Yang Shaohua: Orchid division season, how to seize the opportunity

Yang Shaohua: Orchid division season -- seizing the opportunity It is once again the annual season for repotting and dividing orchids. Drawing on several years of my own growing experience, I have summarized my practices as follows, in the hope of offering a modest contribution and inviting advice from fellow orchid enthusiasts! Three years ago I built a new glass greenhouse of about 10 sq m and began introducing the more commonly availableCymbidium sinenseplain-flowered line-art varieties. Through practice, I have basically achieved the goal of two new growths per year, or three new growths every two years, while ensuring that the current season's new growths do not retreat, with fairly good results. The specific methods are: 1. Maintain strong light management. The orchid room is kept under strong light for more than 12 hours per day, at about 10000 lu of illumination, and on cloudy and rainy days lighting is used to make up the shortfall. 2. Maintain ventilation and air permeability. An opening of about 5 cm is left at the bottom of the orchid room to ensure fresh, circulating air, and together with the rotating operation of exhaust fans, leaf-blowing fans and intake fans, the air is kept fresh. 3. Maintain the relative humidity of the orchid greenhouse. Through the regulation of a humidifier, the relative humidity of the orchid greenhouse is kept at about 70 percent. 4. Adopt appropriate water and fertilizer management. According to the growth condition of the orchid plants, adopt strong water and weak fertilizer management measures, mainly using solid slow-release granular fertilizer, combined with the season and growth condition, applying water-soluble fertilizer two or three times a year. 5. Keep good records and grasp the appropriate timing for repotting and dividing orchidsCymbidium sinenseIf grown properly, it can produce two new growths a year (excluding high-tech growing methods). How can this goal be achieved? My approach is: keep good records of repotting, the number of shoots, the state of the roots, and the timing of new growth emergence. When there are autumn growths in the 7th-8th lunar month each year, there will certainly be spring growths the following year. The key is when to divide the orchids. I usually wait until the autumn growths have produced new shoots up to the opening stage before dividing. If growths emerge in the 9th lunar month, then it depends on the growth condition, and the orchids are divided only after ensuring the new growths. Usually the later divisions will have late spring growths. Never rigidly fix a time for repotting and dividing orchids. Work with the seasons and do a good job of water and fertilizer management. A portion of hard work will always bring a portion of harvest!