- How should wild orchids be watered?
- Which fertilizer makes terrestrial orchids willing to flower?
- Is a pruning necessary?
Wild orchids have become rare in the wild. Orchids, wood birds, Stendelwurz and other terrestrial orchids are so rare in Germany that they are protected. Reason enough to settle the floral treasures in your own garden. Read here how to skilfully care for wild orchids and bring them to bloom.
Native wild orchids such as the lady's slipper can also be planted in the garden
How should wild orchids be watered?
Uniform soil moisture ensures that wild orchids in the garden do not suffer from drought stress. Before each watering, please check with a thumb test whether the surface of the soil has dried well. Only when this is the case, let lime-free water run slowly onto the root disk. Please stop the watering process in good time so that no waterlogging can form.
Which fertilizer makes terrestrial orchids willing to flower?
Wild orchids receive a potassium-rich liquid fertilizer in late autumn to support winter hardiness. Comfrey manure is excellent, with which you spray the soil once or twice in August or September. Then please spread out a 3 cm high layer of mulch made of beech or oak leaves. This measure also serves as a natural winter protection, as the buds for the next flowering period are already in place in the ground.
Is a pruning necessary?
Scissors are rarely used in the care program for wild orchids. If you notice wilted flowers, simply pluck them out with your fingers. Do not remove a yellowed leaf until it has completely died. The wild orchid releases the leaf when all the remaining nutrients have been transferred to the bulbs. Now the leaves can be easily twisted out without cutting the plant with the scissors.
Cut wild orchids close to the ground just before winter or in spring to make room for the fresh shoots. These have survived the cold season undamaged under a thick layer of beech or oak leaves.
tips
Wild orchids want a semi-shady location where no sun burns down at midday in summer. Please loosen the freshly moist soil well. Then add the special substrate that contains the mycorrhizal fungus, without which the wild species cannot survive. In contrast to the classic perennials, wild terrestrial orchids do not want to be planted more than 5 cm into the ground.