Why should you choose strong seedlings when introducing orchids?

I have been growing orchids for over ten years, and have paid quite a lot in tuition both online and offline (much less now). I have always wanted a chance to remind fellow orchid growers, especially beginners, of the importance of introducing stock, but lacking ready material on hand, I would just be talking nonsense and it would easily come across as preaching, so I never started writing. It happens that the several groups of Chengmei I am now growing have provided me with this opportunity.

Group one: the largest group, this year's new growth has eight and a half leaves and is still growing, nearly 1.7 cm wide.At the end of August it produced an autumn shoot, now 18 cm tall, with six leaves visible.

Group two, this year's new growth has eight leaves, still growing, 1.5 wide.In early September it produced an autumn shoot, 10 cm tall, with four leaves visible.

Group three: this year's new growth has six and a half leaves, 1.1 cm wide. Only at the end of Octoberdid it produce an autumn shoot, just barely emerging from the soil.

These three groups of Chengmei have the same environment, the same pots, the same potting medium, the same care, and everyone can see the difference in the autumn shoots. These groups of mine are still balcony orchids that have settled in at my place, and no matter what, they can basically produce two rounds of shoots a year, so the comparison is not yet very obvious. If fellow growers have Chengmei on hand, you can compare for yourselves the difference between shoots produced by large, strong plants and those produced by small, weak plants.

Now many orchid growers, especially beginners, like to introduce small plants, and flock to so-called starter plants of high-priced orchids, seemingly spending a little money to accomplish something big, but in reality losing a watermelon to pick up a sesame seed. Just think: orchid prices always fall, and high-priced orchids fall even faster. By the time you have grown a weak plant or a toothpick-sized plant into a strong one, the variety you introduced may well have already dropped to cabbage price. Many unscrupulous sellers exploit this bargain-hunting mentality of some growers and recklessly sell "clearance goods." Never mind whether you can even keep these old plants, weak plants and toothpick plants alive (among them are not a few greenhouse plants, hormone-treated plants and fake plants); even if you keep them alive, restore them to vigor and get them to bloom, when you finally discover after who knows how long that they are not true to type, the seller has probably long since vanished. Even if you luckily track down the seller, it will be nothing more than compensating you with a few plants that by then have already become cabbage-price orchids...

So my advice to everyone is: be cautious when introducing plants, especially old plants, weak plants and toothpick plants. The seller is always sharper than the buyer; this is an eternal truth. Stop always thinking about "picking up a bargain" in the orchid market; such good fortune will never fall on you.