For a beginner, first encountered with the cultivation of orchids, it is unclear how this plant can exist without a traditional earthen substratum. This ignorance is used by unscrupulous producers of flower soil. The composition of the purchased soil for orchids includes leaf earth, peat and humus, which is absolutely unacceptable for phalaenopsis cultivation.
Orchid - a plant that in the wild lives on trees and rocks, clinging to the support of air roots. Roots that are not covered with a layer of soil have a constant contact with air, which best affects the health of the plant. Therefore, in the home, in order for the plant to be healthy and to enjoy abundant flowering, it needs to create conditions that are as close to natural as possible, and correctly pick up the soil for orchids.
Which soil is better for orchids?
Those who are fond of breeding these exotic flowers, by trial and error, select the right soil, which is suitable for their plants. After all, the conditions of detention are not the same - some grow orchids in a greenhouse with high humidity, someone in an apartment with central heating and dry air. All this is directly reflected in the plant.
If you still decided to purchase a ready-made primer for orchids, then its composition should be studied very carefully in the store. It can contain wood bark and charcoal, rhizome of fern, nephrolepsis , perlite, coconut fiber, but in no case do not have earth in the composition. On the packaging it should be written that the soil is intended for epiphytes, in particular, for phalaenopsis.
But true connoisseurs of orchids prepare the soil themselves, not trusting the manufacturer of the health of their wards. When landing in the wrong ground, nothing terrible will happen, but only at first glance. It will take some six months, and the plant will begin to show signs of the disease, and when transplanting into a new soil it will be found that the root system is damaged. The roots of the orchids are arranged in such a way that their outer layer resembles a porous sponge. This layer is necessary in order to absorb moisture from the environment and water that is watered by the plant. After the outer layer is saturated with moisture, it transfers it to the root of the rhizome, and keeps it by itself, preventing moisture from evaporating. If the soil mix is heavy - earthen or clay, if it does not let the air in to the roots, and the soil does not dry out for a long time, then such a composition is not suitable for successful plant growth.
How to prepare a primer for orchids by yourself?
Knowing which soil is suitable for your orchids, it is easy to do it yourself. In the process of experimenting with various constituents of soil for orchids, unnecessary components are gradually eliminated. Thus, the excess of sphagnum moss a leads to accumulation of moisture and condensate in the pot. So, if you use it, then it's very small. An exception may be a room with low humidity, in which the water evaporates very quickly.
Optimal is the planting of orchids with a substrate of pine bark with a small addition of polystyrene beads. It is the pine bark that best suits this plant. You can buy it in
In no case can the bark be collected from growing healthy trees. Only the bark that is collected from a dead dead tree is suitable. After the harvested bark was at your home, it should be boiled for about an hour in order to boil the resin and killed the insects that lived in it. Now the softened bark should be cut into large pieces and dried in an oven with a temperature of about 100 degrees. After this, you can safely plant the plant in a new substrate and expect a thankful bloom.