Orchid: how often to water, how to care? Orchids in room conditions

Orchid is a bright, unusually beautiful flower on a thin and fragile stalk. At home, the plant requires complex care, which is full of various nuances. Despite this, its natural refinement, sensuality and subtle fragility attract many lovers of indoor plants.

The process of watering a flower raises many questions: how to water an orchid in a pot, what kind of water and how often? Proper watering of orchids is a guarantee of successful growing of a beautiful and flowering plant. In turn, the mistake made in caring for a flower in the room can lead to his death.

Features of watering orchids

Orchids for beginners are represented by plants that can not be grown at home. Despite its exactingness, with good care, flowers grow beautifully and blossom on the windowsill in any house, like other houseplants.

Often, when acquiring a plant, beginners are too abundant and often water the orchid. This can lead to decay of the roots. The overflow for this whimsical and delicate flower is much worse than the underflow.

The main and most important rule of watering the orchid - the frequency of irrigation depends on the drying speed of the soil and the root system. One should not hold the opinion that you should water the orchid no more often than once a week, since this statement is erroneous.

The drying speed of the soil in the pot and, accordingly, the frequency of watering depend on many factors: lighting, pot size, humidity level and air temperature in the room where the orchid grows. How often to water a plant, it is impossible to say unequivocally - in different conditions the frequency of irrigation will be different.

What water to water the orchid?

Water - this is an important factor on which it depends, whether the plant will please its owners with unusually beautiful flowering. In addition to the fact that water is the main source of orchid nutrition, it performs the function of plant thermoregulation. In the natural habitat, the orchid receives nutrients with rainwater. But now everyone knows that the water falling out with rainfall in urban areas, in terms of its indicators and the level of safety is much inferior to rain water in the rainforests.

Hardness of water

Water for watering orchids in the room should be soft. Moderately hard water is also permissible. Since the process of measuring water hardness is quite complex and is not available to everyone, there is a popular way - the harder the water, the faster the scale will form in the kettle.

At high rigidity, oxalic acid, which is sold in flower shops or in chemical reagents stores, will help soften the water. For five liters of cold water from the tap, enough will be 1/8 of a teaspoon of oxalic acid. Then the water settles for 24 hours. It is advisable to drain the water after this or to drain the liquid, without stirring and leaving a residue on the bottom of the container.

It is also possible to drop a bag of peat for the night , which, among other things, acidifies the water. It is desirable to dilute distilled water with diluted water in a ratio of 1: 1, since after distillation the water loses the necessary mineral substances.

Another way to reduce stiffness is to use a water filter. The device effectively copes with harmful bacteria, fungi and heavy metals.

The acidity level of water and its optimum temperature

For the successful breeding of orchids and its flowering, the acidity of water plays an important role, the optimum level of which is 5 (pH = 5). Acidity can be checked with litmus paper. If the acidity level is higher than the required maximum, you can lower it by adding a few drops of lemon juice to the water.

Water for watering an orchid should be at room temperature or even a little warmer. Ideal for a plant is the water temperature of 35-40 degrees.

Ways of watering orchids

In addition to the main issues that everyone faces in whose orchid the orchid grows - how often to water, how to water and how much - an important point of care is the way of watering the plant. There are different ways to water orchids, but water the indoor flower quickly and fully can only be soldered.

Hot shower

This is the most common way of watering an orchid, as it recreates the natural conditions of warm tropical rains. Experts point out that the plants so planted faster than others grow green mass and often bloom. In addition, regular washing of the leaves of the orchid is a reliable protection against various pests. It is important to remember that such a method of watering an orchid is suitable only for those regions where soft water comes from the tap.

"Hot shower" is that the orchid is put in the bathroom and watered with a weak stream of warm water through the shower nozzle. The optimum water temperature is 40-52 degrees.

The duration of irrigation depends on how quickly the substrate becomes impregnated with water. After watering the plant can be left in the bathroom for 10-15 minutes in order to excess glass liquid.

Approximately one hour after watering, you should carefully wipe the leaves with a dry cotton cloth or paper towel. This is done to remove excess fluid from the sinuses of the leaves. If this is not done, the core will rot, and the flower can not grow further.

It happens that after such a method of watering on the leaves of orchids, deposits of salts appear in the form of white spots or divorces. To remove them, wipe the leaves with a cloth moistened with beer or lemon juice in a ratio of 1: 1.

"Immersion"

If an orchid grows in your house, how often to water it, we have already found out. Let us consider in more detail the method of irrigation by the method of complete immersion of a pot with a plant in water. Taking the pot from the water, it is necessary to allow the drain of excess liquid. For example, by immersing a small pot in the water for 30 seconds, it takes the same amount of time for the glass to water.

This method saves much water, but it is only suitable if the substrate and plant are not damaged and healthy.

Watering with watering can

Prepared water for irrigation is poured into the watering can and poured over the whole surface of the substrate with a thin trickle. It is important at the same time to avoid getting water to the point of growth of the orchid and the axils of the leaves. Water should be applied until the excess liquid begins to flow out of the lower holes of the pot. After the water runs off, after 2-3 minutes you can repeat the procedure and drain excess water from the pallet.

Watering the watering can should be done in the morning.

Spraying of roots

This method is suitable for orchids that grow without soil, that is located on blocks. The roots of such plants dry much faster, so they require more frequent watering. Spraying is best done in the morning so that the roots can dry. The sprayer should be set to "fog" mode.

How to water a flowering orchid

Irrigation of orchids during flowering has its own characteristics. You can not allow the plant to suffer from thirst or suffer from excess moisture. On average, the irrigation frequency is once in 3-4 days. You should water the flowering orchid early in the morning. The flowering period can last up to six months, so you should also fertilize the plant.

Most often, the orchid wilts due to improper care, including watering. In order to prevent the death of your favorite plant, you need to know the basic rules of watering a room flower. Knowing what an orchid needs, how often to water, how much water and how much, you can extend the flowering period of the plant.