Management Methods and Technical Key Points for Cymbidium tortisepalum During the Flowering Period
1. Use a clay pot with good air permeability; if no clay pot is available, a thin-walled porous plastic pot will also do. The key is that it absorbs heat well and allows air to pass through quickly. 2. Mix orchid growing medium in a combined formula. The ideal state for orchid growing medium is loose and spongy, moisture-retaining, free-draining and slightly acidic. The mountainous areas of western Yunnan are vast and rich in humus soil. This soil is loose and spongy, moisture-retaining, free-draining...
1. Use a clay pot with good air permeability; if no clay pot is available, a thin-walled porous plastic pot will also do. The key is that it absorbs heat well and allows air to pass through quickly.
2. Mix orchid growing medium in a combined formula. The ideal state for orchid growing medium is loose and spongy, moisture-retaining, free-draining and slightly acidic. The mountainous areas of western Yunnan are vast and rich in humus soil. This soil is loose and spongy, retains moisture and drains well, but its mineral element content is low and cannot meet the nutrient requirements for orchid growth. Therefore, locally, fallen leaves and leaf mold are mixed together with humus soil to grow orchids, with red soil making up about one fifth of the mix. Where red soil cannot be found, it can also be prepared; for fallen leaves, chestnut leaves or willow leaves are preferred. Orchid enthusiasts outside the province can refer to this soil mix; using fallen leaves mixed with tree fern and other fine-particle growing media also works well. The key is that the proportion of fallen leaves should be somewhat larger, around half.
3. Place the orchid pot in a ventilated spot with visible sunlight but no direct scorching sun; when watering, a showering method is better. This can wash away some settled soil and also allow the orchid roots to take in fresh air.
4. Spray pesticide and disease-prevention medication once every half month or about once a month. For plain-colored orchid varieties, do not fertilize or fertilize very little, and change the growing medium once a year.
5. When the flower buds emerge above the surface of the pot, move the orchid pot to a place with only a little sunlight, and be careful not to splash water onto the flower buds when spraying, to prevent the buds from rotting. After watering, be sure to let the wind dry the water droplets on the leaves and flower buds.
Managed this way, plain-colored orchid varieties can grow robustly and bloom in a more elegantly plain manner.
The degree of whiteness of plain-colored flowers is related to cultivation techniques and craftsmanship. Orchids grow in mountain valleys, half-buried in fallen and withered leaves; the flower buds that grow are conceived for a long time in fallen and withered leaves without sunlight, so once they elongate and open, plain-colored flowers bloom pure white. The ancients praised them as having ice-like flesh and jade-like bones. But after being grown in pots at home, the root system is planted shallowly, and the flower buds see sunlight as soon as they grow out of the soil surface, so the veins turn green and the flowers are called greenish; the whiteness of the whole flower cannot reach the level of ice-like flesh and jade-like bones. To make the flower petals white and pure, the following method can be adopted: In September and October, when the flower buds form, add a layer of potting soil once, then cover the flower buds with sphagnum moss or fallen leaves so that the flower buds grow away from light, and only remove the sphagnum moss or fallen leaves after the flower scape emerges above the leaf surface, letting the flower stem open in the wind. Plain-colored flowers that open at this time have already stabilized their plain color, called white petals, white veins and white; the elegance of plain-colored flowers reaches the state of ice-like flesh and jade-like bones. Orchid enthusiasts everywhere can try it, and perhaps may even create more wonderful plain-colored orchid cultivation techniques and craftsmanship.