Orchid - a fabulous flower, almost magical. Looking at its large fleshy leaves and stunningly beautiful inflorescences on fragile delicate peduncles, it is difficult to believe that it is real. Nevertheless, with some effort, you can decorate your mini-garden on the windowsill with the presence of such a beauty. An orchid, the care and reproduction of which is carried out properly, competently and carefully, will certainly delight its owner with regular luxurious flowering. What is the secret? How to provide this exotic miracle with comfortable living conditions?
Orchid: care, reproduction, transplantation
So, a new tenant has appeared on your windowsill - an orchid. We note right away that if you are a busy person and are not ready to surround the plant with constant attention and care, you are unlikely to be able to “make friends” with the orchid. Like many other people from the tropical jungle, an orchid is a capricious plant and very quickly and extremely painfully reacts to any changes in the environment, especially if these changes are for the worse. In such a flower as an orchid, care and propagation all the more require a certain skill, because the inept handling of this fragile and capricious plant can lead not only to injury, but also to death.
The most important factors affecting the comfortable growth and development of orchids: light, air temperature and humidity, watering.
Illumination
In the wild, the orchid feels great in the shade of the trees on whose trunks it lives and grows, therefore, in indoor conditions, the orchid, the care and reproduction of which takes place in diffused light, will feel quite comfortable. Nevertheless, there should be enough light; in winter, it is even possible to organize additional illumination with fluorescent lamps. The lack of light immediately affects the appearance of the plant: the leaves are smaller and grow underdeveloped, and flowering is not necessary at all.
Temperature and humidity
Orchids grow normally at temperatures from 16 to 32 ° C, but they tolerate higher temperatures more easily than cold. The drafts orchid is even more afraid. Humidity should be quite high to recreate the tropical microclimate, but the main thing here is not to overdo it, the flower does not like spraying, as they can cause stagnation of moisture in the leaf sinuses and fungal diseases. To maintain the required level of humidity, you can install a pot with an orchid in a tray with wet pebbles.
Watering
Orchid, care and propagation of which occur in the conditions of proper and regular watering, will certainly respond with a beautiful appearance and regular plentiful flowering. As a rule, these plants are watered by immersing the pot in a container of water for a while so that the substrate can be saturated with moisture. Then the pot is removed from the water, excess moisture is allowed to drain. The good color of irrigation is indicated by the green color of the air roots. When they again become silver-gray, and the soil by touch - dry, watering is repeated. As a rule, in the summer two such procedures per week are sufficient. In winter, watering is reduced to once a week.
Reproduction and transplantation
Orchids are propagated by longitudinal or transverse division of the mother plant and "children", formed from "sleeping" buds on peduncles. A description of these processes is a separate topic.
Transplantation is carried out as necessary, when it becomes noticeable that the plant has become crowded in the pot, and too many randomly located aerial roots of the orchid have appeared above the surface of the substrate. Care, reproduction - a photo with a phased description of these processes can be found, of course, in almost any gardener's guide on indoor plants - it is still a rather time-consuming process. Before embarking on such a crucial matter as transplanting or propagating orchids, I advise you to carefully study as much information as possible, and possibly even turn to professional flower growers for help.