Car salesman-turned-Taichung flower farmer Lin Chiang-kai cultivates nearly 100,000 Phalaenopsis orchids

Taichung flower farmer Lin Chiang-kai was originally a car salesman. Because he liked orchids, he switched to growing flowers. He has now set up an orchid cultivation greenhouse farm in the Houli area of Taichung, and introduced Dutch greenhouse cultivation technology to stabilize flower quality. At present, the farm has nearly 100,000 Phalaenopsis orchids. Lin Chiang-kai said that Taichung will host the Flora Expo in 2018, and he hopes that through the Flora Expo, more crowds will be attracted to Houli to admire the flowers and sightsee, letting the whole world see the beautiful flowers of the Taichung area.

The Taichung City Agriculture Bureau said that Lin Chiang-kai, born in the 58th year of the Republic of China calendar, did not graduate from an agriculture-related department. When he first entered society, he worked as a car salesman. He grew orchids simply because he liked orchids. Later, he grew more and more, and through an introduction from someone, he set up a stall at a flower market, which opened up the opportunity to build a large-scale orchid cultivation greenhouse farm. Because the climate in Houli, Taichung is suitable for growing flowers, and winter temperatures are low, with an environment of 18°C more effectively prompting the flowers to bloom, Lin Chiang-kai chose to rent nearly one jia of land on Sanfeng Road in Houli to set up an orchid cultivation greenhouse farm, and introduced Dutch greenhouse cultivation technology to stabilize flower quality.

Lin Chiang-kai has grown almost every kind of orchid, including Oncidium, Paphiopedilum, Phalaenopsis, and others. At present, the farm has nearly 100,000 Phalaenopsis orchids, and he hopes Taiwan can regain the glory of being the "Kingdom of Phalaenopsis." Lin Chiang-kai said that because orchid seedlings need a total of 2 years to grow before the Phalaenopsis orchids can be delivered to consumers, the manpower, time, and capital invested behind this cannot be underestimated, and the hard work devoted by flower farmers is even more difficult to put into words. He looks forward to promoting the flowers painstakingly grown by flower farmers to the whole world through the Taichung Flora Expo, attracting more crowds to Houli to admire the flowers and sightsee, and increasing international exposure.