and afraid of cold, and the suitable temperature for growth is 15-20 ℃. In winter, it will stop growing when it is below 10 ℃, and it is easy to die when it is below 5 ℃.

Propagation methods of Phalaenopsis

1. Pedicel sprouting: first cut off the flowering part of the pedicel, then carefully cut off the bracts of the first to third internodes in the upper part of the pedicel with a blade or sharp blade to expose the bud points in the internodes, and apply hormones such as budding agents or indolebutyric acid evenly on the exposed Internode nodes with cotton swabs. After treatment, the orchid plant was placed in a semi-shade place, and the temperature was kept at 25: 28 ℃. After 2 weeks, the buds grew into leaves, and after 3 months, they grew into Phalaenopsis seedlings with 3 leaves and aerial roots.

2. Broken heart to promote sprouting: after the growth point of Phalaenopsis plant is destroyed by some factors, 1 or 2 new buds will grow from the stem node near the base of Phalaenopsis plant over a period of time, which can be used to propagate Phalaenopsis.

3. Stem-cutting propagation: although there are 1-3 latent buds in the axils of Phalaenopsis plants, most of them can not sprout into plants. After the plant continues to grow upward and the stem node is longer, the upper part of the plant with roots is cut off with sterilized knives or scissors, implanted into a new basin to make it continue to grow, the lower part of the rhizome is given proper water management, and new buds can sprout soon.

4. Tissue culture: the excellent genetic characteristics of Phalaenopsis can be obtained by using tissue culture method to propagate Phalaenopsis. Phalaenopsis seedlings produced by this method are called meristematic seedlings or tissue plantlets. The plant tissues (explants) used for meristematic culture can be apical buds (stem tips), stem segments (dormant buds), or young leaves or root tips, but at present the most common is the pedicel of Phalaenopsis.

How to grow potted Phalaenopsis?

1. Temperature: Phalaenopsis likes the environment of high temperature and high humidity. The temperature should be increased at the turn of autumn, winter and spring, and when the temperature is low in winter. When the temperature is too high in summer, it should be cooled and ventilated. If the temperature is higher than 32 ℃, it will enter a semi-dormant state and avoid continuous high temperature. The flowering period is around the Spring Festival, and proper cooling can prolong the viewing time. The night temperature during flowering should be controlled between 13 and 16 ℃, but not less than 13 ℃.

2. Humidity: the suitable air humidity for Phalaenopsis growth is 60% to 80%. The new root should be watered more in the prosperous period and less in the dormant period after anthesis. The plants grow vigorously in spring and autumn around 05:00 in the afternoon, and the plants are watered at 09:00 and 05:00 every day. The light is weak and the temperature is low in winter. Watering every other week is enough and should be carried out before 10:00 in the morning. In the event of a cold wave, it is not suitable to water, keep dry, wait until after the cold wave to resume watering.

3. Lighting: although Phalaenopsis likes shade, it still needs to make the orchid plant accept some light, especially before and after flowering, appropriate light can promote Phalaenopsis blossom, make the flowers gorgeous and lasting, generally should be placed indoors where there is scattered light, do not let direct sunlight.

4. Ventilation: the normal growth of Phalaenopsis needs flowing fresh air, so the ventilation of domestic Phalaenopsis must be good, especially in the high humidity period in summer, it must be well ventilated to prevent heat, and at the same time, it can avoid the infection of diseases and insect pests.

5. Fertilization: Phalaenopsis should be fertilized throughout the year and should not be stopped unless the low temperature lasts for a long time. Winter is the flower bud differentiation period of Phalaenopsis, and the cessation of fertilizer can easily lead to no flowers or few flowers. Spring and summer is the growing period, thin liquid fertilizer can be applied every 7 to 10 days, organic fertilizer should be used, Phalaenopsis special nutrient solution can also be used, but do not apply when there are buds, otherwise it is easy to drop buds early. The time of fertilization is after watering in the afternoon, and after several times of fertilization, orchid pots and orchid plants should be washed with a lot of water to avoid residual inorganic salts harming the roots.

6. Diseases: Phalaenopsis is easy to suffer from soft rot and gray spot, and the infection of soft rot is very fast. Once found, the diseased plants can be isolated immediately, and the diseased plants can be controlled by manganese zinc substitutes or good living creatures, usually sterilized once every 15 days. The common cultivation medium of Phalaenopsis is mainly water grass and moss, so the potted plant material should not use soil, but should use water moss, pumice, Alsophila dust, charcoal and so on.

Points for attention of Phalaenopsis

1. Watering too frequently: friends who cultivate Phalaenopsis are always worried about the lack of water, regardless of whether the cultivation medium is dry or not, watering every day, resulting in serious root rot.

2. The temperature is too low: usually the flowering plants of Phalaenopsis are on the market in early spring, and they are generally appreciated in the living room after buying them home. Although the daily temperature in these places is enough, the night temperature is a little too low.