Ten Taboos of Orchid Cultivation, a Must-Read for Orchid Growers

Promote Chinese orchid culture, spread orchid knowledge

First taboo: rushing for quick results. Under natural conditions, orchids are slow-growing plants. For home-grown orchids, during the period when spring shoots and flower buds emerge, never dig into the soil to observe them. Keep a calm and patient mind, and do not add water or fertilizer excessively, as doing so poorly will only backfire.

Second taboo: small seedlings in large pots. When potting orchids, choosing the pot is very important. When there are not many seedlings, using a large, deep pot makes management difficult, especially controlling water, and it takes even longer to see flowers.

Third taboo: mixing different species together. Different varieties have different habits. When several orchid seedlings share a pot, the root systems become crowded, the pseudobulbs press against each other, and growth is hindered. Once disease strikes, it spreads fastest. For famous orchid varieties with weak seedlings, there is a practice called companion planting, grafting them beside strong orchid seedlings, but they must still be established as independent plants, and the pseudobulbs must not be pressed tightly together.

Fourth taboo: frequent repotting. Especially for beginners in orchid growing, hearing secondhand methods for mixing potting media and eagerly using them, repotting frequently, most easily damages the roots. The orchid growing period is precious, and the dormant period likewise. During the growing period, unless repotting is needed to remove disease or a special situation is found in the pot, brief repotting may be considered; during the long winter dormant period and the semi-dormant period in high-temperature seasons, repotting must be avoided.

Fifth taboo: excessive shade cultivation. Orchids like shade, but that does not mean they do not need sunlight. Grass cultivated in shade does not bloom easily. Sunlight that feels comfortable to the human body is equally comfortable to orchids. Moreover, different orchid species like different amounts of light. Cymbidium faberi and Cymbidium ensifolium like sunlight and can hardly be killed by sun exposure, so how can they be kept too shady?

Sixth taboo: water accumulating in the pot. With orchids, one point of understanding, three years of skill in watering. The moisture of an orchid pot is related to the size of the pot, the ratio of potting media, and the orchid-growing environment. Under the same conditions, because orchid varieties differ and seedlings differ in strength, the number of waterings and the amount of water used also differ. You cannot simply water once every how many days in which season, understanding it mechanically. Even for generally applicable watering methods, the main principles can be followed, but they must still be grasped flexibly and applied in a targeted way.

Seventh taboo: applying concentrated fertilizer. Orchids are noble and elegant, liking purity and disliking turbidity, so fertilizer should be applied thinly and frequently.

Eighth taboo: crowded orchid pots. Orchids like ventilation. When a gentle breeze comes, they appear leisurely and their posture looks even more beautiful. The positions of orchid pots on the shelves should be moderate in height, not crowded, and especially not stacked layer upon layer. When watering, water splashes everywhere and makes the orchid garden filthy.

Ninth taboo: worrying about gains and losses. If famous orchids or promising varieties are not grown well, feeling heavy-hearted is very natural, but you must constantly sum up experience. It is unavoidable that orchids may become diseased or die, for many reasons. Once an individual orchid plant contracts a devastating orchid disease, decisive measures must be taken: isolate what should be isolated, and when rescuing, perform extensive excision on diseased plants, eradicating the disease completely. Do not be reluctant to part with them. Seriously infected ones must be destroyed and discarded.

Tenth taboo: narrow-mindedness. Orchids have the bearing of a true gentleman, a graceful and beautiful posture, a quality as pure as jade, the will to battle intense heat and fight severe cold, the character of accumulating thinly and releasing richly, and they contend with no one in the world while dedicating to the world their wonderful and mystical delicate fragrance. We call this orchid virtue. We orchid growers should encourage ourselves with orchid virtue. Do not be aloof and proud, do not wound others with harsh words, do not be self-righteous and look down on everything, do not regard only yourself as supreme and gossip about others. Radishes and greens, each has its lover; rare flowers and exotic plants, each displays its own beauty.