Fake Orchids Bought for a Thousand Yuan: Learn to Identify Valuable Orchids by Their Leaves

Today's orchid market is booming, with all kinds of valuable flowers and plants appearing one after another. When you see plants with vivid colors, vigorous seedlings and a very cheap price, you should be extra careful, because they may well be fake plants. Recently, an orchid enthusiast unfortunately bought a fake orchid, and 1000 yuan went down the drain. He was truly devastated inside. What a deep trick! In fact, identifying fake orchids is not difficult, because artificial fakes are mostly unnatural, such as inconsistent lip shapes, inconsistent colors, and glue marks at the joined parts. Ordinary consumers can spot them as long as they look carefully. Below is a guide on how to identify valuable orchids by their leaves.

1. Fake flowers: Either cut the flowers off valuable orchids (such as cutting the flowers of a better variety of pure-heart orchid, red-flowered orchid or strange-flowered orchid) and insert them into the pseudobulb of an ordinary orchid or between the leaf bases of two leaves, fix them with glue, wrap them with sphagnum moss, and leave only the leaves and flower stems exposed, then sell it as a valuable orchid. Or insert a white plastic bud clip into the pseudobulb of an ordinary orchid, wrap it with sphagnum moss, and leave only the white "bud" exposed, then sell it as a pure-heart orchid. Or inject chemicals into the pseudobulb of an orchid about to bloom to force white flowers to open, then sell it as a pure-heart orchid. This kind of orchid will have its pseudobulb rot after being planted at home for ten days to half a month.

2. Fake leaves: Either slightly scrape or wear away the edges of green leaves or the raised veins so that yellow or white "lines" appear, then sell it as a variegated orchid; Cymbidium faberi (with thick veins) is the easiest to fake this way. Or paint yellow or white lines with paint on relatively stiff orchid leaves (mostly Taiwan orchids or Chinese cymbidium) and sell them as variegated orchids. Or grind vague, unclear lines at the leaf tips and sell them as "claws" or "swept tails". Or cut off the long leaves of the same orchid plant and leave only the short leaves to sell it as a "dwarf variety orchid". Or sell orchids whose leaves have turned yellow or developed yellow spots due to poor growth as "strange-leaf" or "spotted" orchids. To identify such leaves, mainly check whether the edges of the spots are clear, whether they can still carry out photosynthesis, and whether the yellow color has a healthy luster.

3. Fake plants: Either sell young orchid seedlings as dwarf mature orchids. Or cut off all the other leaves without special features from an orchid that has only one or two leaves with some special features, and sell it as a strange-leaf orchid. Once this kind of orchid grows new leaves, it will be just like an ordinary orchid. Or cut off all the old leaves from certain Cymbidium goeringii plants whose buds are somewhat yellow when sprouting, leaving only the slightly yellow buds, and sell them as leaf-variegated orchids with "tiger stripes".

4. Fake varieties: Either sell variegated dwarf lilyturf as a variegated orchid. Or sell seedlings of variegated leaf Rohdea japonica as silver-edged orchids or even Daruma orchids. Or sell seedlings of Cymbidium hookerianum as round-tailed Cymbidium ensifolium (a precious species). Or sell ordinary Cymbidium ensifolium with relatively good plants as Yongfu Su or Longyan Su. Fake varieties: Either sell variegated dwarf lilyturf as a variegated orchid. Or sell seedlings of variegated leaf Rohdea japonica as silver-edged orchids or even Daruma orchids. Or sell seedlings of Cymbidium hookerianum as round-tailed Cymbidium ensifolium (a precious species). Or sell ordinary Cymbidium ensifolium with relatively good plants as Yongfu Su or Longyan Su.

Especially for all you beginners growing orchids, you must look carefully when buying valuable orchids. I hope sharing this article is helpful to you. Have you ever encountered fake orchids? You are welcome to follow and share, and I also look forward to your comments and likes. Thank you!