Understand the habits of Cymbidium faberi to grow it well

Author: Danyal Lanxiang

I first became aware of orchids around 2007. Back then the internet was not well developed, and my work and life were still unstable. I remember the prices were quite high, and they seemed very distant and remote to me. Not far from the gate of my workplace was a flower market. In spring and autumn, when I passed by the flower market, I would always see people selling bundle after bundle of loose orchid plants at roadside stalls. Occasionally I would stop and look, and a single little green plant was actually priced at one or two hundred yuan! In 2011, as I was about to marry my girlfriend, we bought the house we live in now, and a friend gave me a pot of orchids. He told me orchids stay green all year round, bloom with a delicate fragrance, and are very easy to grow - just water them.

     Placing a few pots of flowers and plants in a new home not only gives people a feeling of being closer to nature, but also gives people the enjoyment of beauty.

     That pot of orchids was placed on the windowsill of the living room in our new home. Because it was a kind gift from a friend, I took extra care of it. But it truly brought me a lot of joy. In my spare time I would quietly admire it. Looking at its elegant, graceful, lush green leaves, a faint sense of calm and contentment would always rise in my heart.

     Actually, I did not understand orchids, nor did I know how to grow them. I knew nothing about their place of origin, varieties, flowering period, cultivation or care. I only knew to water them. Thinking about it now, that was not watering - it was sprinkling. Whenever I had nothing to do, I would take a bottle and spray some water into the pot.

     In the spring of the following year, when the flowering season came, that pot of orchids quietly sent out two green flower stems from the base of the plant, topped with two emerald green buds that slowly opened. For a time the room was filled with a unique, refreshing fragrance, and this scent was something I had never experienced in my life. My partner and I were amazed, and only then did I gain a new understanding of orchids. But the good times did not last. By summer, it sometimes had scorched tips, sometimes blackened leaves, and gradually withered and yellowed. I tried everything I could, but in the end I could not keep it alive. Watching helplessly as its fragrance faded and its green beauty declined, my heart was filled with pity and sorrow.

     I began buying books, looking up information online, buying pots and utensils, orchid bark and leaves, and I even went to the vegetable market to pick up coal cinders, and after work peeled willow bark by the roadside... The result can well be imagined - many of the orchids I bought on X website had long since gone to the great beyond. After repeated cycles of introducing plants, losing seedlings, and introducing plants again, I had no choice but to begin devoting myself to studying orchid cultivation.

     Through careful care of orchids and quiet reflection, I have gained a great deal. I came to understand certain principles of growing flowers that are like those of being a person. I gradually understood its growing habit of "liking moisture but fearing wetness, liking dryness but fearing aridity"; I learned its living habit of "loving the morning sun, avoiding the setting sun, liking southern warmth, fearing northern cold"; and I mastered its cultivation method of "not coming out in spring, not sunning in summer, not drying in autumn, not wetting in winter." Day after day in the company of orchids, over time, people and orchids developed a wondrous exchange and sudden understanding beyond physical form, which finally gave me a completely new and profound understanding of the orchid's character and sentiment, spirit and personality. The noble, elegant orchid, with both charm and spirit, is precisely a symbol of lofty human character. "The secluded orchid grows in a deep valley, originally unknown to anyone; only because its fragrance is heavy, seekers come from every corner of the mountains." Her reserved nature has not diminished her dazzling luster; on the contrary, it inspires even greater respect! I also gained a deeper understanding of Cymbidium faberi: know Cymbidium faberi and you can grow it well. Cymbidium faberi has robust seedlings, fragrant flowers, flower scapes that rise above the leaves, many and large flowers, and is majestic and spectacular. Its wild species are *vast, and there are prejudices and misleading ideas circulating in society such as "Cymbidium faberi has no outward appearance," "it is hard to grow," and "it is very difficult to flower." Through study and understanding, I gained a new recognition of Cymbidium faberi: it is strong by nature, highly adaptable, forms large clumps, and has strong reproductive capacity. However, if you do not understand its nature, you will also encounter poor growth and difficulty flowering.

     On careful observation, compared with several other fine-leaved orchids such as Cymbidium goeringii, Cymbidium tortisepalum, Cymbidium kanran and Cymbidium tortisepalum var. longibracteatum, Cymbidium faberi truly has differences:

     (1) Cymbidium faberi has a well-developed root system that is thick and long. Its pseudobulb is very small, and its leaves are numerous and large. Lacking a storage reservoir of nutrients and having more nutrient consumption, it needs frequent and ample fertilizer during cultivation to supplement this.

     (2) Its physiological characteristics are also quite different. The vegetative growth and reproductive growth of Cymbidium goeringii, Cymbidium tortisepalum and Cymbidium tortisepalum var. longibracteatum are basically synchronized. Generally, spring shoots that emerge in the current year can enter the reproductive growth stage by the end of the year if the plant is strong, and can be expected to flower the following spring. Cymbidium faberi, however, mostly produces new shoots only in late spring and early summer, and by winter can only grow into half-mature plants. It takes until the second year to grow into a mature plant with 5-7 leaves. Only in the third year can a strong plant possibly enter the reproductive growth period of bud formation and flowering.

     (3) Cymbidium faberi also differs from other orchid species in its requirements for sunlight and fertilizer. Cymbidium faberi is naturally fond of sunlight, and during its growth and development period it needs long-day sunlight to fully meet its light requirements. With its well-developed root system and strong plants, its supply and demand for fertilizer are far greater than those of other orchid species.

     Understanding some of the habits of Cymbidium faberi has certain guiding significance for growing it well:

1. Cymbidium faberi likes a fertile and deep cultivation medium;

2. The pseudobulb of Cymbidium faberi is not obvious, and its growth basically relies on the roots to absorb nutrients from the growing medium;

3. The growth cycle of Cymbidium faberi is longer than that of other orchid types, and it cannot all be completed in a single growing season;

4. In its native environment, the roots of Cymbidium faberi grow in humus soil 20-30cm underground. In such soil conditions, Cymbidium faberi divides very easily. Its roots are thick and long, and the plant is tall, so under artificial conditions a deep pot should be used;

5. The leaf veins of Cymbidium faberi are transparent, and it can accept short periods of strong light, having a sun-loving characteristic;

6. The leaves of Cymbidium faberi have many vascular bundles, are dense, leathery, firm and with little flesh, and have relatively low requirements for air humidity. It is drought-tolerant and highly resistant to waterlogging, and phosphorus and potassium fertilizer should be supplemented in good time;

7. Cymbidium faberi natively mostly grows in high-altitude mountainous areas, which objectively requires good ventilation and a certain temperature difference. Starting from the above characteristics, growing Cymbidium faberi well can be roughly summarized into six aspects: the medium should be breathable and contain nutrients; repot less; plant appropriately deep; see more sun; and ensure good ventilation. A breathable medium with nutrients is the foundation of cultivation, repotting less and planting appropriately deep are internal requirements, while the external conditions are seeing more sun and ensuring good ventilation. Grasp the foundation and balance the internal and external. I believe the Cymbidium faberi in our hands will surely, as one wishes, settle into the pot, grow roots, increase shoots, grow strong, and then bloom - with a fragrance that fills the nose and refreshes the heart. (This year, when the orchids gave off their fragrance, I held my half-year-old daughter to smell the scent. She had already remembered the fragrance of the flowers by then. Whenever I tend the orchids, she asks me to put a pot on the floor. Whether or not there are flowers, she bends over above the plant and takes a deep breath, as if she has already smelled the fragrance of the orchids, and then giggles at me and my partner for a while...)

     "Graceful flower posture with long green leaves, when the wind comes it is hard to hide the fragrance in the valley. Not because it is gathered can it be worn as a pendant; even if no one is there, it is fragrant on its own." The five gates and eight forms of Cymbidium faberi, and the petal-shape theory of Cymbidium goeringii - these two constitute the traditional aesthetic standard for Chinese orchids. What is traditional must of course be carried forward and inherited, and even more so must advance with the times and constantly enrich its appreciation standards. I think the reason Cymbidium faberi is called a Chinese orchid is that the orchid is not only a precious material thing, but even more a culture of the perfect combination of matter and spirit. The reason people highly esteem orchids is that orchids can cultivate people's sentiments and shape people's character. The combination of people and orchids condenses the splendid and colorful orchid culture unique to the Chinese nation. People love the style of lightness, elegance and purity, and esteem the sentiments of loyalty, integrity, simplicity and resilience - and is not the orchid precisely the representative of the harmonious unity of such style and sentiment?

Lan jiao - a metaphor for like-minded people.

  Lan jin - using the lapel as a metaphor for a close friend.

  

  Lan you - a good friend.

  Jin lan - when people are kindred spirits and then become sworn brothers or sisters, it is called forming a golden orchid bond.

  Lan pu - after forming a golden orchid bond, genealogical cards are exchanged, called a golden orchid register or orchid register.

  Lan yu - iris and jade tree. Expresses brotherly affection.

  Lan ke - a good friend and honored guest.

  Lan shi - virtue as fragrant as an orchid.

  Lan po - noble spirit.

  Lan zhi - quality like that of an orchid.

  Lan gai - another name for filial piety.

  Lan shuai - a metaphor for the passing of a worthy of the time and the decline of outstanding talent.

  Lan ai - a metaphor for things beautiful and ugly; the two sides are opposed and cannot be mentioned in the same breath.

  Lan zhi - orchid and lingzhi mushroom, a metaphor for virtue.

  Lan du - orchid and pollia, a metaphor for beautiful qualities.

  Lan zhang - beautiful writing and letters.

  Lan zao - beautiful and free-flowing words.

  Lan xun - good letters, good news.

  Lan tang - an ancient, elegant and majestic hall.

  Lan gui, lan shi, lan fang - a woman's bedroom.

  Lan jie - an elegant name for steps or stairs.

  Lan dian, lan yu - elegant and beautiful palace chambers.

  Lan tu - a bright future.

  Meng lan, zheng lan - an elegant term for a woman becoming pregnant.

  Lan zhao - a sign that a woman will give birth to a boy.

  Lan xiu - delicious food.

  Lan dou - exquisite ritual vessels.

  Lan zhi - a vessel for holding fine wine.

  Lan ye - the night of Qixi.

  Lan zi - beautiful posture.

  Lan fu - beautiful clothing.

  Lan ke - distinguished guests and fine visitors.

  Lan yin - a beautiful sound.

  Lan gui - the beauty of the bearing of a worthy person and gentleman.

  Lan shi - spring.

  Lan feng - fragrant wind.

  Lan xi - an elegant name for a mat.

  Lan qun - a beautiful skirt.

  Lan qin - an elegant qin.

  Lan zun - a beautiful wine vessel.

  Lan qi - a good time for a rendezvous.

  Lan yu - the beauty of a woman's carriage and mount.

  Lan wo - the beauty of a tent.

  Lan zhi, lan gao - dewdrops gathered on orchid stamens, a pure liquid.

  Lan tang - soup with excellent ingredients on the dining table, or bathwater infused with spices; hence the saying of bathing in orchid soup.

  Cai lan zeng yao - young men and women exchanging food to express mutual love.

  Zhi lan zhi shi - elegant and fragrant, referring to a beautiful environment.

  Lan xin hui xing - a metaphor for a woman being kind and virtuous.

  Lan fang shi jian - a metaphor for noble character and firm integrity.

  Zhi lan yu shu - a metaphor for a person of outstanding talent and appearance and pure, beautiful quality.

  Lan xun gui fu - praising a family that accumulates virtue, enjoys longevity and has prosperous descendants.

  Jin lan qi you - a close friend.

  Lan yin xu guo - an unhappy marriage.

  Lan cui yu zhe - the death of a worthy person, the early death of a person of high aspiration.

  Lan ai tong fen - jade and stone destroyed together.

  Lan gao hui lin - a fragrant and holy place.

Since ancient times, the Chinese nation has had a cultural tradition of loving the elegance and nobility of orchids, praising the integrity and conduct of orchids, extolling the chastity and dedication of orchids, and using the character of orchids to cultivate sentiment and purify the soul. And do we not have the responsibility and obligation to pass it on forever and ever? Let us together grow orchids, appreciate orchids, paint orchids, write about orchids, love orchids, learn the character and spirit of orchids, uphold the true nature and sentiment of orchids, and devote our hearts and strength to carrying forward the orchid culture of the Chinese nation!