How to grow Cymbidium ensifolium 'Tiegusu' so it blooms every year? Sharing my care experience

In the spring of 2005, I bought 8 plants of Cymbidium ensifolium 'Tiegusu' from a nearby flower nursery for 5 yuan per plant. After several years of growing, they have now been divided into 4 pots with dozens of vigorous plants in total. I heard from others that this orchid is not easy to bloom, so for more than 4 years I have been paying attention to experimenting and observing during cultivation. Hard work pays off, and at last it produces new growth every year and blooms every year. Below I will talk about my experience growing Cymbidium ensifolium 'Tiegusu'. Where I am wrong, I ask all the teachers to kindly correct me.

    1. Strong and mature plants:

When I first bought them, the leaf length was all above 50CM, the leaves were slender, and the pseudobulbs were not large; they looked big but were actually not strong. After several years of acclimatization, they basically have more than 3 leaves, about 35CM long and more than 1.2CM wide, the bulbs are also bigger, and the plant shape looks better too.

    In previous years, Cymbidium ensifolium 'Tiegusu' was placed inside the balcony, with average light conditions, but because the pots were small and few new shoots were produced, it only bloomed with 1-2 stems. This spring I did an experiment. I divided one large pot of Cymbidium ensifolium 'Tiegusu' into 4 pots. In order to enjoy the foliage, I did not divide the pots according to the principle of balancing old, middle-aged and young plants; instead, I planted the young and strong plants in 2 pots, the middle-aged strong plants in 1 pot, and the original old plants in 1 pot. They were placed in the same open-air environment and given the same management. This summer there was more rain, and as a result the old plants produced 5 shoots from 5 and did not bloom; the 2 pots of young and strong plants produced many shoots and also did not bloom; only 1 pot of mature strong plants produced 4 flower buds (2 flower buds were eaten by snails earlier), and now 2 stems are in bud and waiting to open.

  2. Appropriately increase light; outdoors, consider appropriate shading.

      The growth of all things depends on the sun, and rain and dew nourish strong plants. Orchids are shade-loving plants, but that does not mean they do not need sunlight. Light is divided into direct light and scattered light, and orchids prefer to grow under scattered light (this is the basis for growing orchids indoors and on balconies). Light is a necessary condition for the chlorophyll in orchid leaves to carry out photosynthesis and accumulate nutrients. Appropriately increasing light can promote the differentiation of flower buds.

Starting in late spring this year, my orchids have been kept outdoors in the open air for cultivation. Of course, this does not mean letting them be scorched or killed by the sun; using shade nets to take appropriate shading measures is still necessary

    3. Reasonably increase phosphorus fertilizer application

    In order to promote better growth of Cymbidium ensifolium 'Tiegusu' and cultivate strong plants that bloom more, in addition to suitable light, moisture and ventilation, appropriate fertilizer must also be supplied. For fertilization, a complete fertilizer containing nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and trace elements is best.

      In view of the weakness that Cymbidium ensifolium 'Tiegusu' is not easy to bloom, and because phosphorus can promote well-developed roots and the development and formation of reproductive organs, while potassium is an important element for keeping plants upright, supporting regular activity and resisting disease. On the basis of applying complete, decomposed liquid fertilizer, reasonably increasing phosphorus and potassium fertilizer has a certain effect.

    After Grain Rain and before the Beginning of Summer, I applied decomposed rapeseed cake (which contains more phosphorus) fertilizer water to Cymbidium ensifolium 'Tiegusu' several times, and after Qingming, once every 20 days I sprayed the leaves with 2 percent potassium dihydrogen phosphate. Through experiments in 2006, 2007 and 2008, although there were not many plants, it bloomed every year.

    4. It is not suitable to divide the pots frequently

  According to what I had imagined, this year Cymbidium ensifolium 'Tiegusu' should have had far more than 4 stems of flower buds. After careful analysis, the main reasons should be the following 2:

1) Excessive pot division this spring damaged its vitality;

2) This summer there was more rain, relatively more new shoots were produced, the potting soil was quite moist, and during the flower bud differentiation period it did not receive appropriate water restriction to promote flower bud differentiation.