How do you care for Fulun Lvyun? Sharing my cultivation experience
In November 2008, I introduced 3 shoots of Fulun Lvyun with flower buds from Guangdong, and have been growing them for nearly 3 years now. At first I was just curious about this thing, and I didn't know whether it was easy to grow. When the plants arrived, I saw they were typical southern greenhouse tissue-cultured seedlings, and they had been planted in sphagnum moss. The roots were very tender, looking plump and delicate but thin and short. For me, growing something like this under natural cultivation conditions is not easy; there was a high chance most would die. Since I wanted to grow it, I had to be mentally prepared for it to kick the bucket.
After the plants arrived, the first thing I did was switch to the hard potting medium I use myself. The advantage is: it acclimates Fulun Lvyun, turning its water roots into thick, strong roots under natural cultivation, and it also makes my ownorchid growingmanagement easier. The disadvantage is: switching all at once from a soft medium to a hard medium, can this plant adapt, can it safely get through summer, can it be kept alive the first year? Keeping something like this alive the first year is the most critical thing. If it survives the first year, confidence greatly increases, and a sense of accomplishment follows.
For plants introduced with flower buds, should you let them bloom or not? At the time I thought: if it blooms, I can feast my eyes and enjoy it; if not, it greatly benefits the plant's adjustment to the pot. In the end I decided to let it bloom. If I didn't let it bloom, who knows when it might bloom in the future. I would rather let it bloom itself to death than spend my whole life regretting never having seen it flower.
At first I thought: this thing is very hard to grow. Later I learned that it actually isn't that precarious, and it's just as easy to grow as otherCymbidium goeringii. In the first year, 2009, I gave no fertilizer at all and grew it clean. Growing clean is about growing good roots; when roots are good, the orchid rejuvenates quickly. That year, three produced one. In October I repotted to check the roots, and many new roots had grown; the roots were very nice. I cut off the rotten roots grown from the earlier soft medium, added some new medium, and the first year of growing was quite successful. It seems growing something like this is not as hard as some people say.
In 2010, four produced one, and the new shoots were clearly much stronger than the previous generation of plants, growing well. After autumn, two flower buds emerged. To ensure the plants grew healthily and produced strong shoots while still being able to enjoy the flowers, I removed one flower bud close to the new shoot.
Having grown them for more than two years in 2009 and 2010, I feel this thing has a very low shoot production rate, producing one shoot per year, and the old plants do not easily die off either. After it bloomed this spring, I tried using old plants planted separately to produce shoots, with the aim of increasing the shoot production rate. In March I took measures with five plants, planting and growing the front three plants and the back two plants separately. At present, this year's shoot production rate has reached 60 percent, so it seems increasing the shoot production rate is feasible.
As shown in the picture: front three plants: three produced two
As shown in the picture, back two plants: two produced one
Please enjoy:
2009 bloom:
2010 bloom:
2011 bloom:
Some people may say: this thing is not worth growing, it is the product of technology, the boost of technology. I do not agree with this view. Although it is a product of tissue culture technology, from an appreciation standpoint, what you smell is the delicate fragrance of Cymbidium goeringii, what blooms is the flower of Lvyun with white variegation, and the leaves have fulun edging. When there are no flowers, the leaves are very nice to appreciate.
I think orchid lovers should try growing all kinds oforchids. Only after trying it yourself do you know the secrets within. My philosophy for growing orchids is: what you grow is the process, what you grow is the anticipation, what you grow is the joy!
I hope this can give orchid enthusiasts who love tissue-culturedorchids a little inspiration, and help them grow the flowers in their hands well. I also sincerely hope other orchid friends will share different opinions and views, so we can all improve our orchid skills together.