The Road to Exploring Large-Scale Orchid Cultivation

While everyone is captivated byorchids'pure floral fragrance,evergreenfoliage all year round, and noble elegance, they are also constantly anxious about how difficultorchidsare to grow, especially large-scale cultivationorchidnurseries, which have suffered enormous losses for this very reason. "The fragrance of plum blossoms comes from the bitter cold"; likewise, "the fragrance of orchids comes from bitter effort." To grow orchids well requires hard work and, above all, skill. "Three feet of ice does not form in a single day" - one must never seek quick success and instant benefits. The orchid nursery of Shantou Liyuan Flowers & Plants Co., Ltd. was founded in 1997. It currently has a planting area of over twelve mu, several hundred thousand plants, and nearly a hundred varieties. In the early days after the nursery was established, because of seeking quick success and instant benefits, and with no practical planting experience whatsoever, it planted on a large scale all at once, and as a result suffered losses due to disease, improper watering, unsuitable potting medium, improper fertilizing and other reasons, paying a considerable "tuition fee" indeed. Once burned, twice shy. The people of Liyuan comprehensively summarized the causes of failure, recognized the importance of scientific orchid growing, promptly adjusted their planting plan, hiredorchid-growingexperts at high salaries, and at the same time recruited graduates majoring in horticulture from South China Agricultural College, forming a dedicated orchid cultivation experimental group, and began Liyuan's unique orchid-growing method: first conducting scientific experimental planting, then using the point to lead the area, using the experience gained from the experimental plantings to guide the cultivation of orchidsthroughout thenursery. After several years of experiments, in the selection of watering, fertilizing and potting medium, the people of Liyuan accumulated and explored some experience, which we share here for discussion with fellow orchid growers, for our mutual encouragement: First, the selection of potting medium. The choice of potting medium determines to a large extent the growth oforchids. Through repeated experiments and dissection using various potting media in different proportions, it was found that a mixture of construction gravel (about 1 cm in diameter) and peanut shells in a 1:1 ratio is optimal; orchids grown in it have better-colored roots, are plump, are not easily rotted, and have many new growth points and water-absorbing points. This potting medium is easy to find, cheap, and easy to manage, and is especially suitable for large-scale cultivation. Second, watering. Proper watering helps promote the growth oforchids. On the basis of using the above potting medium (gravel and peanut shells), experiments were carried out using the same orchid variety with different watering methods, such as watering once a day, once every two days, once every three days... once every seven days, and regularly dissecting orchid roots and recording relevant data. After more than a year of experiments, the final result was that watering thoroughly once every two to three days is optimal; orchids watered this way have intact roots and new shoots emerge earlier. Third, fertilizing. Proper fertilizing can accelerate orchid growth. Through applying different fertilizers in different proportions, after more than a year of experiments, the best fertilizing methods for each stage were worked out: from the early budding stage to the vegetative growth stage (that is, when new shoots have grown to sixty percent), high nitrogen should be used; from the mid vegetative growth stage to the early pseudobulb swelling stage, high phosphorus should be used; from pseudobulb swelling to the pseudobulb maturation stage, high potassium should be used. Based on the experimental results and the different requirements of each stage, the fertilizers we mainly use are Yifeidan, bran water, sugar water vinegar solution, etc., with a fertilizing cycle of once every 5-6 days and a concentration of 3000 to 5000 times being preferable. At present, the orchid seedlings in our nursery are growing well. Especially the Qimo, by the end of March alone, some of its new seedlings had already grown to over 20 cm tall, each plant basically had three to four leaves or more, and some new shoots even had new secondary bud points on themselves, which is truly encouraging. The above experience is offered for the reference of fellow orchid growers; exchanges and mutual improvement are welcome. Chen Hanliang