Planting techniques and management key points for front-rowth and back-rowth divisions
"Jiuling Meidie" is a strongly fragrant broad-leaf cold-growing Cymbidium (Cymbidium kanran) originally collected from the mountains of Yifeng. Its outer three petals are especially short and broad, the central column is firm and strong, the outer petals are broad and softly embracing, the flower color is brilliant, and the fragrance is rich and striking, perfectly blending the fragrance, form and color of the orchid. The appearance of this flower proves that cold-growing cymbidiums can also produce petal-type flowers, which is undoubtedly of great significance in the history of orchid cultivation....
Front-rowth grass (front-rowth division) is the grass at the very top of the plant's growth point, and it also implies the strongest, generally with normal plumpness exceeding that of the back-rowth.
The productivity of front-rowth grass is many times stronger than that of back-rowth.
The dormant bud points of front-rowth grass cannot be matched by back-rowth either.
Front-rowth grass has a long life expectancy and can continue contributing to the plant.
Front-rowth grass has no historical scars.
Front-rowth grass roots are all new, with no signs of degeneration or aging, and there are many of them.
Back-rowth grass generally refers to grass of the grandfather generation or older.
The productivity of back-rowth grass is much lower than that of large front-rowth.
Back-rowth grass leaves and roots have historical scars and damage that are irreversible.
Back-rowth grass has a short life expectancy and a short time to contribute to the plant.
The shoots produced by back-rowth grass are basically much weaker than those produced by front-rowth grass.
For grass produced by back-rowth grass, calling the new grass front-rowth strong grass is a bit of a stretch.
Buying back-rowth grass requires years of accumulated experience.
Buying back-rowth grass is generally suitable for orchid enthusiasts who cannot afford the price of new grass but want it, and who are not convenient for exchanging or selling grass. [Buying new grass produces shoots rapidly and persistently]
Back-rowth grass also has the possibility of being grown well, but the price absolutely reflects the facts of short life expectancy and low productivity.
We all know that orchids by habit like to live in groups, and generally 10 or more plants per pot makes it easy to flower and easy to produce grass. A fellow orchid enthusiast in my area had a pot of ordinary Jiangsu-Zhejiang spring orchid (Cymbidium goeringii) grass, with leaves like those of "Qiandao Zhihua," filling a large flower pot with a 28 cm diameter, and it was grown especially well, with leaves completely free of spots, reaching the quality of "sealed tips." The leaves were all about 30-40 cm long, and at first glance it did not even look like an orchid; from a little farther away it looked like a pot of luxuriant scallions. Looking at these lush orchids, I thought there must be several hundred shoots! Looking at this pot full of robust orchid grass, I thought it must have been cultivated for many years (I asked at the time but have now forgotten). Every spring when it blooms it is even more spectacular, with dozens of flower scapes distributed across the pot surface complementing one another, "they" constantly giving off a delicate fragrance, making the owner love "them" even more. Although it was ordinary grass, the owner's affection for "them" did not diminish in the slightest (as can also be seen above, this orchid owner's level of orchid cultivation is quite impressive).
The growth pattern of this pot of orchid grass is no different from that of other orchid grass, with normal metabolism every year. With a large number of shoots and no division, the old pseudobulbs that originally metabolized normally gradually become hollow and shriveled. In the hollowed areas, dense new grass grows again; this is because space in the pot is tight, so when new grass grows in a direction reaching the pot wall, it turns back and threads into the position of the hollowed old pseudobulbs in the pot, so externally no gaps can be seen.
Why can so many orchid grass grow densely together? I think this must be attributed to "their" habit of liking symbiotic group living! The mutual relationship between "front-rowth" and "back-rowth" is fully reflected here. Look! Among these connected shoots there are even 7 generations of grass yet they grow well. Seeing the new shoots grow deeper and deeper, can we understand this as the old grass protecting the new grass? In fact, the reproductive growth points (flower buds) of the pseudobulb are distributed in the upper half, while the vegetative growth points (leaf buds) are distributed in the lower half. Isn't that so! The lower half has better moisture than the upper half!
The vigorous growth of new grass before it becomes independent naturally cannot do without the nutrient supply of the "back-rowth," but when the new grass matures it also does not abandon the "back-rowth" and ignore it; instead, it uses its own strong tissues (leaves and roots) to store nutrients with greater intensity, supporting the reproductive growth of the "back-rowth" while also developing winter and spring buds. In fact, at this time the "back-rowth" is also not idle, and is busy accumulating nutrients and preparing everything for reproductive growth. After the flowers have bloomed, the "back-rowth" is another year older. At this time "they" are still storing nutrients through photosynthesis and root absorption, and these nutrients continue to supply the front vegetative growth and reproductive growth, while the rear "back-rowth" also repeats this work. This continues until all of its own leaves have finished metabolizing, at which point only the plump "old pseudobulbs" remain. At this time you should not underestimate these leafless "old pseudobulbs"; "they" still have the ability to continue life (many examples of this are omitted here). At this time the "front-rowth" is still continuing the "ancestral instruction" and developing the next generation.
The above mutual relationships between "front-rowth" and "back-rowth" are also fully reflected in the wild-collected grass I introduced in 1997. "They" grow in pots on the flower rack outside the window, yet still continue "their" instinct to grow in nature. Yes! "They" all grew from the original two or three shoots of grass to their present size. Looking at the pot full of orchid plants and the pot full of roots (many roots have already been pushed out), still growing in harmony and producing flower buds on schedule, I sincerely admire them.
As above, the mutual relationship between "front-rowth" and "back-rowth" involves different divisions of labor but the same goal, which is to constantly strengthen their own group. Here the truth that "unity is strength, division is decline" is fully reflected.
Indeed! Our famous varieties can also achieve full pots and full growth. As long as you mainly appreciate them, and as the years lengthen you change the substrate and change to larger pots without dividing the plants, you will certainly achieve your wish. Look! Hasn't this pot of hundred-shoot "Song Mei" done it?