How to Select Flower Buds? A Detailed Guide to Deciding Which to Keep and Which to Remove
Cymbidium goeringii 'Tianchan', a Sichuan variety, with a strong fragrance, huge flowers, good color, fine petals, and a dignified flower form that does not deform. This flower is extremely rare and is a fine variety worth collecting and developing.
As the flowering season approaches, flower buds break through the soil. To ensure the quality of blooming, inferior flower buds should be cut off, which helps healthy flower buds grow and ensures the flowering effect.
1. For flower buds in the same pot, keep the robust and plump buds and cut off the inferior ones.
2. Keep the flower buds on old plants and cut off the flower buds on new plants, which benefits the growth of the new plants the following year.
3. When one plant has multiple buds, keep one plump flower bud and cut off the others.
4. Cut off flower buds that are wounded or damaged by insects.
5. In a large pot with multiple plants, cut off flower buds growing sideways that affect the overall appearance.
6. Cut off those that have only bud sheaths and no petals (empty-shell flower buds).
7. Be sure to distinguish flower buds from flower shoots to avoid mistakenly cutting leaf shoots.
8. For newly introduced varieties, regardless of whether the flower buds are good or bad in quality, you should see the flowers yourself to confirm the variety's authenticity.
Selecting which flower buds to keep and which to remove is a meticulous task, so be sure to look carefully before you start. In addition, when removing flower buds, you must use scissors and must not twist them off directly by hand; otherwise, the junction between the bulb and the flower bud cannot be disinfected in time, causing potential infection later on. Pay special attention to this.