Houseplant compatibility is the most interesting thing on the blogs. It is known that even flowers do not always find a "common language"

Looking at a blooming orchid, many flower growers do not even think about whether to buy this unusual plant or not. Of course, buy! But will it bloom just as well at home?

Everyone knows that an orchid is a rather capricious plant and requires scrupulous care. It is possible to achieve re-blooming from it if you know all the factors contributing to this and follow a certain care regimen. Then the flowering of the orchid will last from 2 to 6 months. And some genera, like phalaenopsis or vanda, can bloom all year round.

For an orchid to bloom...

Orchid flowering frequency depends on compliance certain rules care. In order for the plant to bloom, you should remember 9 important conditions contributing to this.

1. Find out the age of the orchid

If you bought a non-flowering plant, and it is in no hurry to please the flower arrow, perhaps it is still too young. Different types orchids bloom at the age of 1.5 to 3 years. To determine that the orchid is old enough, you need to count the number of shoots. An adult plant ready to bloom should have 5 to 8 of them. If the flowers on the orchid appear earlier, this is not always good. The point is that too young plant there may not be enough strength to recover after flowering, and the orchid may die.

2. Don't move the pot

Many people know that moving for an orchid is a real stress. But this flower does not like even minor movements. The orchid responds to its position in relation to the light. Therefore, if there is a need to rearrange the pot with the plant, it is necessary to place it with the same side to the light source as it stood before. Also, do not move the orchid during watering. Movement adversely affects the growth of the flower, especially at the time of the appearance of the peduncle.

3. Pay Attention to Your Roots

As you know, orchid roots are actively involved in the process of photosynthesis, so it is important to ensure that they have enough light. Since it is not recommended to move the orchid once again, it is worth taking care of the roots in advance. For example, instead of ceramic pots, it is better to use plastic transparent containers with large quantity drainage holes. It is not recommended to take containers with corrugated walls for planting this flower, since its roots tend to grow on uneven surfaces. In addition, sharp edges and elements may injure root system, which will harm the entire plant as a whole.

4. Take care of the lighting

Sunlight is very important factor affecting orchid flowering. Without full daylight hours (10-12 hours per day), these plants will not bloom. Therefore, in autumn and winter, when natural light very little, flowers should be illuminated with lamps.

Phytolamps are special lamps designed to illuminate plants: they give a lot of bright light without drying out the air around the flowers.

If the orchid has released a peduncle in autumn or winter, then care should be taken that it does not die due to the short daylight hours. Without additional illumination in the dark season, the peduncle may stop developing or dry out. If it is not possible to illuminate the whole plant, it is enough to organize illumination only for the tip of the peduncle. The main thing is to make sure that neither he nor the plant itself is heated.

5. Ensure acceptable temperature difference

The catalyst for the flowering of many types of orchids is a slight difference between day and night temperatures. Therefore, in order for the orchid to bloom, at night the temperature must be 4-6 ° C lower than during the day. Of course, creating such conditions throughout the year can be problematic. But from the end of spring to the beginning of autumn, orchids can be kept on outdoors, where the temperature difference is reached naturally. In cooler times, when flowers should already be living at home, rooms with orchids need to be ventilated. Only this should be done very carefully, remembering that these plants are very afraid of drafts.

6. Water your orchid properly

You need to water the orchid after the soil dries out - this will make it possible to avoid rotting of the roots. These requirements apply both in summer and winter and apply to both children and adult plants. However, there are exceptions here as well. After the orchid blooms, watering should be reduced by about a month.

In nature, after flowering, orchids begin to set seeds, which should scatter in different directions for several kilometers. This is possible only in dry periods, but not in the rainy season. Therefore, it is necessary to provide the orchid with conditions that are as close to natural as possible - then the flower will grow healthy and bloom often.

Before flowering and during it, the orchid requires more intensive watering than usual. Further, during the dormant period, specimens with hard leaves and the presence of pseudobulbs should be watered according to the basic principle (after about 10-12 days).

7. Humidify the air around the plant

Another important condition for flowering is air humidity. If it is not enough, the orchid may stop growing or unblown buds and flowers will dry prematurely on it.

To increase the humidity in the room where the orchid grows, you can put a plate of water next to the flower. Also, in very dry periods (when heating is turned on in houses), the plant should be sprayed. Suitable humidity for orchids is 60% and above.

8. Pick the Right Fertilizers

For feeding orchids, it is recommended to use formulations based on phosphorus and potassium, as they stimulate the appearance flower buds. In addition, the use of such fertilizers guarantees the formation of healthy and strong flowers in the plant. But it is better not to get carried away with nitrogen-based fertilizing: this element, on the contrary, inhibits the development of peduncles.

9. Don't be afraid to "scare" the plant

Sometimes, to make an orchid bloom, it needs a little stress. It happens that all the conditions for flowering are met, and the flower stubbornly does not want to shoot an arrow. This sometimes happens because the orchid is doing too well. In this case, the plant directs all the forces to the growth of green mass. One way to encourage flowering is to "shock" the orchid a little: reduce watering or move the plant pot to a cooler place.

Orchid rest period

After flowering, the orchid begins a period of rest, when it begins to accumulate strength for a new flowering. Care at this time is no different from care at other periods. The flower still needs good watering, high humidity, sufficient lighting and regular prevention against diseases and pests.

As for dressings, their frequency and volume during the dormant period should be reduced. If there is a need to transplant an orchid, then it's time to do this procedure right now, when the plant is no longer blooming.

A transplant is necessary if roots stick out from the drainage hole, or the soil dries quickly after watering. As a rule, the need for this procedure appears after 2-3 years.

Are orchids suitable for cutting?

What could be more beautiful than a bouquet of orchids? But these flowers do not live long, and not every species is suitable for cutting. Let's try to figure out how to extend the life of an epiphytic bouquet and which orchids to choose.

Standing in a vase and retaining freshness and aroma for several weeks (and sometimes a month) can phalaenopsis, cymbidium and paphiopedilum. Other orchids run the risk of not standing for even an hour, withering literally before our eyes.

If you are purchasing cut orchids, look first at the petals and sepals. They should be shiny, as if covered with wax, and hard - then the orchid will last a long time.

How to extend the life of a bouquet of orchids:

1. If the flowers were brought from the store, then they need to update the sections. The stems should be cut at an angle. The procedure is recommended to be carried out under a stream running water. It is advisable to update the sections every 2-3 days.
2. Water for keeping cut orchids should be soft and clean: boiled or filtered can be used. Periodically, it needs to be updated, topping up fresh.
3. Cut orchids, as well as potted home orchids, are afraid of being too tall and very low temperatures. It is also recommended to protect them from drafts and bright sun.

05.02.2017, 15:11

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The orchid is one of the most wonderful flowers in the world. There are eight hundred genera and about fifty thousand species of these plants. The most famous of them: Phalaenopsis, Wanda, Oncidium, Maxillaria, Fragmipedium, Dendrobium, Cattleya. Such a variety will not leave anyone indifferent: bright colors with various shades, pleasant smell and, of course, the shape of the inflorescence itself.

Orchids: home care

Since these flowers can grow not only in pots, but also climb trees, they can be demanding in their own way on the conditions of “living together” with you. We will tell you a little more about the methods of growing and about what kind of care for indoor orchids should be carried out in one case or another.

First option: growing plants in pots

The container for orchids should be spacious, made of plastic or wood. Bottom: it is better if it is with holes. You can make them yourself. Although these flowers are moisture-loving, excess water can cause the plants to die. Also, holes in the bottom of the pot will allow air to better penetrate the substrate, and this is very important. Earth mixes for indoor plants not suitable for orchids. Home care should begin with finding a dead pine tree in the forest (park) and collecting large pieces bark or buying ready-made in the store. You will also need styrofoam. The substrate is prepared from these ingredients. The bark is needed for the nutrition and growth of orchids, and the foam is needed so that water does not stagnate.

Second option: growing plants on a tree

This method is quite simple, you just need to prepare or purchase a few wood bars in advance. Breeds need to be chosen for these purposes, not resinous. The timber must be thoroughly moistened, then carefully tie the plant to it. If you first attach a hook (another device) to the workpiece, you can hang it like a planter from an orchid. Home care will be as follows:

Daily inspection of the plant;

Spraying from a spray bottle at least once a day, preferably two or three (depending on how much the timber has dried out).

Quarantine

Such methods of maintenance are also accepted by the Wanda orchid. Home care after purchase, first of all, begins with the fact that the plant is quarantined. What does it mean? The flower in the store was carefully watered and fed, so he was “tired” of excessive attention to himself. After you brought the plant home, you need to place it on a separate window, or rather a table, a cabinet in the twilight for a couple of weeks, do not feed or water it. Let the flower adapt to the new living conditions.

Plant transplant

The process begins with the preparation of all necessary materials, and only then the flower is taken out of the pot. The old substrate is shaken off. To prevent pests from being transferred to a new container, place the orchid in a vase of water ( room temperature) for a while (maybe an hour or more). Then you need to prepare a pot (it should be larger than the previous one) and place the substrate (styrofoam and bark 1: 2) in it. Don't forget about drainage. After that, the root system of the flower is examined. Decayed and dried roots are removed with tools (knife or secateurs), pre-treated with alcohol. Now the plant is planted in a new pot. The first time after transplantation, they do not water and leave the orchids alone. Home care starts in five days. Then the flower can be watered and placed on the window where you plan to grow it.

Plants are like people. Some of them help each other, and some
cannot be next to each other. In order not to lose your
indoor plants, you need to know which ones can not get along with each other
with a friend, and which ones are quite compatible.

The compatibility of indoor plants is determined primarily by the fact that
what conditions are necessary for them. In one room they can normally
grow only plants that require the same level of humidity
air, light and temperature. However, these plants usually
require the same watering.

A light-loving geranium and a shy fern will not take root on the same window.
And not because "characters did not agree." Just on the south side
where the geranium will bloom in all its glory, the fern will “burn out” and wither,
and in the north, where, on the contrary, the fern will be comfortable, the geranium will fade.

You can not put plants that grow quickly next to slow-growing ones.
individuals, since the former will always suppress the growth of the latter, and soon
they will completely cover them with their leaves.

It is advisable not to put two flowering plants side by side. They can interact
after which the shape and color of their flowers will change. Although, there is a possibility that
as a result of such a transformation, more interesting flowers will be obtained.

Many plants begin to wither from the neighborhood with geraniums. Geranium follows
grow on a separate window, again, subject to growing geraniums
different colors, gradually the color of its inflorescences will become like each other for
account of the same mutual pollination.

Seemingly very similar in many respects, lilies of the valley and violets, or
viola cannot be in the same room. After two or three days death
violets are almost inevitable.

A plant such as a decorative home hibiscus, on the contrary, is not only
compatible with absolutely all other indoor plants, but also gives
vitality to weak specimens.

Indoor rose is compatible with almost all other indoor roses.
plants. The main condition is that they do not obscure her and she herself does not
prevent light from reaching other plants.

Cypress and juniper have a beneficial effect on tulips and even make
their color is more intense. On them, as well as on nasturtium, it has the most
beneficial effect of thuja. Roses and lilies support each other.

But the same lilies are sure to quarrel with poppies and daffodils. Also
daffodils are incompatible with tulips, carnations, irises and daisies.

Try not to put warring flowers next to each other. Moreover, it is worth considering
that some plants are also adversely affected by fruits that are in
close proximity. Also, all plants are negatively affected
tobacco smoke. Remember this.

Among flowers, as among people, there are very different "individuals" with similar and dissimilar habits. There are capricious ones who are very demanding for care, and there are “lovers” of extreme sports, for whom the worse, the better. Therefore, flowers to each other should be selected especially carefully.

Tip: remember that plants placed in the same flower garden should have the same requirements for light, humidity, soil quality.

The most luxurious perennials - roses, peonies and clematis - prefer to bathe in the rays of the sun, but for complete comfort they need fertile soil, correct top dressing sufficient and timely watering. Yet even under these conditions experienced growers it is advised to plant them separately - separately from each other and from other plants (the distance for peonies is at least 1 m, for roses - 0.5 m).

These kings and queens of the garden will look especially impressive in solitary plantings against the background of a lawn growing at a distance from conifers or ornamental shrubs, provided that the latter bloom in different time with our heroes. Peonies do not bloom for long, but their lush bushes are magnificent even after flowering. Therefore, at some distance from them (but not in their shade), you can plant annuals that bloom later that love the sun and normally tolerate moderate drought.

If your soul longs to diversify such a flower garden, choose a discreet, discreet frame for it. For example, beauty and peonies modest laces of gypsophila paniculata, graceful lavender or spectacular leaves of silvery wormwood are emphasized. Not far from the rose garden, you can plant protective plants that can drive away insidious pests. Perfect option - marigolds and sage.

These sun-worshippers are drought-resistant and do not pretend to be other people's top dressing. Tip: keep in mind that the abundance of different and simultaneously flowering plants in one flower garden looks at least ridiculous - it dazzles the eyes from such a variety.

Royal persons, whose quirks we have already talked about, are far from the only candidates for a “sunny” flower garden.

In the spring, a clearing flooded with generous rays will be decorated mixed landings bulbous: tulips, hyacinths and daffodils. The company of tulips will be willingly made up of decorative bows and gypsophila paniculata.

But remember: tulips should not be dug up and cut off their leaves until the bulbs have accumulated nutrients. The signal for "withdrawal" will be completely dried foliage.

Do not worry about the beauty of the landscape, by that time the bulbs will be hidden by a “screen” of tall drought-resistant annuals or perennials, which in our climate have “retrained” into annuals.

This is verbena and high grades marigolds and lacfiol (yellow levkoy). In similar conditions, lilies and phloxes, chrysanthemums and asters, dahlias and decorative sunflowers, gladioli and zinnias, cannes and daisies.

However, the exactingness of plants extends not only to illumination, but also to humidity and other features of the soil. And this will also have to be taken into account when arranging flower beds and flower beds.

Many sun-loving plants prefer moderate watering and good drainage.

Quite drought tolerant ornamental grass, For example elimus, dvukistnik and gray fescue. But there are plants that equally love both the sun and water. These are irises and decorative bows, steap and panicled phlox, autumn helenium and rudbeckia, gladiolus and purple echinacea.

Flowers and flowering plants usually prefer rich neutral soils and are happy to accept top dressing. Ground covers and some wildlife are accustomed to poor, not too generous land: it sage, young, wormwood(and other plants with silver-gray leaves), they often become ill from top dressing.

Tip: Avoid tight plantings if possible, many plants take up everything over time. large area and interfere with each other, so it is important to keep a distance, and cover the “naked” ground with decorative mulch.

Secrets of the Twilight.

The shadow is different: they give a solid or impenetrable outbuildings, fences and dense plantings, light - trees and shrubs with openwork foliage. Plants react differently to a lack or excess of light. Shade-loving ones show their beauty only where there is little sun.

Shade-tolerant prefer sunny places, but agree to put up with one degree or another of shading, although with such a compromise they partially lose their attractiveness. Combine plants with different tastes not worth it.

When choosing "tenants" for a shady corner of the garden, you need to pay attention to whether they are shade-loving or shade-tolerant.

Moderately shade-tolerant put up with a little shading that higher "neighbors" can create in the same flower garden: cornflowers, skyweed, daylilies, feverfew and dicentra.

An excellent option for shade is "wild" perennials, which in natural conditions adapted to the lack of sunlight.

Miniature ground cover - small periwinkle, yasnotka, pachysandra, ivy-shaped budra - will tighten the aisles and voids in the garden, driving away the weeds. It is possible to create magnificent carpets even where shade-tolerant ones cannot survive. lawn grasses, - under fir trees or with north side at home, shade-loving European hoof, yellow Zelenchuk, apical pachysandra and heart-leaved tiarella will take root here.

In intense shade, they feel good and forest anemone, lily of the valley, ferns, liverwort and some . For shaded borders, rockeries and alpine slides suitable tenacious creeping, variegated varieties brunners, bergenia and lungwort. Among beautiful flowering perennials, without loss transferring light shading, you should pay attention to volzhanka, elecampane, rogersia and solidago. Can be planted in partial shade anemone, aconite, meadowsweet, dicentra and astilba.

So many former weeds that have turned into light hand gardeners in ornamental plants, are accustomed to extreme sports and grow quite successfully on acidic soils.

Slightly acidic can be easily overcome daylilies and primroses, apical pachysandra, tiarella and armeria. Slightly acidic soil is preferred by steward, aconite, delphinium, different varieties sedges, anemone, lily of the valley, gentian and cereals. Strongly acidic soils "to your liking" ornamental shrubs and some herbaceous perennials: ferns, dicentres, bergenia and multi-leaved lupine.

Friends or enemies?

Plants with similar tastes do not always get along together, and opposites force each other out of the occupied territory. Options for a successful neighborhood can be the most unexpected, but most often they have to be determined by trial and error.

It happens that plants whose requirements for comfort are the same cannot grow side by side. For example, tree peonies - bad neighbors not only for perennials, but even for trees and shrubs planted closer than 1.5 m.

Wither from close proximity to cloves and mignonette, and peonies have a depressing effect on the queen of the garden herself. Lilies of the valley make those growing nearby suffer peonies and violets, and dahlias seen in the "destruction" of almost all competitors - after all, there are fewer weeds next to them than with other plants.

Representatives are particularly aggressive buttercup family, they suck moisture out of the soil and all useful material, thoroughly

depleting the soil, so their environment has to sit on starvation rations. Along the way, the roots of representatives of this family secrete substances that can poison the life of their green "brothers".

And if buttercups are planted on a clover lawn, then even a hardy clover will die. Ground covers love to conquer other people's territories, bulbs wintering in the ground especially suffer from them: it is difficult for them to break through the powerful interweaving of "tops and roots". If, contrary to the habits of plants, you still decide to combine bulbous and ground cover crops in one flower garden, aggressive impulses should be limited to rigid frames made of tin or metal, both in the ground and above the ground.

Flowers and their neighborhood - choose candidates: photo

1. Marigolds Perfection1 F1. The bush is compact or sprawling with a clearly defined main shoot and completely round, densely double inflorescences up to 15 cm in diameter. The bush is powerful, strong, well branched, 35-40 cm high, 30-35 cm wide. Plants look great in borders, flower beds and discounts , go well with phlox, dahlias, asters, geraniums. Flowering from late June - early July until frost.

2. BRACHICOMA – annual plant 15-25 cm high. Numerous inflorescences with flowers 3-3.5 cm in diameter are located on the bushes. Reed flowers are white, blue, purple or lilac-pink; tubular (smaller) - blue or almost black. Flowering is abundant, from mid-June to September or October, depending on the weather. Likes open sunny places and light and nutrient soil. Watering is necessary only in dry weather, for abundant flowering full feeding is recommended mineral fertilizers. Planting after return frosts, the distance between plants is 15-20 cm.

3. Cornflower- two- or one-year herbaceous plant height from 60 to 80 cm. Flowers garden forms can be white, pink, purple, red. Unpretentious, but loves sunlight, blooms from June to September. Grown in open ground in a sunlit place, the distance between individuals is 20-50 cm. When grown in a group of plants or flower beds, plant with south side in the first row so that sunlight evenly hits the leaves. Likes fertile, humus-rich soil with neutral acidity.

Phalaenopsis are called "beginner" orchids. Compared to the rest of its relatives, this is quite unpretentious plants, but still there will be more trouble with them than with a cactus. Therefore, having invited a night butterfly into the house (namely, phalania is translated from Greek), make sure that the flower is comfortable. What kills rather than makes stronger?

When wondering how to care for Phalenoposis orchids, many people forget about the most important thing - transportation. In winter, bringing a plant from the store home is not an easy task. The orchid is unable to withstand sub-zero temperature even half an hour. Hypothermia is not subject to treatment.

Everyone has heard that the orchid does not like neighborhood with other plants. But the fact that a capricious flower cannot stand the smells of certain types of vegetables and fruits is not known to many. The gases emitted by tomatoes and nuts contribute to the aging of the flower and can lead to its death.
Deadly for beautiful flower as well as mechanical damage and sunburn.

Light and water - a trap for a moth
Butterfly-like orchids love light, but direct sunlight tires them out. Therefore, the window sill is not the most the best place. Yes, and the neighborhood with batteries central heating unlikely to benefit the orchid. It is advisable to find a well-lit place, perhaps even in the back of the room, but near a fluorescent lamp. In the summer, the registration of the plant is allowed on the western or eastern window. But in winter, the orchid must be removed away from drafts.

How to care for Phalaenopsis orchids at home so that they feel like they are in their native Indonesia? Give them enough water, many think. But the trick is that the orchid loves not so much water as humidity. Phalaenopsis likes a light shower from a spray bottle, but you should not fill the pot with water. In winter, the plant hibernates and drinks very little, and with the advent of heat, moisture consumption increases, and you need to water the orchid more often. Water for irrigation must be filtered.

To breed wild orchids, it is necessary to create a humid microclimate, but only true Michurinians can do this. Therefore, the breeders tried to make the phalaenopsis feel comfortable in the apartments. The ideal solution problem is considered to be a humidifier. Some put an orchid near the aquarium.

But there is another option - a pallet with wet expanded clay, when dried, moist air will rise to the plant.

small amenities
Phalaenopsis needs to be repotted every two to three years. This process is laborious and requires great care. Professionals recommend for this family of orchids to mix the substrate in the following proportions: 60% of the bark coniferous trees; 15% foam; 5 % charcoal; 20% sphagnum moss or peat. Regarding top dressing: during the growth of new leaves, it is better to use fertilizers with great content nitrogen, and the development of flower stalks requires more phosphorus.

Video about orchids: purchase, care, transplant.