Beginner's Corner

Prepare yourself before you get your precious orchids home. You might be a beginner or an advanced grower, these seven things are a must have in order to take good care of your orchids. Some of these items could already be with you and some you may have to get. 1. Plant Nutrients/Fertilizer  Most important of all 7 is plant nutrients. That is because, when we bring orchids  home, the only source of nutrients for orchids is the irrigation water and the growing environment. Fertilizing your orchid regularly provides it with the nutrients it needs for optimal health, immunity and vigorous...

If you are into any plants, you often hear about NPK fertilizers commonly labeled as 20-20-20 or 19-19-19 or 13-40-13 or 30-10-10 etc. Have you ever wondered what it means and how this will impact your plants health? We get this question very often and that is why we decided to write about it.  The three numbers on the label represents the value of three macronutrients used by the plants. NPK represents Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P), and Potassium (K) and the numbers like 20-20-20 or 19-19-19 means the concentration of these elements in the fertilizer. How plants respond to the...

Nutrients are very important for all plants and living beings including orchid plants. Most plants obtain the nutrients and moisture they need from the soil. Soil or Terrestrial plants use their roots to absorb these nutrients. As most orchids are epiphytes that grow on the trees they can not benefit from the soil’s richness. Instead, they create their own mini nutrient gardens by trapping wind-blown plant and animal matter, grains of soil, mineral flakes, bird droppings and other nutrients between their tangled roots where they can be absorbed by the plant from the moisture around the roots. However this is...

Use a container of 10 liters or more for a 3 liters packet of coconut husk. Fill the container with 10 liters of water. Rainwater is preferable but not essential at this stage. Untreated tap water can be used regardless of the Ph or EC. Fill in the container with coconut husk now, the medium should now start absorbing water and should be completely soaked in water in a few hours. After 24 hours, you must empty the water in the container, which will be brown in colour which nothing but tannin from the husk. Once again use fresh water...