Before introducing orchids, you need to learn the relevant knowledge first

Author: Qirui Orchid Garden

Recently, several new orchid friends told me that many of the plants they bought had rotted, and they felt at a loss about how to start with introduction. I will answer them all together here, sharing my own feelings so we can learn together.

When it comes to introduction, several issues have to be discussed:

       1. Recognizing plants. For any type - form, color, butterfly, oddity, and so on - its plant must have its own characteristics. Judge from the plant type, leaf sheaths, leaf tips, and so on whether it can produce a fine flower. Find some materials and study them carefully; although it is not absolute, most of it is fairly useful. New orchid friends are not encouraged to gamble on unflowered plants; focus on ones that have already flowered. If you do not understand something, humbly ask orchid friends around you who share the same interests. I have seen some online sellers say this is such-and-such a plum, such-and-such a lotus, such-and-such a butterfly, such-and-such an oddity, yet at a glance that plant could not possibly produce those fine flowers, and surprisingly many people still joined the bidding. Isn't that just fooling people?

       2. The growing environment must be improved properly. The environment for growing orchids is very important. If you want to grow orchid plants well, it is impossible without a good environment. Consult reference materials, visit other orchid friends more, learn more, and exchange more. In light of your own environment, work mainly on the two issues of ventilation and humidity. Once these two issues are solved, the fundamental problem of growing orchids is basically solved. As for orientation, although orchids like shade, bright scattered light is best. At present, based on the orchid-growing environments of the orchid friends I have contact with, among those whose orchid-growing environment is poor, few grow orchids very well (mine is barely passable). So, those who do not have the conditions should not rush to start introducing orchids.

       3. Put more effort into growing and cultivating. Growing medium, watering, fertilizing, applying pesticides, and so on all require mastering the essentials. Of course, growing techniques can be tempered through the process of cultivation. There is a good saying: without a diamond drill, do not take on porcelain work. New orchid friends had best not envy famous and precious varieties; the result is that their growing skills are not up to standard, and in the end the plants die, so the loss outweighs the gain. I suggest new orchid friends start with Cymbidium ensifolium (Jianlan), then Lianban, and then Chun-jian. Once your skills are mature, you can get some good varieties to play with.

       4. Get the categories clear. This should originally have been put under recognizing plants, but this issue is a bit complicated, so I will discuss it separately. 1. First distinguish the categories clearly; 2. Distinguish the specific varieties clearly; 3. Distinguish the plants clearly by region such as south, north, and central; 4. When buying plants online, be clear about tissue-cultured, re-exported, and old varieties. Face them squarely, and only then will they be helpful to you. By the way, here is a joke: I know a friend who sold plants for 2 years, and when someone brought him a Songchun, he did not recognize it. Do you think his plants can sell well?

       5. Mindset. It is very important; growing orchids requires a calm mind. After the earlier wild speculation and trials, orchid plants are now on the road back to value. Prices may still fall, but they have already tended toward stability. Ones that used to cost tens of thousands can now sometimes be bought for a few hundred, so I suggest that new orchid friends who meet the above conditions act within their means and choose some good seedlings they like to grow. In this way, they will see flowers quickly, and their interest will be higher.