Orchids are exquisite flowers of extraordinary beauty. These exotic beauties are favorites in home floriculture. Many lovers of indoor plants seem to be very laborious and painstaking care of orchids at home. But it is not so. To verify this, you should get acquainted with the growing conditions of this wonderful flower: transplantation, reproduction, care.
Caring for a room orchid
In order for the orchid to feel comfortable indoors, you need to properly care for it: water it regularly and plentifully, feed it during feeding, ensure optimal air humidity, and maintain the required temperature. All these procedures are important, do not ignore them. But it should be borne in mind that orchids have many varieties, each of which needs to provide a special microclimate in the room. It is important to remember that the natural habitat of orchids in nature are regions with a warm climate.
Lighting
Growing orchids at home? Caring for them involves a number of activities, one of which is to provide the flower with proper lighting. In conditionsnaturally growing, these flowers receive moderate bright, but diffused lighting during daylight hours. To grow orchids and care at home, you need to create the same microclimate as in the wild. It is important to remember that for normal growth and abundant flowering, daylight hours for orchids should be at least 13 hours, including in winter.
If you put a potted orchid on the south window, home care is complicated by shading. The fact is that when the direct rays of the sun hit the leaves, burn spots remain, and the buds fall off. If you put a flower on the north window, you will need lighting not only in winter, but also in summer. The best place for orchids are windows located on the west or east side of the room.
Humidity and air temperature
Orchids are tropical plants that grow in humid climates. It is important to keep this in mind when caring at home. Orchids grow well and bloom in a room with an air humidity of 60-70%, which is quite realistic in the summer. But in winter, when the air is dried by heating devices, humidifiers and other means should be used. For example, a container with flowers is placed in a tray with wet moss or expanded clay, which retains moisture for a long time. However, the best conditions for orchids and home care (photo for viewing below) in winter is an indoor greenhouse. It should be separated by a glass or plastic partition.
It is very important to observe the temperature regime when keeping an orchid indoors. During the day, the air should warm up to 24 o C, and at night 14 is enough. In the warm period, it is advisable to take the flower pot to the loggia or garden. The plant will get used to temperature changes. In winter, the room with orchids should be ventilated at night, but do not allow cold air to enter.
Feeding
Houseplants grow in a limited amount of substrate, so they need regular supplemental nutrition. But fertilizers should not be used often. Feed additives for flowers in the form of specialized liquid mixtures ("Bona Forte", for example) are added to the substrate in which the orchid grows, twice a month: when the plant is actively developing and blooming. The orchid does not tolerate excess s alt in the soil, which have a negative effect on it. It is important to remember that excessive feeding does not benefit the flower, but only harms. Feeding and watering should be alternated. The plant does not need additional nutrition in winter.
Irrigation
Orchids have powerful rhizomes, both aerial and underground. They are designed to extract moisture from the ground and store it. Nutrients and water, in small quantities, the flower also saves in the leaves. It is very important to observe the watering regime when growing orchids. Home care consists in abundant moisture, but not flooding with water, which is detrimental to the plant. It is important that the substrate in the pot betweendried out by watering procedures.
There is no regular watering schedule for potted crops, it is adjusted depending on the season. In summer, watering is carried out up to three times a week. The water should be soft and warm, melted or rain settled is ideal. During the cold period, the frequency of procedures is reduced to one or two times, carried out as needed, in case of severe drying of the soil.
Care after flowering
Wilted buds are a clear sign of an orchid's preparation for dormancy. At the same time, the plant retains foliage, but consumes less nutrients, develops more slowly until the period until flowers appear on the orchid again. Home care (photo below) during this period requires special attention to the flower stalks. If they retain juiciness and color, they do not need to be removed. There are frequent cases when buds form again on these peduncles, and rosettes also form. When roots appear, they can be cut off and planted in a separate container. If flowering is completed, the flower stalks turn black and dry, the whole plant is cut to the very base and thrown away. Top dressing during this period is reduced, it is enough to apply fertilizer once a month.
Transfer
A flower bought in a store does not need to be transplanted. It can grow in the same pot for several years. But if sphagnum moss was used as the soil, a transplant is necessary. In new groundthe plant does not need to be fertilized immediately. It is important to keep the dry mode while the orchid gets used to the new environment, it does not even need to be watered. The most important thing is to provide the flower with complete rest. If a thorough examination of the plant does not reveal spots and insects, no chemical treatment is necessary.
In case of transplantation, soil is prepared before it is carried out, which includes expanded clay, charcoal, crushed bark of coniferous trees, foam plastic, sphagnum. The pot should be medium in size. If it is too large, the orchid will grow foliage instead of blooming. It is best to use a transparent container with slots, this will make it easier to observe the root system. The first watering after transplanting should be done after five to six days.
Reproduction and home care
Orchid, subject to certain rules, is bred easily. A flower can be propagated in many ways. One of them is the use of stem processes, which are called "babies". They form on flowers with high levels of nitrogen. When lateral shoots appear, the plant needs frequent spraying. Very soon the roots will appear, the stems are separated from the flower, treated with powdered charcoal and planted in another container or pot.
Propagation by layering
Horizontal growing orchids are sympodial plants, that is, growing horizontally. They have withdrawals. Their formation occurs in flowers with shoots of an elongated or thickened shape. Care and reproduction of orchids at home in this way isis to force the layers to wake up. To do this, a small greenhouse is being built over the site of bud formation using a plastic cup.
You can achieve high humidity by spraying the moss and the shoot itself. In a month, the kidneys will awaken and new plants will appear with their own roots and leaves. It is enough to separate them and transplant them to a new place of growth. For better rooting, new plants should be left in the greenhouse for a while.
Vegetative propagation
The above article talks about home care. Reproduction of orchids (the photo is presented for review) of any species and varieties can be carried out vegetatively. The procedure consists in dividing the root into parts while preserving the pseudobulbs. For breeding orchids in this way, mature plants are taken. Each part is planted in a separate pot. New plants are intensively watered and sprayed. The appearance of leaves, shoots indicates that the flower has begun.
General information about the Phalaenopsis orchid
This flower is a herbaceous plant and belongs to the Orchid family. His homeland is the humid forests of Australia, the Philippines, Southeast Asia. For the most part, phalaenopsis are epiphytic plants, that is, their place of growth is trees. But there are also varieties that grow on stones. Phalaenopsis were first discovered by a naturalist from Germany in the Moluccas. They got their name in honor of Karl Blum, who at that time ledLeiden Botanical Garden. The scientist, looking at the flower through binoculars, thought it was a butterfly. Hence the name: phalaenopsis - “like a moth.”
The plant has 70 species and is popular with flower growers not only for its exquisite beauty, but also for growing without much hassle. Home care for Phalaenopsis orchids is not difficult. The main thing is to create a microclimate for the plant, close to the conditions of natural growth. This can be easily arranged artificially, given the characteristics of phalaenopsis.
- A container with soil or a pot is necessary for a flower as a support.
- The roots of a plant need light and air. They get moisture from the atmosphere, they take food from the bark.
- This flower has aerial roots. The stems in search of food can easily penetrate into other pots, so you need to keep an eye on the Phalaenopsis orchid. Home care involves pruning long shoots.
Flowers have a variety of colors: purple, white, lilac, green, yellow, red. A contrasting lip stands out against their background.
Phalaenopsis Orchid: home care
When growing a flower, it is important to choose the right planting site, carry out timely watering and fertilizing, protect the plant from pests, and maintain the optimum temperature in the room. Phalaenopsis grows well and blooms in a ventilated room with an air humidity of at least 30%. In a dry microclimate, the leaves lose their elasticity and the flowers fall off. Athigh humidity begin to rot the roots.
This flower does not need to be sprayed even in extreme heat, as water flowing into the axils of the leaves causes them to rot. Watering is carried out only when the soil is completely dry, but the Phalaenopsis orchid cannot remain dry for a long time. Care at home is necessary when the plant needs watering. Top dressing of the flower is carried out no more than once every half a month. At the same time, complex fertilizer "Kemira-Lux" is added to the water. One gram per liter of liquid is enough.
Replanted once every two to three years. During this time, the substrate has time to cake and becomes unusable. You can buy ready-made earth mix or make your own.
Dendrobium Orchid, photo
Care at home for this plant is considered simple. But this is the opinion of experienced flower growers. Beginners should remember that the dendrobium orchid needs systematic attention. Home care requires good lighting, but not direct sunlight. The best place to place a flower is a window on the south side. The northern direction is strictly contraindicated. Leaves change color depending on the light intensity. If there is not enough light, they become dark green, and, conversely, with an excess of it, they acquire a light green hue. The yellow color of the leaves indicates a lack of lighting.
It is very important, especially during the period of active growth, to observe the temperature regime. Optimal for daylight hours is 25 oС, at night - 20. Plantneeds a daily temperature difference, otherwise it will not bloom. Does not tolerate extreme heat. Like other plants, it is impossible to grow dendrobiums without watering.
This procedure is carried out as needed, but always after the soil is completely dry. To do this, put a flower pot in warm water for a quarter of an hour. Then they take it out, and after the liquid drains, put it in its usual place. The dendrobium orchid needs to be fed. Home care involves the introduction of a complex fertilizer for this, starting from the flowering period and ending with the formation of new shoots.
Features of reproduction
When caring for at home, the reproduction of the dendrobium orchid is possible only in a vegetative way. The seed method is not used, since the flower will grow slowly, and it is very difficult to collect planting material. And yet, in the seeds collected at home, there are no characteristics of the parent plant variety. The orchid propagates in one of the ways: using layering, cuttings or dividing the bush. The procedure is similar for all plant species.
