7 Tips To Maintain Orchid Plants To Long Age
JAKARTA - Orchids are beautiful ornamental flower plants and have an extraordinary personality. Orchid flowers can bloom twice a year for 30-45 days on average. Orchid plants are available for more than 28 thousand varieties and species with various solid colors, such as white, purple, and pink.
However, among indoor ornamental plants, orchids are notoriously difficult to care for. Some knowledge is needed to keep orchid plants growing happily. You can't just place orchids on the windowsill and check them every few weeks, as you usually do with ZZ or succulent plants. You need to know how to care for orchids to live long and not easily wither.
Avoid cutting the flower stalk completely after the flowering season is over. On the other hand, cut right above the book, about half of your stalks, so that your orchid blooms for the second time.
This helps orchids save energy and allows them to focus solely on growth in the cut part rather than forming new stalks. This trick encourages plants to produce the second flower from the same stalk.
Note: If the stem turns brown or looks dead, cut it all to its base. The stalk will not produce new flowers anymore. Otherwise, the plant will spend its resources trying to save the dead tail.
Orchids are sensitive to fertilizers. Use nutrient care wisely, or your plant will be scorched due to chemicals and will not flower. Provide balanced liquid fertilizers such as 20-20 or fertilizers with high phosphorus content such as 10-30-20 with a quarter power every 2-3 weeks during the planting season. Another excellent way to increase orchid strength and appearance is to follow the weekly fertilizer system, which is attended by many professional orchid growers.
Give low-power fertilizers each week, such as 1/8, 1/6, or 1/4 of the strength recommended by fertilizer producers. To find the right dose, start with the weakest strength, 1/8 of the recommended potential, then increase it up to 1/4. Reduce or avoid giving fertilizer to orchids during the eratic phase or when not growing actively. If you look at light growth during this time, give fertilizer once a month in balance with a quarter-force.
If you give excessive fertilizer, the salt will accumulate in the soil. This ultimately causes the roots to burn and disturb the balance of soil nutrients. The provision of fertilizer is too much also inviting many pests and insects and makes plants susceptible to infection.
You need to remove excess fertilizers from the ground every 4-6 weeks. First, water the plants as usual to loosen solidified deposits and salt. Next, pour water on the nails for 2-3 minutes and make sure the water is completely drained. Try to water 3-5 liters of water per pot to remove salt deposits, and don't get stuffy. Make sure the pot has enough holes at the bottom to run smoothly. Once finished, let the media dry up a little for a few days before watering again.
Tips: Remember not to cultivate plants for a week after the welding process so that plants can stabilize and adapt to new nutritional concentrations and can grip their roots well.
The next tip for long-lasting orchids is transparency. What better way to identify problems other than seeing them with the naked eye? So it's best to use a see-through container that allows you to monitor root formation and growth.
An attractive orchid feature is that they give you visual clues if and when they need to be watered. The roots turn green when wet and silver or white when dry. Seeing this color change helps you water the plants efficiently. It can also show whether the plant has roots tied or infected.
A clear plastic pot with a drainage hole is a good alternative, but if you're looking for something better, choose a glass container. Change style with glass jars, crystal vassels, and anything clear, but make sure the bottom of the pot has a seepage.
This tropical plant may tolerate tap water, but it often contains salt and chlorine, and of course this plant is sensitive to salt buildup. On the other hand, your orchid water uses distilled water, osmosis water reverse, sieve, or rainwater. These water contain little or even no salt and chlorine, very suitable for beloved flowers. And use room-temperature water. The water should not be too hot or cold, or the roots will be surprised.
Bad air circulation is one of the biggest killers of orchids. Mixture of clogged or wet growing media can cause fungal and pest infections and prevent roots from functioning properly. To avoid this, make a planting medium that makes your orchid happy.
Use a mixture based on wood skin with moderate to rough roughness or a special orchid mixture that allows air to reach the roots. To improve the texture of the orchid mixture, add small pieces of coconut sabut, and consider adding a little sphagnum moss (about 10 percent of the mixture) to maintain moisture.
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Orchids really like moisture. This plant thrives in moderate to high humidity of around 50-70 percent. And just spraying the plant will not provide the moisture it needs. Not to mention how it causes fungal infection and fungal growth due to stagnant water for hours on flowers and leaves.
On the other hand, use air moisturizers to maintain consistency without wetting leaves or flowers. You can also make a DIY moisture pan for orchids by placing a shallow pan of gravel and water under the pot. When the water evaporates, the moisture will increase. Just make sure the water surface does not come into direct contact with your orchid pot.