How to care for orchids when they have buds? What if the orchid buds are dry before they open?

There are many kinds of orchids. There are five major kinds of orchids in our country alone. The most common orchid is the orchid with small white flowers planted on the roadside. So how to keep orchids blooming better after the buds appear?

How to care for orchids when they have buds

Temperature Management:

The fragrance of orchids is long-lasting, quiet and elegant, so it is very popular among flower lovers. However, it is not easy to make orchids bloom. First of all, we need to control the temperature. The suitable temperature for orchids is 12-18℃. Too high or too low temperature will cause orchids to drop buds. Therefore, ensuring the appropriate temperature is the first condition for orchids to bloom.

Humidity Management:

Humidity is essential for orchids to bloom. If the humidity is not reached, be careful not to spray water directly on the orchid, as that will easily cause orchid heart rot. The best way is to bag the orchid, which can effectively increase the humidity and make the orchid bloom.

Watering management:

After the orchid grows flower buds, the demand for water will increase, so it needs to be watered appropriately, but there should not be any accumulation of water. Just keep the soil moist. If the soil is too dry or too wet, it will cause the orchid buds to fall off.

Fertilization management:

When orchids grow flower buds, they need an appropriate amount of fertilizer. Generally, you can dilute orchid fertilizer and apply it. Be careful not to make it too concentrated, otherwise it will easily burn the orchid roots and drop the flower buds. You can also apply diluted potassium dihydrogen phosphate to orchids to promote flowering. After applying fertilizer, you don't need to apply fertilizer again during the orchid flowering period.

Lighting management:

Although orchids prefer shady environments, they also need proper sunlight when they are growing flower buds in winter, so that the flowers will be bright, colorful and fragrant. However, they should not be exposed to direct sunlight, otherwise the flower buds will fall off.

What happens if the orchid buds haven't opened yet?

1. Ambient humidity

After the flower buds emerge from the ground, they need an environmental humidity of about 50~70%. Too low or too high environmental humidity may cause the flower buds to fade. The autumn climate is relatively dry, especially for orchids on urban balconies. If you do not pay attention to moisturizing, the environmental humidity is often below 30%, so the flower buds in the environment will not disappear immediately, but will slowly dry up due to lack of water.

2. The relationship between temperature and temperature difference

The buds of orchids (spring orchids and cymbidium orchids) need a period of low-temperature vernalization, usually about two months of low-temperature experience, which will make the buds stronger.

Before vernalization, if the ambient temperature is high, orchids can bloom. However, the most common unvernalized cymbidium orchids have soft stems, few flowers, and uneven flowers; spring orchids have flowers close to the ground, with large heads and small bodies.

Temperature difference is also very important. It is better to keep the orchid plant in a low temperature environment. After all, the internal activity of the orchid plant will be reduced, or even dormant. But if the ambient temperature is high and the temperature difference is small, the orchid plant will consume a lot of nutrients, resulting in nutrient competition for the flower buds and the elimination of the flower buds.

3. Fertilization

Repotting has little effect on flower buds and can be ignored; as long as the seedlings are properly divided, there is no impact on the flower buds. Foliar fertilizer has little effect on flower buds as long as the concentration is within a safe range.

Liquid fertilizer application is the most dangerous, because when applying liquid fertilizer, it is possible that the fertilizer liquid will touch the flower buds, which will kill the flower buds. In addition, liquid fertilizer penetrates quickly, and the flower buds need a slow process to absorb fertilizer. Too fast fertilizer penetration will inevitably cause the flower bud cells to be unable to bear it, and then the buds will rot.

4. Lighting

Orchids still need sunlight after they have buds. Orchids that lack sunlight will either quickly lose their buds, or even if they do not lose their buds, the flowers they do bloom will not be fragrant.

In addition to these common reasons that can cause bud loss, environmental ventilation is also very critical.

How to grow orchids so that they can easily grow flower buds

Generally speaking, plants need three elements for growth - nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, and orchids are no exception. Only when the three elements are balanced can orchid seedlings grow well and bloom easily. Among the three elements, nitrogen fertilizer is used to grow leaves and promote photosynthesis, potassium fertilizer strengthens roots and gives leaves strength, and phosphorus fertilizer promotes flowering and fruiting.

Having said that fertilizer is good, let's talk about the growth of leaf buds and flower buds of orchid seedlings. The leaf buds of wild orchids germinate after flowering (May) every year, and the humid climate in the rainy season is suitable for the germination and growth of leaf buds; while flower buds mostly germinate after the beginning of autumn, when the weather is clear and relatively dry, which is suitable for the germination of flower buds.

The third factor, the temperature difference between day and night, is a necessary condition for whether orchids can produce flower buds and bloom well.