My hometown, Beijing Mountain, is the main production area of the orchid, the professional orchid people here are only raising the orchid, and the other orchids are very very few, since I was a child, I also have a deep affection for the orchid, and I am also familiar with the growth habits and maintenance methods of the orchid. It happened that a group friend asked me how to maintain Huilan, so I told him how to maintain it in autumn, and by the way, I compiled it into an article to share with you.
First of all, we have to understand the growth habits of the orchid, which is distributed in most parts of the country, that is, most of the country can be planted outdoors, mainly in the central region, such as Hubei, Henan, Anhui, Shaanxi, these places have four distinct seasons, hot in summer, cold in winter, creating the characteristics of light-loving, cold-tolerant and drought-tolerant varieties of Huilan. In the natural environment, the orchid grows mostly in tall arbor forests, mainly distributed in chestnut forests and pine forests or their mixed forests, there are basically no other arbor forests, chestnut trees are decided, the orchids in these places are due to the abundant light, the leaves are hard, the plants are short, the pine trees are evergreen all year round, the leaves of the orchid inside are slender, the plants are tall, these two trees have leaves on the top to shade the sun, and the bottom is cool and windy, so it also likes ventilation. The orchid has a long flowering period, and the fragrance is the ceiling of all orchids, and the flowering period is mainly concentrated between March and May. In the process of conservation, we need to formulate a corresponding conservation plan according to these habits.
It is now mid to late autumn, the temperature on my side has dropped by about 10 degrees, the temperature during the day has entered within 30 degrees these days, and it has stabilized at about 23 degrees at night. The shading measures can be gradually removed to allow the orchid to enjoy plenty of direct sunlight, and it is enough to shade for a few hours in the middle of the day when the sun is strong. Especially for the potted orchids on the balcony, the autumn sun is very precious, so it is recommended to bask in the sun more, so that the orchids can accumulate more nutrients, which is conducive to the flowering of the next year, and can make the flowers bloom more.
Autumn is not as hot as summer, and the temperature of the potting soil is not too high, so the time to water the orchids is relatively free, and it is enough to avoid watering during the high temperature period of several hours during the day. Generally speaking, watering can be done at any time of the day after the temperature drops in autumn, but when autumn buds come out, it is recommended to water in the morning and evening to reduce the occurrence of soft rot. When the temperature is high in early autumn, watering should still be carried out in the early morning and late at night, and ventilation should be done after watering, but it is necessary to pay attention to the dry air in autumn, and find that the pot surface is dry, you can spray the planting material or spray foliar water, or increase the ambient humidity through the sprayer to avoid the leaf nail drying out.
Autumn can be said to be the peak season for the growth of orchids, at this time the demand for water is relatively large, the frequency of watering should be increased, you can use large water flood irrigation to spray on the leaves and potting soil, so that the autumn buds can be fast, and the flower buds in the planting material are swollen and unearthed in advance.
After a spring and a summer of seedlings, the nutrient consumption in the orchid plant is very large, and the autumn is followed by the pregnant buds, plus the false bulb of the orchid itself is relatively small, and the nutrients stored are not very much, so it is necessary to supplement fertilizer in time. Fertilizer is mainly phosphorus and potassium fertilizer, you can dilute potassium dihydrogen phosphate with water 1000-2000 times after spraying leaves or roots, spraying once every 10 days, spraying 2-3 times is almost, I am directly using a good Kangduo or Aolu full membrane controlled release fertilizer, each pot put dozens of grains, put once a year around May Day, all year round it doesn't matter, until now the controlled release fertilizer on the pot surface is still good, the controlled release fertilizer is slow to release nutrients, easy to use, mild fertility, safe to use, do not worry about the problem of fertilizer damage. The concentration of chemical fertilizers should be strictly controlled, rather light than thick, and it is recommended to use a few pots of orchids before using them in batches.
After the rapid growth at the beginning of summer and the high temperature and humidity later, some orchids will have yellow leaves, dead leaves and diseased leaves, so it is necessary to prune them in time. For the orchid leaves that have senesitized and diseased leaves, they can be cut from the pseudobulb. The whole pot wilting is mostly stem rot, and the harmful fungi on the dead leaves are also infectious, so they should be discarded as soon as possible, and the planting materials and pots are reluctant to be thrown away, so as to avoid infection.
The orchid blooms smoothly to be vernalized, the time of entering the room should not be too early, the potted orchid let it grow in the environment of 5-10 degrees for a month and a half to complete the low temperature vernalization, if it is planted, there is no problem with minus 15 degrees, because of the protection of the ground and fallen leaves, the orchid grows well in the natural environment of the Qinling Mountains, so there is no need to worry about the orchid will freeze to death in winter, the potted plant is recommended to be put indoors at about 0 degrees, the granular planting material is poor, the root system will freeze, and the situation of humus soil planting is relatively better, and it is still necessary to pay attention. Indoor wintering maintenance, should not be in a heated room. After heating in the northern region, the indoor temperature can generally reach about 20 degrees, and the temperature difference between day and night is not obvious, which is not conducive to the cultivation and flowering of the orchid.