How to prepare pine bark for planting orchids. Orchid bark - preparing the soil with your own hands

Often, the bark of trees such as larch, oak, pine, and spruce is used to create mulching material.

When you set out to collect bark, there is no need to cut it from living trees. It contains many resinous substances, and this greatly harms the plant. You should also not collect bark from old stumps. Usually, it is already severely tormented by insects, and becomes practically unusable. The best material Freshly cut or recently blown down trees (six months) will be collected. From such trees the bark begins to fall off, but does not rot. And this perfect option!

For use, the bark is crushed to required sizes using pruning shears. Afterwards it is thermally treated. If you do not carry out this procedure, then you may have harmless and not very neighbors. When processing, the bark needs to be boiled or processed for 10-15 minutes. You can leave the bark in the oven for 15 minutes at a temperature of 70 degrees Celsius. Steam treatment is not recommended.

Which mulch is more suitable: softwood or hardwood? Here the main role is played by the purpose, as well as the availability of material for mulching. If you have a pine forest nearby, then, of course, you can use the bark of these trees. If the garden has a lot of heather, rhododendrons and coniferous species, then it is better to use the latter, since it contains a large number of fungal mycorrhiza. Oak bark lasts slightly longer than coniferous bark - about twice as long. But it releases tannins, which have a rather negative effect on some types of plants. Therefore, before using it, you need to study whether it is suitable or not.

An orchid, like any other flower, needs periodic replanting. And for these purposes, as is known, . The presented plant, contrary to erroneous opinions, will not grow in ordinary land, so you should take care in advance to buy special soil. This is the bark for orchids.

You can purchase the required substrate at flower shops. It should be understood that today there are both cheaper and more accessible components on sale, such as sphagnum, and more expensive ones. The latter include rare ingredients: fern root, coconut chips, charcoal, quinine bark, etc.

Some gardeners complain that when they buy ready-made substrates, they do not get what they expected. Usually the packs contain a lot of soil dust and peat mixture, while the necessary components cannot be found. Of course, in this case, replanting the flower will be postponed until a suitable soil can be found.

Considering that the search can last a very long time, it is better not to delay the process, but to try to prepare the substrate yourself at home, especially since it will not take much time.

Where does the creation of homemade soil begin?

Of course, in order to cook something, you must first prepare the necessary ingredients. Perhaps it will be news to someone that you don’t even need to buy anything for the substrate, because all this can be found in the most ordinary coniferous forest.

When going for a walk, you should know that to prepare the soil you will need the following components:

• pine bark;
• sphagnum moss;
• charcoal;
• other components.

pine bark

Pine bark is an element that can be found all year round. True, you need to know some rules in order to bring home a truly worthwhile product.

Pine bark must be selected carefully; bad pieces (rotten or eaten by bark beetles) are left, and only whole parts are taken. In order to be safe from the fact that something will be brought in with the bark, it is recommended to dry all the pieces in the oven for about 5 minutes at the minimum temperature.

If suddenly for some reason it was not possible to obtain or buy the presented element, then it can be replaced with pine bark.

Sphagnum moss

The component can be found in early spring when the snow had just melted. Sphagnum moss is famous for its bactericidal properties. In addition, it contains few nutritional components, and this type of moss perfectly absorbs water.

Storing this component is very easy. It is enough to dry the material and send it to a dry place or to the freezer.

The roots of this flower contain a large number of useful and nutritious components, so the fern is an indispensable part of the substrate. Digging up rhizomes late autumn or in early spring, when the plant has not yet put out leaves.

Important! The roots need to be well dried so that they do not rot. Planting material stored in closed jar and in a dark but dry place.

Other components

This group includes charcoal, broken walnuts or coconut, and expanded clay. As for the first component, it is very easy to get. You can take an old log, light a fire, and when the log finishes smoldering, just put it aside and wait until it cools down.

It will not be difficult to prepare broken nuts. The situation is more complicated This is the case with expanded clay, but not in terms of purchase, but in terms of use. This is truly an airy and porous material, environmentally friendly, but it is saturated with hard water salts.

Important! Given the sensitivity of orchids to salts, this can lead to growth retardation and imbalance nutrients. Therefore, you need to be careful with expanded clay.

Substrate preparation methods

Before you begin, of course, you should be aware of how to prepare the bark. This is done in several stages. Only for terrestrial flowers - in one way, and for epiphytic ones - in a completely different way. Although in the vast majority of cases ready soil designed specifically for the latter variety, because it occurs in 90% of cases.

Based on this, below there will be information about how the bark is prepared for planting orchids and what is needed for this.

It must be said right away that one type of soil may differ from another. Nothing wrong with that. If the flower is comfortable in the conditions in which it is located, it means that everything was done correctly.

So, if all the components described above have been assembled, but for some reason the processing of one or more was not carried out properly, then you need to start by doing this. There is no point in repeating ourselves, since this was discussed above.

Having laid out the ingredients on the table, you can begin preparing the substrate at home.

To begin with, take pine bark. It is desirable that its diameter individual parts did not exceed 2 cm. Still, it is much easier to mix everything when the components are approximately the same size. It is very difficult to say how much bark is needed, since it all depends on the size of the pot or the number of containers for which the substrate is intended.

For the first time, you can make a little soil for testing. Therefore, 3-4 large cups will be enough. You will need to add a little more than half a glass of charcoal to the bark. Sometimes in the process it turns out that the bark is a little damp. It must be said right away that this should not happen. If attention was paid to this, then it is recommended to re-read the paragraph that talked about how to prepare the bark and only then move on. By the way, this applies to all components.

Important! The substrate should be made from elements good quality which were prepared in advance.

To the composition, which already contains two soil mixture products, add a little fern root and sphagnum. A quarter glass is enough, or even less. It should be understood that these elements should be cut smaller than the bark.

Flower growers should understand that the soil can be more dense or less dense. The second option is preferable because it provides good ventilation, which the root system so needs. In addition, in this case you don’t have to worry that, due to the density of the substrate, the part adjacent to the roots will form a ball and begin to rot if the grower suddenly overdoes it with watering.

Preparing bark for orchids is actually simple, the main thing is to want to do it.

Currently, the Phalaenopsis orchid has gained wide popularity among gardeners, thanks to its ease of care and graceful flower stalks with huge variety flowers. For the growth and development of this beauty, you need not only the right temperature regime and care, but also the soil, thanks to which the plant receives required amount nutrients through root system. It is the bark that plays for orchids important role to create a favorable living environment. In this article you will learn which substrate is suitable for full life cycle phalaenopsis, how to prepare the bark at home.

Today, flower shops offer a wide range of special soils that are suitable for orchids. The main requirements for them are good moisture retention to nourish the roots, quick drying to avoid soil acidification, excellent air passage and lack of compaction. The composition of such a ready-made planting substrate often includes the following components:

• expanded clay drainage;
• bark coniferous trees(pine, spruce, larch, pine);
• high peat;
• coal.

If necessary, you can also purchase additional fillers eg coconut fibers, fern rhizomes, pine cones. Such soil is important for an orchid not only as a nutrient medium for the epiphyte, but also as a fixative for the plant in the pot.

If you decide to prepare the soil for your pet orchids yourself at home, then you should approach this issue very seriously. While walking in a park, square or going into the forest, it would be good to collect cones and bark of coniferous trees.

It is advisable to pay attention to pieces of the dense fraction at least 1-2 cm thick, avoiding those that are spoiled by bark beetles, as they will quickly turn into dust. It is better to collect bark from already fallen pine trees, since they already contain a minimal amount of resin. Do not tear pieces from growing trees, causing harm to the plants. It is advisable not to select dark color bark, burnt in the sun, contaminated molds. This can lead to flower disease.

Video “Preparing pine bark”

This video explains how to prepare the bark for caring for orchids.

Processing and preparation

You should be very careful when processing the bark. Immediately after collection, it is necessary to inspect it for the presence of insects, clean off the resin and select a suitable one. Carefully remove damaged and rotten areas with a knife. Then rinse it well and dry it. Using pruning shears, a knife or manual meat grinder chop into pieces measuring 1.5-2 cm, which are subsequently further crushed (up to 0.5-1 cm) for planting young plants.

When slicing, you don’t always get uniform, neat cubes, but this will not affect the development of the plant as a whole. The prepared bark is poured hot water and leave for an hour to wash out the pine resins that negatively affect the life of the orchid. After this, they are washed, again filled with hot water and boiled for 30-40 minutes to destroy insect larvae and pupae.

You can use the oven drying method when low temperatures. The bark is laid out on a baking sheet at a temperature of 60-70 °C and calcined for 10 minutes with the door ajar oven. This is a gentle method that preserves beneficial microflora. After heat treatment the bark is laid out on paper in a thin layer to dry until completely dry. It is necessary to place it in a place where there is good air circulation so that mold does not appear on its surface.

How to prepare the substrate

To prepare the soil, the bark of coniferous trees (pine, spruce, larch, pine), sphagnum moss and charcoal are used. Dried moss can be purchased in a store or collected independently in the spring in the forest in wetlands. Then dry it in the shade or freeze it in the refrigerator for later use in the substrate.

One more important element For planting the epiphyte is a fern. IN spring period its roots are dug up, thoroughly dried and cut into small fragments (up to 2-3cm).

Charcoal collected after burnt logs. It is advisable not to use incendiary mixtures for a fire. It is good to add crushed coconut and walnut shells to the substrate, which will act as a leavening agent. All these ingredients are added to the already prepared pine bark, forming a substrate for the orchid.

Good day!

According to many orchid lovers, best soil for orchids it is pine bark. Possible in flower shop buy ready-made bark soil for replanting orchids, it comes in different fractions (pieces of bark different sizes). But it’s not that cheap, so you can make soil for an orchid from the bark with your own hands, and today I’ll tell you how to prepare the bark for orchids.

Pine bark is great for planting orchids - everyone’s favorite phalaenopsis, the rarer ones, various types and others. The bark makes the substrate for orchids breathable, and this is one of the most important conditions successful cultivation these flowers. For orchids, it is important that the roots have the opportunity to breathe, so the soil should dry out between waterings.

Where can I get bark for orchids? Yes in any pine forest. If you walk around the forest, you will definitely find thick pieces of bark or a fallen tree, or a pine tree with thick bark from which pieces are falling off.

I put the rest of the soil in a bag; after flowering, I will replant the orchid that I bought on. You can also prepare the bark in advance, and you can use it for planting later.

I want to give a few more tips if you need to transplant adult orchid. Usually, a couple of years after purchase, the bark in the pot decomposes, the soil becomes denser, and it is difficult for the roots to breathe in it. Then you need to replant the flower.

During replanting, check the substrate under the bottom of the flower. Very often there is some kind of moisture-absorbing material like foam rubber. Apparently, children are initially raised in it. This lump must be removed. Otherwise, this constantly damp place can cause rot. If you suspect that something is wrong with the orchid, feel free to remove it from the pot and check the horse system.

I wrote about foam rubber, now about the roots themselves. A healthy orchid has dense roots, but if they are rotten, they are soft and liquid releases when pressed. All rotten roots must be removed. If something has been cut, it is best to sprinkle the cuts with crushed charcoal (you can take a piece of charcoal for frying shish kebab and crush or grind a couple of pharmaceutical activated carbon tablets).

Allow the roots to dry for a couple of hours and plant in slightly moist soil. Not wet, but just slightly dirty! There is no need to water the orchid for the first few days; just spray the leaves. Then act according to the circumstances. If the plant was healthy, care for it as usual; if there were a lot of diseased roots, be very careful with watering. It is better to spray the leaves more often.

What kind of bark does an orchid need?

Let us remember that in nature the roots of a plant are in moist air. tropical forests, which means we need soil that is loose enough to maintain sufficient air humidity, but also provide access to oxygen. The mixture that we will prepare is most similar to the growing conditions of an orchid in the wild.

To prepare the soil you will need: charcoal, pine cones, pine bark, sphagnum moss and fern. Pine cones and orchid bark can be found in the forest. Next you need to dig up the fern bush and cut it off ground part. As for sphagnum moss, it is also called bog moss - it will also be useful to us.

Preparing pine bark for soil

The bark needs to be washed thoroughly and divided into pieces of 2 centimeters each. The prepared bark is poured with boiling water. After which it must be dried. Charcoal is similarly washed, dried and crushed into pieces of 3-5 millimeters. Wash the fern root under warm water and cut into separate pieces of 1-2 centimeters. And again, the root must dry out. It is advisable to use fresh sphagnum moss. From pine cones get separate scales that need to be washed and poured with boiling water. They should sit in boiling water for about 5 minutes.

Pine bark mixture for orchids

Now all the prepared ingredients must be mixed in equal parts. As a result, you will get the most suitable mixture, which will ensure the normal existence of your orchid. All that remains is to replant the flower and enjoy it at home.