Orchid - a flower that has gained popularity around the world. Among its many varieties, the tiger orchid is especially popular. She is the highlight that will decorate any home greenhouse. Against the background of this variety, others are simply lost. It is the tiger orchid, described below, that can add style and brightness to everything that surrounds it.
Features
This plant is native to South America. From there, it began to spread throughout the world. By its color, the tiger orchid is very original and includes more than three hundred subspecies. Such plants require special attention and care.
This flower has oblong foliage, which is covered with numerous brown dots below. Flowering lasts about a month. Tiger orchids can be of very different colors: yellow, red, white with characteristic inclusions.
Bloom
In total, the plant blooms for about three months: a month in 2-3 calls. But for this, the orchid must be old enough. You can determine its age by looking at the shoots - there should be at least five of them.
The inflorescences are large with a pleasant aroma. The buds open gradually. This process takes about a day - and you can admire a beautiful flower.
Care
Tiger orchid is demanding on the conditions of maintenance and care. To plant pleased with long flowering, it is necessary:
- Water the flower regularly. Orchids are tropical plants and love moderate moisture.
- A sufficient amount of sunlight.
- Properly selected pot. Orchids are planted in transparent pots, which favorably affects the root system.
- Maintaining the right room temperature. The optimal conditions of detention is to maintain a temperature of +20 degrees in the daytime, and +16 ... + 18 at night.
- Orchids are nutritious and need additional nutrition. This provides a long and plentiful flowering.
If not blooming
To flower a tiger orchid pleased with abundant flowering, you must follow a few simple rules. To begin with, it is worth remembering that this plant is painful for movements. Therefore, do not touch the pot with it unnecessarily. Orchids are delicate, whimsical flowers. Moving the pot from one edge of the windowsill to the other painfully affects the plant. If you need to move the pot, then it is worth remembering which side the light fell on. This side should put the orchid in the light in a new place.
These specimens of flora bloom at the age of one and a half years. Therefore, if the flower is not a year old, then you should not expect flowering from it.
When growing, it is worth paying attention to the root system. In order for the tiger orchid phalaenopsis to develop correctly, you need to carefully monitor the root system.
Sometimes a plant refuses to release a flower branch. To stimulate it, it is necessary to arrange stress on the plant by moving it to a cool place and stopping watering. After that, the plant releases a flower arrow and blooms.
Location and Ground
From the first days of the appearance of this beauty in the house, it is necessary to find a suitable place for her. To make it happy with regular flowering, it is recommended to put it on the southern and eastern windows.
The key to successful orchid growth is a properly composed soil. It should consist of:
- Pine bark. This component can be found at any time of the year, but you need to assemble it correctly. Bark is taken from fallen trees at their base. Do not take pieces damaged by the bark beetle. The thickness of the bark should be 1-2 cm. You can buy bark in a garden store.
- Moss. It is harvested in the spring.
- Fern roots They contain many useful substances needed by growing orchids.
All components are mixed. You can add a little peat to the composition. You can buy ready-made soil for orchids. It contains everything necessary for the proper growth and development of the plant.
Temperature
Flowers are demanding in temperature conditions. The room where orchids are grown should not be too hot. A prolonged increase in temperature to +30 degrees affects them negatively. The plant does not tolerate a strong decrease in temperature.
Humidity Lighting
Tiger orchid loves humid air. In the hot season, the flowers are sprayed. In cold weather, they do not do this, since such an action can cause dark spots on the leaves or cause decay.
The plant needs sunlight. Depends on its quantity, how abundantly and often flowers will bloom on the plant.
Features of watering
Speckled orchids take root better in drought than in excessive moisture. Therefore, it is recommended to avoid excessive watering. Because of this, it is best to water the plant twice a week in the summer and once a week in the winter.
Top dressing
There are a number of conditions under which the plant is not fed. Do not fertilize in the first month after transplanting. Do not give additional nutrition to weakened flowers; it is forbidden to fertilize them during the period of active growth.
You can feed the flower with the root and leaf method. With the root method, fertilizer must be diluted in accordance with the instructions.
Before applying fertilizers, it is necessary to wet the substrate until the root is completely wetted, and only after that the plant is fed. To do this, use special fertilizers for orchids.
Transfer
And how to transplant an orchid at home, at what point? Sooner or later, the time comes when you need to do this. There are many reasons for this, for example, the age of the plant or a cracked pot.
The transplant is carried out carefully, according to all the rules. Only a non-flowering plant is transplanted. This process is thoroughly approached. At the slightest wrong action, the flower may die.
This variety must be soaked in water before transplantation to make it easier to remove from the container. This method does less damage to the roots. The plant is carefully removed from the pot. All damaged roots are removed, the old substrate is completely removed. The roots are washed with warm water.
The plant is allowed to dry for about twenty minutes. Slices of the roots are sprinkled with activated charcoal so as not to infect the infection. They are placed in a new pot and only after that the container is filled with the substrate.
The transplanted flower is fixed in a pot so that it does not fall. After transplanting, the plant is watered.
Breeding
Seeing what flowers there are orchids, I want to collect a huge collection. In order not to lose varieties, they are propagated. This procedure is carried out by various methods, such as:
- Department of basal babies. From it you can grow a new plant instance.
- Branch baby at the peduncle. Germination of sleeping buds allows you to grow a new plant.
- Growing a new plant from the deceased. It happens that an orchid dies. Such plants should not be thrown away, since children can always be grown from them.
Diseases and Pests
With improper care, the orchid begins to hurt, it can be attacked by pests. If you do not start treating the flower in a timely manner, then it may die. In case of malnutrition, growths are formed on the plant, which quickly complete the growth.
Bacteria, fungi, viruses lead to various infections. If you do not provide the plant with proper care and treatment, then the orchid will die.
The most common pests are:
- Scaffolds. Their appearance is indicated by a slowdown in growth. The pest appears due to dry air. To get rid of it, it is necessary to treat the plants with special preparations that are sold in garden stores.
- Pemfigi. These are white insects that damage the leaves of tiger orchid varieties. Also appear due to dry air. Eliminate with a soap-alkaline solution. In severe cases, chemicals are used.
- Aphid. On orchids, green, black aphids are found. It causes a plant to become infected with a fungal or viral infection. Aphid appears in violation of thermoregulation. You can get rid of it with special preparations or treatment with a milk-water mixture.
Tiger species is one of the most beautiful. Seeing what color orchids are, it is impossible to resist this beauty, interspersed and intricate patterns. To grow a beautiful flower, it is necessary to make a lot of effort, but the plant will thank for its efforts with abundant, lush flowering.