How to make orchid bark yourself

Growing an orchid at home is not easy; to ensure it develops normally and blooms profusely, you need to follow a number of strict recommendations. In nature, orchids grow in tropical forests, using their developed roots to support themselves on the bark of tree trunks and branches, extracting nutrients and moisture from it. A homemade substrate should have a similar composition and structure. How to prepare orchid bark yourself, what materials can be used, and how to process it properly.

How to choose a material

Bark is a general term for the complex tissues of various structures and origins that cover the cambium of stems and roots. For planting orchids, you can use bark from large tree species; the raw material can be used in its pure form or mixed with it. Bark not only structures the substrate, it retains moisture and nourishes the plant with all the elements necessary for normal development and abundant flowering.

Raw materials can be found in plantations, forests, city parks, and sometimes even on your own property. Those with mature conifers growing nearby are especially fortunate. It's best to harvest the upper layers of bark that have peeled off the trunk; they break apart more easily and contain minimal resin. Sun-bleached, rotten, insect-eaten, or darkened areas are undesirable.

When harvesting, ensure that the separated fragments are free of bast fibers; they cannot be used for planting orchids due to their tough structure. Small wood fragments can cut into the roots, leading to rot. The collected material must be cleaned of insects, dirt, and loose layers. The bark of which tree species is best for orchids is described in the table.

When collecting material, carefully assess the condition of the tree; it should not be rotten or show obvious signs of disease. The collected material will crumble easily and could also become a source of infections and harmful insects that are dangerous to the orchid. It is acceptable to use material from fallen or dry trees. Over time, the fibers accumulate nutrients, leaving virtually no resin. Residents of the European part of the world can use oak bark for orchid planting; it is more nutritious than pine bark.

Best Substrate Manufacturers

While preparing bark yourself is easy, some gardeners prefer to use commercially available substrate (with a range of additional components). This can save time on collection and processing, but there's no guarantee that the store-bought material will be high-quality and free of pests and pathogens. Unreasonable savings when choosing a store-bought mixture can result in the loss of a flower.

For those without nearby plantings, forests, parks, or woodworking facilities, the only option is to choose a ready-made substrate. But how can you do this when there are so many options and no way to get detailed, reliable advice? To avoid risk, buy mixtures from reliable companies trusted by gardeners. We'll describe the products of several of them.

The main step in industrial bark processing is debarking, which involves crushing the raw material and removing sand and other excess components. This process is performed on large OK-66M and OK63-1 debarking machines. This process results in fresher, more breathable products, and doubles their quality. After debarking, disinfection and other procedures are performed.

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Preparing bark for orchids

To collect and cut the bark, you'll need pruning shears or a knife (for wood) with an oblique blade, a wooden shovel with blunt ends, and rope to tie the bark together. For boiling, you can use a stainless steel bucket or any other vessel you don't need, as it will be unusable after boiling. Here's how to properly remove and chop bark from a tree:

1. The dry fragment should be lifted with a spatula so that it can be easily torn off (from top to bottom), and separated from the wood with a gentle movement.
2. The whole plate needs to be cleaned of dust, and the inner layer needs to be scraped off a little.
3. Cut the material into medium-sized pieces and remove some of the top layer of fibers.
4. All rotten elements and those affected by insects must be thrown away.

Now you can cut the bark into 2-cm-wide pieces. They don't need to be even, as this won't affect the quality of the future substrate. The pieces can be made larger or smaller for different purposes. For example, for growing a mature orchid, pieces between 2 and 5 cm are suitable, while for planting small seedlings or replanting baby orchids, finer pieces (5 mm to 1.5 cm) are needed.

Boiling and drying

To remove any remaining dirt, sand, harmful microorganisms, and insect larvae, pour the chopped bark into a prepared container and cover it completely with water (leaving a 5 cm overhang). The bark will float to the surface during boiling and should be weighed down with something. When the water boils, cover the bucket or pot with a lid, reduce the heat, and simmer for an hour. After boiling, it's best to let the bark cool completely, then lightly crush it with your hands, transfer it to a colander, and let it drain until all the water has drained.

Drying is recommended only in the open air. In rainy weather, the material can be left under a canopy, and in clear weather, it can be laid out in a sunny spot. The raw materials should be laid out in a single layer on a dry, flat surface. Drying usually takes about 3-4 weeks; you can check by breaking off a fragment (it should be dry inside). If all is well, the bark should be left outside for another day, then stored.

To harvest oak bark, it's best to take it from young shoots or immature branches. Make circular cuts on the selected branches at intervals of 25 cm, then cut the stem lengthwise to make the bark easy to lift and remove. Boil the bark for about 1.5 hours and then dry. Store the bark in small batches in a paper or loosely sealed plastic bag to allow air to circulate. It's okay if mold appears on individual parts of the bark; mold is a natural symbiotic fungus for orchids.

Orchidists recommend soaking the bark. The chopped material should be placed in a bucket, pressed down, and covered with a broad-spectrum insecticide solution. Soak for 30–120 minutes. Drying the bark in the oven (for no longer than 15 minutes) is also possible, but this method is complicated by the need to stir the bark frequently. A good alternative to boiling is baking it in the oven (at 80°C for about 20 minutes). This method can be used to prepare spruce and pine bark.

How to make a substrate

To prepare the substrate, mix equal parts of bark, sphagnum moss, peat, and charcoal. You can add pine cone scales to the mixture, pre-soaked in boiling water (for about 7 minutes) and then dried. Moss can be found in lowlands and marshy areas; avoid taking it from roadsides. Store-bought, dried moss will do in a pinch.

The moss should be cleared of soil, bugs, twigs, leaves, and other debris, soaked in warm water for 15 minutes, then rinsed under running water and allowed to dry slightly. Before mixing all the substrate ingredients, the prepared moss should be crushed. Activated (crushed) charcoal can be substituted; no more than 30 tablets are needed for an 8-9 liter container.

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Technology of planting and growing orchids

If the substrate doesn't contain peat, mix the ingredients directly when planting or repotting the flower. The bark should also be soaked in a nutrient solution. A special orchid fertilizer is diluted in water at half the recommended dosage. The bark is soaked in the solution for 2 or 3 hours, then drained in a colander. Use it after the moisture has drained. How to plant or repot a flower:

1. A drainage layer (2–3 cm) should be placed in a thoroughly cleaned and disinfected container, and a little substrate should be added.
2. The orchid should be placed in the pot so that the roots are distributed evenly throughout the container, and the base of the rosette is 1 cm below the top edge.
3. It is recommended to add soil little by little, shaking the pot periodically to allow for settling and distribution of large fragments between the roots.

Instead of planting the orchid in the substrate, you can create a block out of large pieces of bark and attach the flower to it. Place a small amount of sphagnum moss on the block, press the orchid against it, and secure it with soft wire or fishing line. Water the orchid only by immersion: place the container in a bowl of water for half an hour, then allow the excess moisture to drain, then return it to its original location. Watering should be done every 7 to 20 days, depending on the variety and growing conditions. Only settled, room-temperature water should be used.

Problems rarely arise during planting; they most often appear later, due to improper care. Root rot occurs due to overwatering. Regular watering can save the plant. Yellow spots on the leaves can be caused by placing the orchid on a sunny windowsill. Burns will not occur if the containers are placed on an east-facing surface. Often, the orchid stops growing due to being planted in a non-disinfected container or substrate, in which case repotting will be necessary.

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Preparing orchid bark doesn't require any special skills; simply follow simple instructions and pay attention to detail. Only boiled bark should be used for planting; failure to disinfect it increases the risk of developing dangerous diseases. Repotting should be done carefully and gently to avoid any complications or problems. Bark contains nutrients, retains moisture well, and promotes active growth of epiphytes.