Delicate and wonderful: orchids need very careful care. And yes, there’s one nutrient in particular that can help you Too much water or too little? Watering orchids can become a dilemma. Therefore, it is absolutely necessary to know how to behave, not only to have a consistent flowering, but to keep the plant healthy. There are also tricks that can help you with maintenance, which must be adequate so that the delicacy of the glass is maintained. Let’s find out together how you can have beautiful flowers with little effort.
How to give milk to orchids
Milk, yes. You read that right. This special ingredient will help you clean the leaves of the orchid to serve as a watering aid. It is very easy to prepare the right solution for this operation. Simply mix a tablespoon of water with a spoonful of milk andgently apply it to the sheetsand with a cotton ball or makeup remover pad. It can be used to remove dust, which is often hidden at the ends of the plant, as well as to remove limescale residue caused by water droplets that evaporate and are not dried with a soft cloth beforehand. Too much water can also cause problems for the leaves and promote the proliferation of fungal infections. Milk also helps eliminate spores that can affect the health of the plant, even quickly. Milk helps to clean the leaf, to make it healthy, but also to polish it. You might think that the eye wants to do its part too, and this is also the case with orchids. White, colorful, mottled: having flowers every year is certainly the goal of those who love Orchidaceae and for this reason take care of them.
How to water correctly?
Let’s go back to the main menu, which shows the correct watering of your orchids, at the top of the list. Of course, this is not easy, especially since they do not grow in conventional potting soil and therefore it is not possible to predict how the water will behave. For them, in fact, a mixture of peat, bark and other inert materials is necessary. Therefore, the goal of watering is to add moisture to the peat moss and bark, which they retain quite easily. First caution: orchids do not water from above. You should carefully submerge a vase in a sink or container filled with water. The fluid level should not exceed half of the glass. Be very careful not to let the crust come off. The immersion should not be too short, but not too long either: the peat moss should be soaked, but you should avoid standing water. 20 minutes may be fine, but before you put the pot in the saucer, let it drain nicely, even for half an hour. The water requirement changes according to the season and varies mainly with the development of temperatures. Once a week may be enough in spring, while in summer you will have to repeat the operation at least two or three times, depending on the heat. Do it again once a week in the fall and every 10 days in the winter. Remember that your orchid is giving us signs of lack of water. The substrate should not be dry, while the roots should be green. If they lean towards silver, then they are thirsty.
What water should be used?
To water your orchid properly, it is important to choose the right water. As you may have guessed, this plant doesn’t like limestone. And no, not even chlorine. Therefore, the use of tap water is not indicated, it is advisable to use rainwater or demineralized water instead, which is also used to fill the boiler of the iron. The same water can be used to gently spray the leaves, and if not, a watering can can be filled and the tap water allowed to fill so that the limescale settles to the bottom. Lots and lots of attention to the temperature of the water, which should not be too cold. At 15°C, the orchid begins to lose its flowers. Try to use it at room temperature. In winter, you can dilute it with a microwave passage for a few seconds.
How to Spray the Leaves
It is important for orchids that the environment in which they are welcome is humid. Our homes, on the other hand, have dry air, especially if they are heated or cooled by heating and air conditioning systems. Therefore, it is necessary to restore the optimal environment for them by properly spraying the leaves. This process can be carried out throughout the year, but you have to be careful with the flowers, which should not receive traces of liquid. If the environment is really very dry, then you can try a room humidifier. Unlike other houseplants, it is preferable to mist the leaves in the early hours of the morning. In fact, the heat of the sun is able to evaporate excess water from the leaves to prevent the appearance of spores.
Cómo adaptar el riego al suelo
Proper watering of your orchid depends largely on the potting soil used. In the case of bark and peat, we can also venture into traditional watering, as long as the pot is drained before placing it in its saucer. If you are growing only in bark, you can proceed with watering from below according to the methods we propose. The leaves can be carefully moistened with the help of a sprayer, remembering to dry off excess water.
Fertilization and flowering
The orchid is a plant that needs care in many ways. In fact, fertilizer is essential for proper growth and for achieving a bountiful and long-lasting flowering. It is therefore very important to choose the right one among the numerous proposals, which differ not only in the recipe (not all are suitable for all varieties of Orchidaceae) and in administration. The instructions must be indicated on the label, otherwise you can ask your trusted dealer for advice. The plant should be fertilized throughout the year. On the other hand, flowering is expected twice a year, once in spring and once in autumn. This stage lasts for several months, so you can expect a picturesque plant for some time. Remember that flowers should never be wet. When the last flower has fallen, you can decide whether to keep the stems or cut them off. In the first case, the flowers bloom on the same stems, but are smaller. If you choose to remove them, the plant will move to produce new stems on which the new seasons will grow.
