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In the wild, orchids attach themselves to the bark of trees and extract nutrients with aerial roots. When growing at home, an orchid is provided with conditions close to natural. Orchid tree bark serves as a suitable substrate. It is chemically inert, breathable and retains moisture when watering.
Preparing the bark for orchids
Substrate composition
When planting orchids, use a purchased substrate (biomixture).
Often stale soil is found in stores, the qualities of which have suffered over time. Decorative flowers are not planted in it: this threatens with drying out or rotting of the roots.
Florists who have been growing orchids at home for a long time prepare the mixture with their own hands using the following components:
- pine wood;
- sphagnum (freshly harvested marsh moss);
- crushed activated carbon;
- Pine cones.
Self-mixed soil from the listed components is used for growing at home varieties of phalaenopsis, dendrobium and their hybrids. They feed only on aerial roots and do not require fertile deciduous soil as part of the soil. The primer is suitable for exotic flowers in open and closed systems.
Not only pine bark can be used for orchids. Birch bark, oak or spruce wood are suitable, but delamination is rare in trees. The fallen bark of larch, thuja and cypress is often used in the preparation of store mixes.
Wood forms an inert and breathable base of the soil. Thanks to phytoncides, parasites do not start in the substrate. Cones are an auxiliary part of the soil, but they are not always used. The scales are separated from each other, kept for 5-7 minutes. in hot water, dried and added to the mixture.
Sphagnum absorbs and retains water well, maintains the integrity of the soil mixture. Activated carbon serves a direct purpose. The component draws toxic substances from soil and water.
Peat is also added to the substrate for young plants: they require an increased content of nutrients. Some varieties require perlite, broken brick and river sand.
Orchid bark
Description
What kind of bark is needed for an orchid? Bark is called all layers of wood tissuethat are located on the outside of the cadmium side. Bast fibers are not included in its composition. Such parts of the tree for floriculture are not harvested or used.
For orchids, pine bark is most often used.
In floriculture, mulch is used as the basis of the substrate, blocks are made from large pieces, on them grow orchids without a substrate.
Suitable material can be found in a forest or park. First of all, it is worth visiting those areas where elderly conifers grow.
Views
Which bark is suitable for growing an orchid? Experts recommend using for growing orchids softwood raw materials... We have a pine, less often a spruce.
Which tree bark is suitable for an orchid? Pine is more popular among domestic florists. Spruce is considered somewhat more resinous, although it is not inferior in other qualities - useful properties and structure.
Take the material from long-dead trees:
- The material is free to peel off, is the most suitable;
- The tissues are mostly freed from resin, causative agents of fungal diseases under the influence of natural phenomena;
- In such material, there are practically no insects, but there are larvae, you have to get rid of them.
Attention! It is not recommended to use the bark of deciduous trees, because the tissues of some species contain substances that slow down the growth of orchids.
But many orchid growers prefer oak layer, noting a significant amount of nutrients and less acidity compared to pine.
Experts note that the layers of hardwood do not exfoliate, therefore it is problematic to prepare it yourself.
And the industrial harvesting of deciduous trees is practically not carried out, therefore, in ready-made substrates from domestic raw materials, such component does not occur.
Raw materials from other conifers, such as cedar, larch, thuja, decomposes more slowly, which means that it is reluctant to give nutrients to the epiphyte.
Benefits for plants
In orchid growing, the following qualities of the pine layer are appreciated, useful for orchids, most of which are epiphytes:
- Air permeability due to the presence in the composition;
- Moisture capacity and the ability to quickly remove excess water;
- Antiseptic effect due to lignin in the composition;
- The content of nitrogen, ash and oxygen, vegetable fats and wax, useful microelements and mineral acids is significant.
Why not take from rotten plants?
The material is taken only from obsolete, dry, but not from rotten trees.
In order to avoid orchid disease, the bark is chosen clean without rot.
The layer from plants, where decay processes began, is not taken for floriculture to avoid the introduction of pathogenic bacteria on the roots of orchids.
Store substrate or self-made?
Which is better: using purchased bark or self-collected? Each grower makes this choice independently. Opinions are shared here:
- Some orchid growers prefer to harvest raw materials on their own;
- Others trust industrial production.
Each point of view is reasoned. Those who are for independence, celebrate the benefits:
- Knowing exactly that the material is taken from the right tree at the right time;
- High-quality processing and disinfection;
- Optimal fraction cutting;
- Lack of unwanted impurities.
In addition, to buy tree bark in a store, you need to spend money without quality assurance, because the purchased bark recommend to process as well as self-assembled.
On the other hand, not everyone has the opportunity to visit the forest and find a suitable tree. Then the material must be cooked, hopelessly ruining the dishes.
Then cut and dry somewhere thoroughly, and it's time consuming and the need to allocate a decent part of the room.
In addition, foreign manufacturers offer a substrate from those species that do not grow in our country (cypress, vines), but are found in regions of natural distribution of orchid epiphytes, which means that suitable for orchids.
Preparation for sale on an industrial scale
At woodworking enterprises, wood is debarked, obtaining large, even gigantic volumes of by-product.
Attention! The bark is removed from freshly cut trees, in which life processes have not completely stopped at the time of the removal of material. Therefore, there are remains of bast on the bark.
One of the ways of waste-free disposal is the direction of waste for the production of crop products:
- For this, the layer of wood is cleaned of dust, sand, wood fibers;
- And they are sent to enterprises that specialize in the production of agricultural products;
Before use, the bark is initially thoroughly cleaned and washed. - Here the material is disinfected, crushed and calibrated;
- Then, if necessary, form mixtures and complexes, packaged.
Which wood is suitable
Not every pine bark is a good substrate for orchids. Florists recommend collecting bark only from felled or dried pine trees.
Resin is contained in the wood of living pine in high concentrations. This component is not suitable for phalaenopsis. Dead parts are more difficult to remove from the trunk, but they are practically devoid of resinous substances.
It is allowed to use wood if it meets the requirements:
- breaks easily in hands: this indicates a small amount of resins;
- has a uniform color without burnt spots;
- has a homogeneous structure without rotten or rotten areas.
Oak or other softwood must also meet the requirements.
It is recommended to cut or break off only the top layer of the bark. All areas with a burnt out color (darkened), rotten structure are removed from the material. Rotten material is not used at all, putrefactive bacteria quickly spread in the wood and harm the plant for which it serves as a substrate. Dust and insects are immediately removed from the collected material.
Where to find and how to collect the substrate
Preparing the bark for planting orchids begins with finding the right raw material. Pine wood is harvested in a pine forest, planting, in the park. The collection point should be far from busy highways, chemical, metallurgical, oil refineries. The bark is cut with a sharp penknife from fallen trees or stumps.
Sphagnum is collected in the forest in low-lying wet areas, and moss is also found near water bodies. Only fresh and green plants are harvested.
The substrate is easy to find at the sawmill. You don't even have to collect it there. The top dry layers fall off the trunk on their own during sawing or other processing. The material is also inspected for compliance.
Products of popular manufacturers
Morris Green substrate, Russian production.
The manufacturer offers coarse dried pine bark, without grinding, suitable for planting adult orchids in substrate and on blocks. The material is clean, treated from parasites.
EFFECT BIO
Another domestic product. A complex substrate based on the bark of the Angara pine. Added dolomite flour to reduce acidity material. Dried, processed from harmful insects.
Complex Seramis
Contains:
- Bark;
- Complex fertilizers;
- Clay;
- Humidity regulator.
Recommended for use on large areas of plantings (for example, in greenhouses).
The term of use is up to 10 years. Despite the presence of clay in the composition, other components are balanced in such a way that the substrate remains loose and breathable for many years, does not cake or thicken.
Multicomponent substrate Royal Mix
Calibrated bark, thermally treated, supplemented:
- Peat;
- Charcoal;
- Coconut fiber.
The mixture is enriched with trace elements. The substrate remains loose for a long time, supports optimal temperature conditions, protects the roots from diseases.
Orchiata
Substrate from a granular layer of wood made in New Zealand. It does not thicken for a long time, does not get sick. Disinfected.
How to properly prepare the substrate
The bark needs to be prepared for use
Do-it-yourself preparation of the bark for orchids includes the rejection of low-quality material, additional drying and heat treatment. During drying and heat treatment, adult parasites, larvae and eggs die in the material.
An oven is used for thermal drying. It is heated to 120 ° C, the wood is left for 5-10 minutes. The biomaterial is recommended to be cooked when preparing a mixture at home.Before boiling, the wood is crushed. Small pieces are easier to boil and dry faster, the effect of this procedure is better.
Heat treatment of pine bark for orchids is carried out in galvanized buckets. The material is placed on the bottom and pressed down with something heavy. The bucket is not filled to the top with liquid. The distance from the water surface to the edges of the bucket should be 5-10 cm. The chopped wood is boiled over low heat for an hour. Then they allow the liquid to cool, and the resinous carbon deposits are removed from the warm bucket (dry resin is difficult to scrape off). The contents of the bucket are poured into a colander, the moisture gradually drains away. This does not end with the processing of the substrate.
Dried bark for orchids with your own hands is crushed with a disinfected sharp knife. For young seedlings, the parameters of the fractions are 1: 1 cm, for adults - 1: 1.5 cm. The chopped pieces are kneaded with your fingers so that the edges become less sharp.
For drying, the substrate is divided into several piles, folded in thin paper bags to protect it from dust and insects. If white mold develops on pine wood during storage, it is not required to reanimate the material by boiling. Plants in the wild enter into symbiosis with fungi.
Sphagnum is also required to prepare for planting and transplanting plants. It is recommended to soak it in clean water with the addition of a few potassium permanganate granules.
Pine wood is suitable for long-term storage for 2-3 years. It is recommended to prepare it in advance for transplanting young plants, which is carried out annually.
Planting a plant
It is not enough to prepare the bark for orchids, you need to properly plant the plant and take care of it at home. For flowers, use transparent pots with a large number of holes in the bottom (open system) or glass containers, narrowed at the bottom and widened at the top. Before transplanting the plant, the container is treated with a weakly colored solution of potassium permanganate.
Planting stages:
- the bottom of the pot is covered with drainage a quarter of the height (expanded clay, brick chips are suitable);
- put the plant in a pot;
- carefully cover the orchid with the prepared substrate, the largest fragments of wood are placed in the lower layers.
The plant should stick tightly to the substrate, not wobble.
In care, tropical plants are not capricious. They are sprayed with clean water 2-3 times a week, watered once a week. Top dressing is applied only in summer. Transplanting the plant during flowering is prohibited.
Possible problems
Difficulties in using the bark as a substrate for planting epiphytes are very rare. Problems usually start after a while due to improper care. Phalaenopsis roots rot due to improper watering and excess moisture. To remedy the situation, the frequency and intensity of irrigation is reduced, the plant is watered only with warm and soft water.
Sometimes yellowed areas are found on the foliage. The reason for their appearance is direct sunlight. To avoid this, the plant is illuminated only with diffused light. For this, the pot is placed on the east or west side of the house. If the orchid stands on the southern windowsill, it is shaded with a screen during active sun hours.
