Orchid-growing beginners can make fewer mistakes by reading Mr. Hu Shi's "Orchid Grass"

Mr. Hu Shi was a great literary giant of his generation, and a fellow native of our Huizhou. His former residence is only ten kilometers from the home of Good Photographer Farmer. But the gentlemen's orchid-growing skills were not good, and we can see from this poem of his that he made the mistakes every orchid-growing beginner makes.

I came from the mountains, bringing orchid grass, planted it in the small garden, hoping it would bloom early.

Looking three times a day, I watched the flowering season pass, yet the orchid remained the same, without even a single bud.

In the blink of an eye autumn arrived, I moved the orchid into the warm room, tending it fondly morning after morning, never forgetting it night after night,

I only wish the flowers would bloom early, to fulfill my long-cherished wish, with blossoms clustering all over the courtyard, blooming with abundant fragrance.

Why do I say the gentleman did not know how to grow orchids? From the poem I found several points, several very important points.

First, the gentleman's orchid was undoubtedly a wild-collected orchid (I came from the mountains, bringing orchid grass), so why is wild-collected grass hard to grow well? Please look at the next line.

Two, (planted it in the small garden, hoping it would bloom early). The gentleman planted the orchid in the small garden, which literally means it was planted in the ground, because he did not say "placed" it in the small garden. If planted in the ground, he certainly would not have specially prepared growing medium either; it was just like growing vegetables in a mud patch.

Three, looking three times a day - was he afraid it would not grow big? Was he watering it often? Or, like many orchid-growing beginners, did he dig it up whenever he had nothing to do, just to see whether it had taken root?

The fourth point is also the key reason his orchid did not bloom

Four, in the blink of an eye autumn arrived, I moved the orchid into the warm room

The autumn climate is exactly the time when orchids need low temperatures for vernalization. Low temperatures can inhibit the sprouting of new shoots, thereby leaving nutrients for the development of flower buds. If it does not go through low-temperature vernalization, the orchid grass will keep sprouting new shoots and growing new leaves, and of course it will not bloom.

The gentleman's orchid should also have been brought from his hometown, and was likewise a wild Huizhou orchid just like the farmer's. If the above four mistakes had not been made, it would have been impossible for it not to bloom.

The gentleman is the person I respect most. Today, using his story to discuss orchid growing with fellow orchid enthusiasts is already disrespectful.