Dendrobium orchid planting techniques

Dendrobium is an orchid with many species in the genus Orchidaceae of more than 1,600 species. The variety occupying the largest position is Bulbopllyllum. Distributed in the tropical Asia, most concentrated in Southeast Asia and Australia. If South American countries are proud of their beautiful Cattleya species, Southeast Asian countries also boast the rich Dendrobium variety.

There is not one common form of flowers, plants, or the planting of the Dendrobium variety with this large number of species. Ecological conditions are also very diverse, some species only grow and flower in cold regions, some species in hot areas, and intermediate species. There are also species that are adapted to any climatic condition.

The world of Dendrobium is a very complex world, even the flowering of genus has two completely different fields: a group of Dendrobium species that flower in the beginning of the rainy season due to drought during In the dry season, another group blooms on the occasion of Tet and currently does not know a certain wing due to the effect of the period or the longevity, or the synergistic effect of both factors.

1. Temperature, humidity, watering:

Dendrobium genus includes many species adapted to different ecological conditions. Dendrobium can be roughly divided into two main groups: the cold-loving group and the hot-loving group.
The cryophilic Dendrobium group grows and develops well at an ideal temperature of 15 ° C including varieties from the highlands of Vietnam and Burma above 1000m eg Dendrobium Linlleyi species, Dendrobium amabile, Dendrobium fimbriatum (Dendrobium fimbriatum). If these species are grown at 25 ° C or higher, the plants are still alive, but grow weaker and rarely flower.

The hot-loving Dendrobium group, comprising the majority of forest Dendrobium varieties from Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Dendrobium hybrids currently grown in Ho Chi Minh City and southern provinces, is suitable for the group's species. This is 25 ° C. The hybrid Dendrobium varieties, however, tolerate a much higher temperature.

There is also an intermediate group of Dendrobium that can live in both cold and hot regions, in cold regions where plants grow and flower more eg Dendrobium Primulinum, Dendrobium fanmeri, Dendrobium chrysotoxum, ideal temperature of This species is 20 ° C. Dendrobium like most other orchids only grow well in humid and airy conditions, relative humidity required is 70%. Overly moist and waterlogged media structure is detrimental to Dendrobium growth as the whole root is likely to rot and manifest as seedlings growing from the tip of the stem.

In Ho Chi Minh City, Dendrobium is grown in more light, 70% light around 20,000-30,000 lux, so species of this genus will be watered more than Cattleya: 2 times / day from May. through November, 3 times a day from December to February and once a day from early March to late April. Watering once a day during the holiday season will cause Dendrobium practitioners to deciduous and wrinkled but what inevitably happens when the rainy season comes, the young shoots will grow very quickly and very strongly, the flower buds will gradually form. Flowers will bloom for 3 months after rain, and can last up to December.

If fertilizer is the determining condition for Cattleya's flowering, changes in ecological conditions during the wet and wet seasons are the main reason for the flowering of species of the genus Dendrobium. This variety flowers on Tet occasion will be clear in the light). The drought during the holiday season from early March to the end of April will help plants store nutrients to prepare for a promising flowering season in the future.

The holiday season concept for some orchids in general and Dendrobium in particular is completely new. In Ho Chi Minh City and the southern provinces, for a long time the gardeners here have grown orchids without the holiday season.

The holiday season is an absolute time required for the Dendrobium cultivar a 5-year follow-up (1979 - 1983) shows that for the Dendrobium American Beauty species, Dendrobium Pompadour ... a 2 month break will help the orchid to arrive. Maturity and being able to harvest from 3-4 flowers, each branch from 20-25 flowers is very easy, a problem that orchid growers are yearning for and this is also the key to solving the quality of the flowers. Dendrobium will be exported in the future.

2. Lighting:

Dendrobium is a photophilic variety that can be grown in direct sunlight or diffused light, the effective range for Dendrobium is 70%, so the cover with shading 30% below ground and 40% above with intense Illuminance between 15,000-30,000 lux is very suitable for the growth of Dendrobium. The Dendrobium pots hung in truss should not be too close together, but should have a distance of 25cm for large species and 15cm for small species, for the purpose of giving the plant adequate light and ventilation. If there are enough varieties, one should plant a homogeneous Dendrobium species in the trellis, or if a truss has multiple varieties, choose plants of the same size (for the distribution of light to be regulated) and plants of the same age ( for easier fertilizer use).

Dendrobiun can be planted under direct sunlight, the plant still thrives, but to prevent leaf burns, it is important to allow the plants to slowly adapt and the pots to be planted should hang slightly together. For species of the genus Dendrobium, it must be remembered, it is better that the plant burns its leaves due to the lack of large light. Lack of light for the species of this genus will cause obvious degeneration, the number of flowers is also very small, the plant is in a pot. On the contrary, the excess light for species of the genus Dendrobim, only makes the tree worse because the leaves are too yellow or the practitioner is bare, but the tree will adapt gradually and still ensure the plant is full of flowers and beautiful. Anyway, the ideal lighting conditions still give the best results.

In addition, the lighting time of the day is the decisive condition for the flowering of a number of species affected by the period, for example: Orchids Price Cranes, Long Tu, Kim Ye show flowers with light conditions. showtimes are less than 10 hours a day. However, another hypothesis that needs to be studied is possible that these flowers flower due to longevity in December. Thach Po orchids only need to be cold for a few hours, the plants will bloom after a week.

3. Fertilizer demand:

Keep in mind that vertical Dendrobines are highly nutritious orchids, so they require a lot of fertilizer and can use a variety of fertilizers, while weak fecal Dendrobiums must use very thin concentrations. . Pig manure can be used very well by watering diluted diluted or dried manure is compacted into long pellets placed above the surface of the substrate. Dry oil cake stools can be used effectively by soaking in water and then diluting them to water or use the dried oil cake from the cake: use the fingertips to place about 5cm away from the practitioner. The lanolin root absorbs nutrients released through the watering process gradually. Some other types of organic fertilizers are also used such as shrimp and fish manure, dry buffalo manure ... Inorganic fertilizers are used, usually with the formula 30-10-10 used 3 times / week with concentration 1 teaspoon / 4 liters. During the growth season (from the beginning of May to the end of January) one month before the break season (during February), we fertilize 10-20-30 2 times / week to create a stamina for trees before entering the holiday season. During the growing season, if the plant has flower buds, we replace the fertilizer 30-10-10 with the 10-20-20 fertilizer with the same cycle as above until the flower bud dies. During the holiday season, there is absolutely no fertilization. for Dendrobium, or rather, reduce and do not fertilize Dendrobium when the plant completes its annual growth period. Usually Dendrobium completes its growth period in September to October when its last leaves are visible on the top of the practitioner and stalk. When the growth is complete, you reduce the watering and feed slowly until there is nothing left for a period of about 4 weeks, at which time the plant needs as much sunlight as possible- in coordination With the climatic conditions December short days and cool temperatures - annual defoliants prepare to shed their leaves for flowering. Varieties that do not change leaves are less manifest and usually only drop one or two leaves in older practitioners and stems rarely grow orchids, use separate fertilizers, often the fertilizer is applied in a mixture of amalgams. muscle, and sometimes additives are vitamins and trace elements.

Although species of the Dendrobium genus need and use a lot of fertilizer, be careful, fertilizer is a double-edged sword, overusing fertilizer even though it is organic can harm, end result. is death. You can reduce the fertilizer concentration proportionally, to shorten the watering time between two sprays, but if you increase the concentration of fertilizer, in order to extend the time between watering times is a wrong idea.

4. Structure of the substrate:

The media of Dendrobium is structurally similar to that of the genus Cattleya, meaning that the pot must be well ventilated and not waterlogged. However, due to their biological instincts and the vegetative structure of the practitioner with stems, species of the genus Dendrobium can use a medium slightly more humid than Cattleya but not rot the onion. Thus some species of Dendrobium can be grown on substrates that are coir or coco fish, serving as a pre-potting container. However, if the substrate is coir, it is necessary to limit the number of watering times, if the pot is a whole coconut, the bottom part must be saw, otherwise the plant will rot because it is too wet. You can also plant Dendrobium orchids with the onion about 3cm from the bottom of the pot, and then spread a few clean water hyacinth roots around the house. With this planting method, the size of pots and plants must be very adequate. However, the substrate of coal and brick has proved to be the most effective.

5. Holiday season:

Compared to Cattleya, the holiday season for species of the genus Dendrobium is much more necessary. Dendrobim's holiday season determines the quality of the flowers during the rainy season. Depending on the locality, the choice of the Dendrobium rest period differs, particularly in Ho Chi Minh City the Dendrobium holiday season should start from March to the end of April. A question to be raised is, the species of Dendrobium after After completing the practice, a new bud arises at the beginning of your rest, how should you deal with it? In our opinion, if the buds are small, eyes only slightly bulge, watering can be reduced and brought to a cool, dry place. If the bud is more than 5mm, one must maintain the amount of irrigation water and fertilizer to ensure the plant develops normally until the buds mature and form a complete yogi. We will let the tree rest with later time for the tree to regain strength, otherwise this young shoot will sooner or later blight and see as if the orchid has lost one eye to form a new lead.

6. Repotting and propagating Dendrobium:

Dendrobium is a very sensitive orchid when the pseudo-structure is not suitable for its growth and manifested that some seedlings grow on top of the practitioner's trunk. When this happens you have to perform repotting, as it is certain that the potting medium is damaged. This phenomenon is caused by the construction of a substrate that is too moist like coir. Just a short time changing the substrate, coir rotted and settled in the bottom of the pot to form a layer of humus waterlogged. That is why the roots completely under waterlogged conditions will be completely rotten. In addition, the humus layer is the favorable living condition for insects. These species impact with the disadvantage of excess water, biting the entire roots of orchids. Due to their survival instinct, orchids will respond by growing a number of seedlings on the tops to maintain seed.

Observing the growth of seedlings on the shoots will also help growers to check that planting is appropriate? Especially in terms of water conditions for irrigation and fertilization. In addition, once every 2 years, we should replace the pots instead of the growth process, more or less the pots are mossy, the substrate is damaged, the tree is imbalanced.

The repotting process is similar to Cattleya. Dendrobium and Cattleya are very similar in terms of propagation, ie also cut three shrimp individually and the procedures are the same as Cattleya, but the Dendrobium holiday season is 2 months. So we have to cut Dendrbium into segments of 3 shrimp 1 month before Cattleya.

The seedlings growing on top of the stem have a simple propagation method. You separate the seedling from the stem with a staining of the junction. Some people fear that, with cutting of the stalk on the tree will not guarantee the survival rate, so hurry to cut a piece of the stem. Actually there is not much difference in growth between a tree cut at the junction and a tree cut with a stem segment. It is therefore a waste of such a thing, as there may be several more seedlings on this section of the trunk in the future. Reality proves that for a practitioner of Dendrobium, sometimes up to 15 seedlings can be obtained. When is it important to store the seedlings? For strong Dendrobium species such as Dendrobium Caesar Alba, Dendrobium Caesar Latil, Dendrobium Popadour can cut seedlings, when the seedling is mature, all cuts are too young to give bad results. For weaker species like Dendrobium Jacqueline Thomas, Dendrobium Theodore Takiguchi ... we can wait for the seedling to grow a new practitioner, the propagation is more secure.

You should make a very careful choice: if you leave the seedlings, the mother plant will be weak and vice versa, taking too young seedlings will have. high mortality. Depending on your circumstances and intentions, you will have the most effective judgment. In addition, Dendrobium is like a yogi with body, so damage to the eye of the faculties does not cause absolute death.In a tree like Cattleya and it is through this knowledge that you can propagate varieties of Dendrobium that are precious to a single practitioner. Most still ensure the tree is alive. More extreme, Dendrobium can be propagated by cutting each segment of the body with about 2 eyes, dipping the two ends of the cut, in paraffin or applying lipstick, lime ... Place the segments horizontally, on wet sand, cover By a glass cage, spray once every three days of urea solution, 1 teaspoon / 4 liters of water, plus vitamin B1, with a concentration of 10 parts per million (10 ppm) for 2 consecutive weeks. Then spray only half a teaspoon of solution in 4 liters + vitamin B1 until the plants grow seedlings. Spray weekly for the following weeks.

7. Pests and diseases and other problems:

Because Dendrobium orchids need to be applied a variety of organic fertilizers and coir media will rot after a short time of planting. These are the two causes of many pests and diseases for the paste and root-eating mats in the substrate.

A sticky yellow aphid, very small about the tip of a toothpick, usually appears on the surface of the leaf. This type of damage on plants by absorbing resin. For Dendrobium biting insects, eliminating them is relatively easy by Serpa, Bassa, concentration 1/500. Although Dendrobium is a very resistant plant, it is still attacked by fungi and viruses, if the sanitary conditions are too poor. The most dangerous is the proximal stem dry disease and the disease is invaded by a virus, causing the practitioner to dry out and die. This is also one of the reasons why a plant grows seedlings on the top of the stem. Dendrobium can be prevented with longer distance than Cattleya is once a half a month with the fungicide Topsil, Zineb, Bencmyl with a concentration of 1/400.

8- Things to note:

Orchids Den. hercoglossum (red rose) after 1-2 years will lose all leaves to flower or young plants. The flowers will die after 2-3 weeks. Lan is water resistant in summer, less watering in winter.

Trees Den. anosmum, lituiflorum, pulchellum, lowianum, finlayanum, heterocarpum, parishii, pieradii, nobile, tortile, chrysanthum, wardianum will shed their leaves before and before flowering. Need to water a lot in summer and winter, less water.

Trees Den. amabile, chrysotoxum, farmeri, densiflorum, moschatum (Thai Binh), thyrsiflorum (Thuy Tien), brymerianum, fimbriatum, lindleyi are deciduous and green all year round. Plants of this type should never be allowed to dry.

Orchids with a tuberous shape and yellow flowers are often visited and bitten by rats, so they should be carefully protected.

All of the above factors are essential for orchids in general. In order for the tree to be better, beautiful, and more durable, we have to learn and study how we grow a climate, water, humidity, light, wind ..., fertilizer like the primary environment of each plant. From there hope you and your friends will be successful in cultivating Vietnamese orchids.