How much do you know about the fertilizing philosophy for Chinese Cymbidium orchids?

The idea that the more fertilizer you apply, the better the orchid plants will grow is wrong. Applying too much fertilizer will, because of the excessive strength of the fertilizer, causeorchidsto wither and die; even if they do not die, it has been known to cause growth disorders. Therefore, failure incultivationcaused by over-fertilizing is more common than failure from giving no fertilizer at all. True, the results of using fertilizer forcultivationare better, but for beginners atcultivation, before they are familiar with growing methods, it is safer not to use fertilizer, because even without fertilizer the growth of the orchid plants will not be affected. Of course, if applied in smaller amounts, it can promote good growth. To be on the safe side when fertilizing, if it is a solid fertilizer, please apply half the amount specified in the instructions. Liquid fertilizers on the market today are quite common, and new brands keep appearing, but most of them are not fertilizers made specifically fororchids; fororchidsthey are all too concentrated, so after reading the instructions carefully, dilute them once more to double the recommended dilution before use, and you can avoid the danger of fertilizer burn. Lowering the concentration and increasing the frequency, while using fertilizing in place of watering, is even more of a trick for good orchid plant development. As the time spent growing Chinese orchids accumulates, you develop confidence in cultivation, but this self-confidence often turns into conceit by the third year, and at this point many people meet with failure. This is because in the first year they follow the advice of those with more experience and of experts, paying attention step by step to cultivation, and after 2-3 years, as experience accumulates and results are good, they become quite confident in growing, and at this point it is hard to avoid the delusion that they are far better than those experienced growers and experts who have spent more than ten years in contact with orchids; this kind of conceit often leads to failure. What is described above is only a general growing method, because everyone has their own growing environment; usually, for newly purchased orchids, try to continue growing them in the first year using the previous grower's method, but after the second and third years, you can gradually switch to a method suited to your own environment, which can achieve even better results. (You Chongkui)