Orchid is a very beautiful and peculiar flower, so many people have a desire to have it at home. Of course, you will have to make every effort and patience, as the flower is noble, requiring special attention.
In the natural habitat, the orchid reaches for the light and tries to attach its roots to any protruding objects, to the bulges in the trees, and so on.
At home, the most commonly grown orchid in pots. It is preferable to choose dishes with transparent walls, since you can observe the state of the roots and monitor the moisture of the soil. In addition, an orchid in plastic pots feels very good. And to prevent excess moisture, you can make additional holes in the pot. In size, the pot should be approximately equal to the volume of the root of the plant.
Some do not like the use of plastic dishes. Therefore, clay pots can be recommended . If an orchid is grown in clay pots, then in this case you can see a number of advantages. Firstly, earthenware has good moisture permeability, so moisture is evenly distributed over the volume of the pot. Air also penetrates well inside it. Secondly, earthenware cools more strongly, and the orchid, as you know, is a “cold” plant. Thirdly, an earthen pot cannot fall over under the weight of the plant. Before planting an orchid in a clay pot, it must first be held in water for several hours so that the clay is well moistened. If the pot has been used repeatedly, it must be soaked in a weak acid solution to remove the salts that have accumulated on it. Therefore, the question of what kind of pot is needed for orchids should be approached strictly individually.
It is possible to grow orchid seedlings in bottles. But success can be achieved by following a few simple rules.
The main requirement in the care of young plants is patience. Provided that the content is correct, the first flowering can occur at six to eight years after pollination. A young plant in a bottle should be kept longer, because premature intervention is fraught with unpleasant consequences.
Only when you can visually observe that the orchid in the bottle feels uncomfortable, and there is not enough free space, or the leaves begin to turn black, then the following steps can be taken to care for it.
Further cultivation outside the bottle medium can be done in special small greenhouses. At the bottom of such a greenhouse, in order to avoid the accumulation of water, it is necessary to put drainage with a thickness of three to six centimeters. Small expanded clay is ideal for this purpose, since it can hold moisture for a long time.
After extracting the young plants from the bottle, it is necessary to remove the remains of the environment in which they were located, since outside the enclosed space a completely different environment is needed. Rinse the plants in warm water.
For successful growth, orchids need high humidity, as well as warmth and adequate lighting. In summer, it is recommended to install the greenhouse in a sunny place, as a result of which it will heat up and contribute to the formation of a steam climate. It is impractical to put a fan near the greenhouses, as it will interfere with the creation of this microclimate, and hypothermia of plants may occur. The greenhouse should be regularly ventilated, preferably at five to six in the evening.
Watering should be done in the form of spraying the outer soil layer. You need to try to avoid getting water into the core of a young plant, as this will lead to its decay and then death. It is undesirable to rearrange the greenhouse to another place, since the plant painfully tolerates new light conditions.
Immediately after transplanting to a permanent place, the orchid in pots does not need additional fertilizing, and you can not worry about this for the first six to eight months. After this period, dressing should be done about once a month, otherwise more frequent fertilizing can only harm the plant and orchid blossoms can never wait.