Management Methods and Care Tips After the Flowering Period of Cymbidium faberi

After the flowering period of Cymbidium faberi ends, buds cultivated in natural environments in most regions emerge from the soil one after another. The annual, cyclical bud-stage management is important work during this time. In May there are two solar terms, Lixia (Beginning of Summer) and Xiaoman (Grain Buds), and the monthly average temperature is relatively stable at around 22 degrees. In vast areas of the south, summer begins in the first ten days of this month; in the Jiangsu-Zhejiang region, summer generally begins in the middle to last ten days; in some northern regions, summer begins at the end of the last ten days. Rainfall this month is generally abundant, and the south has already entered the plum rain season. The best time for the growth of Cymbidium faberi has arrived. Seizing the key period of Cymbidium faberi growth and doing the following management well is especially necessary.

Shading: As temperatures continue to rise, shading for Cymbidium faberi generally begins at 25-28 degrees. Because each person's and each location's environment for growing Cymbidium faberi differs, it cannot be uniform in every case; at the same time, Cymbidium faberi is a sun-loving plant, so shading work must be done according to actual conditions. In the Jiangsu-Zhejiang region this month, using 50% shade netting is most suitable. Before 10 a.m., full light is completely fine; after that, pull on the shade netting, and at 4 p.m. it can be pulled open. This is somewhat troublesome to operate, but it is indeed very beneficial for the growth of Cymbidium faberi. If using a sun panel (BVC) orchid room, because it can filter out more than 90% of ultraviolet rays and the orchid room has good ventilation conditions, as long as no explosive high temperatures occur, then appropriate shading from 12 noon to 3 p.m. is the best shading method. Orchid enthusiasts with the means would do best to use bamboo blinds or reed blinds for shading; the heat-insulation effect is better than shade netting, so it is worth trying.

Watering: Cymbidium faberi prefers a moist but on the dry side growing environment. Seeing dry and seeing wet is the key to watering Cymbidium faberi. Compared with other orchid types, its water requirement is somewhat less; by no means should you mistakenly think that because its pseudobulbs are small and its leaves are long, it needs more water to satisfy its growth needs, as that would produce the opposite effect. Because Cymbidium faberi mostly grows natively on sunny high slopes, its root system is well developed, and after rain it dries relatively quickly; sometimes even with no rain for a whole month, it can still grow tenaciously. Although it is not afraid of too much water, too much without benefit is also an unnecessary waste of manpower and water resources, and sometimes because the pot remains constantly wet without drying, it causes unnecessary man-made harm; is that not thankless? During the bud-emergence period of Cymbidium faberi, it can be appropriately kept a bit more moist. The measure to grasp is: on clear days after the pot surface dries, you can give a small watering over the pot surface in the early morning or evening of the next day; then when the inside of the pot is slightly dry the next time, give a heavy watering. This can both ensure vigorous growth of small buds and overcome the great taboo of the pot remaining constantly wet. If grasped properly, the effect is obvious.

Fertilizing: After the new buds of Cymbidium faberi emerge from the soil, after a slight pause new roots are produced; at this time applying fertilizer is greatly beneficial for promoting the growth of Cymbidium faberi. According to the principle of thin fertilizer and timeliness, fertilizers such as monopotassium phosphate or Xishuo can be used for foliar spraying; fully fermented and decomposed organic fertilizer can also be used for watering application. Generally, the number of sprayings or waterings can be determined according to whether the Cymbidium faberi seedlings are strong or weak. For newly repotted Cymbidium faberi and those that have just finished flowering, because they have not yet rounded out in the pot and are in a semi-dormant state, their ability to absorb fertilizer is limited, so there is no need to apply fertilizer and add harm; at most, one timely spraying of dilute foliar fertilizer is enough. For root fertilizer applied by watering, it is best to choose organic fertilizer mainly based on nitrogen fertilizer; applying nitrogen fertilizer during the small-seedling stage of Cymbidium faberi is beneficial for vigorous growth of stems and leaves. For example, the soak liquid of chicken feathers, soybean milk, rapeseed cake, green grass, bean shells, and the like are all organic fertilizers with considerable nitrogen fertilizer content; when using them, add a little trace-element inorganic fertilizer, dilute with about 30 times water and water it on, then return with water the next day.

Ventilation: As temperatures rise, ventilation at the orchid-growing site needs to be strengthened even more. Especially under humid, stuffy, windless climatic conditions, doing ventilation work well is particularly important. The ancients fixed the first essential of growing Cymbidium faberi on ventilation, which is indeed exquisitely apt. Whether ventilation at the orchid-growing site is good or bad is directly related to whether growing Cymbidium faberi succeeds. For growing Cymbidium faberi on balconies and rooftops, a small fan can be used to regulate ventilation and air exchange; large-scale orchid farms generally use industrial exhaust fans to promote air circulation. It is necessary to achieve ventilation from front and back, left and right, and top and bottom, so that Cymbidium faberi can breathe cyclically and take in the new while expelling the old. The wind force required for natural ventilation is better at around level two; with a gentle breeze lightly brushing and Cymbidium faberi leaves swaying, it is undoubtedly very beneficial for the growth of Cymbidium faberi. Can it be considered this way: the higher the temperature and the greater the humidity, the more ventilation and air permeability must be strengthened. If this key condition of ventilation and air permeability is neglected, then growing Cymbidium faberi well is out of the question. This is an eternal law through the ages.

Disease prevention: The resistance of Cymbidium faberi is somewhat stronger than that of other orchid types, and under ordinary circumstances it is not easily diseased. Pathogens can easily take advantage of weak seedlings and Cymbidium faberi with wound infections, so it must be guarded against. Prevention first must start from multiple directions. Common methods are cleaning and maintaining the sanitary conditions of the orchid room, scattering lime powder on the ground; spraying medicine in the surrounding environment; spraying medicine on Cymbidium faberi after rain, and so on. These are undoubtedly good methods and indeed play a due inhibitory role against Cymbidium faberi diseases. But relatively speaking, all these methods still cannot be regarded as the best methods. Truly active prevention must still be comprehensive prevention: that is, strong seedlings resist disease. If when growing Cymbidium faberi you can do well and just right in aspects such as light, ventilation, watering, fertilizing, and medicine use, then the seedlings grown will certainly be very sturdy, and natural resistance will accordingly increase. For this reason, preventive medicine use must be built on the foundation of strong seedlings; for us Cymbidium faberi growers, this is a goal we need to pursue together.

Pest control: Because rainwater increases and temperatures rise, insect pests begin to reproduce. Aphids are produced in high-temperature and high-humidity environments and reproduce relatively quickly, harming orchid leaves; once discovered, use omethoate to spray and kill them. Scale insects break out when they encounter high-temperature, stuffy, hot weather, and come fiercely; once they occur, use pyrethroid pesticides or special scale-killing remedy to kill them three times in a row, once every three days, and be sure to annihilate them completely. Mites are a kind of tiny pest that is hard to see if you do not pay attention; they specifically bite the base of the heart leaves and cause severe harm, and can be dealt with using dicofol. Earwigs come out at night and bite the tender leaf buds of Cymbidium faberi on the pots, and the slime from their bodies easily sticks to Cymbidium faberi leaves, hindering viewing; ordinary pesticides have no effect on them, so only after catching them crawling on the ground, cut them open with a nail (or small knife) and that is that; there is also another method: sprinkle table salt on their bodies and they are pickled. In addition, for ants, nematodes, earthworms, and other such insects, the pot-soaking method can be used to drive them away; bones can be used to lure them; pesticides can be used to pour them.

There is a poem as evidence for the management of Cymbidium faberi in May: After Cymbidium faberi flowers finish blooming, clear harmony returns again, gradually feeling the sun's arrogance, what can be done about the drying? Straighten up and set the flower-protecting blinds and frames, half shade surely compares with a bamboo grove nest.