Why do orchids need vernalization? An analysis of the vernalization principle and personal views

Beginners who grow orchids often run into some terminology. When they don't understand it, they look up materials or ask the experts, but in the end it stays vague and they never truly grasp the principle. In the spirit of curiosity and a love of learning, let's talk in plain language about the two words commonly seen in orchid terminology: "vernalization."

Vernalization, as textbooks generally put it, means using low temperatures to inhibit the growth of orchid leaves and leaf buds, thereby supplying energy to the flower buds. That sounds clear enough, but beginners still don't get it: why can't the orchid do without vernalization? Let's tell a little story.

Old Zhang has two sons and one daughter. The children's pocket money is normally given by Old Zhang. Actually the children can earn money too, it's just that the financial power is controlled by Old Zhang. As the second half of the year approached, the daughter's marriage had been settled and the wedding was planned for the first month of the lunar year. Old Zhang was calculating how much savings the family had; it seemed not enough. Old Zhang didn't want to accept too much bride price from the other family either; he wanted to marry his daughter off in grand style by his own strength.

So Old Zhang held a family meeting and decided to stop the two sons' pocket money for three months, using the money saved to hold the daughter's wedding. There was nothing the two sons could do about it; who told them not to hold the financial power? Over the following three months, the two sons didn't dare go out to play, didn't dare spend money carelessly, and along the way did some odd jobs to earn a little money for Old Zhang. They too were preparing for their sister's wedding expenses.

Money makes things easy. When the appointed day came, Old Zhang's daughter was married off in grand style. That dowry, that spectacle, made all the neighbors envious. Everyone said Old Zhang was capable, arranging his daughter's wedding so well. In fact, only Old Zhang's family knew that for this wedding the whole family had tightened their belts for three months.

Old Zhang is the mother orchid plant, the two sons are the new seedlings and new shoots, and the daughter is the orchid. Explaining vernalization this way may be a bit inappropriate, but Haoshe Farmer likes to explain big principles in plain language like this. Criticism of anything incorrect is welcome.

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