Orchids are cheap and easy to grow; even beginners can fill a room with fragrance

Introduction

Green plants and potted flowers are essential decorations for home life. Keeping some flowers and plants at home has many benefits: they beautify the room and lift your mood. "Flower Sound Potted Plant Diary, Issue 1250" introduces you to an orchid suitable for beginners.

Orchid bonsai

Orchids have a refined, uncommon elegance and a delicate, far-reaching fragrance, and have long been loved by Chinese people. In modern times they have even been rated among China's top ten famous flowers, and they are a common upscale Lunar New Year flower. There are many traditional Chinese orchid varieties; today I will introduce one with excellent value for money, very easy care, and high ornamental value.

Yihong Shuangjiao

This flower is namedYihong Shuangjiao, a premium variety of Jianlan (Cymbidium ensifolium), known as the "Little National Soul." Its leaves are emerald green and glossy, with beautiful lines; its flowers open in a neat, well-formed shape, with red in the bloom and vivid color. The lower the temperature, the redder the color. The overall ornamental effect is good, and it is widely cultivated.

Long blooming period

Yihong Shuangjiao belongs to the four-season orchid; with proper care it can bloom all year round, though its blooming period is mainly concentrated in summer and autumn, nicely filling the gap left by Chunlan (Cymbidium goeringii), Huilan (Cymbidium faberi), Molan (Cymbidium sinense) and others that bloom only in winter and spring. It also produces many flowers, often sending up multiple scapes at once, with several flowers per scape.

Easy care

Overall, Jianlan plants are sturdy with well-developed root systems, making them the easiest to grow among all Chinese orchid varieties, and therefore also the most widespread. To grow Yihong Shuangjiao, use orchid-specific soil, place it in a ventilated spot with indirect light, and water thoroughly only after the soil has dried out. Once you understand its characteristics, it is very easy to grow.

When it blooms, the whole room is filled with fragrance

Yihong Shuangjiao once commanded a high price, but as the market has returned to reason and cultivation has expanded, its price is now very affordable. It is suitable for beginners as a practice plant: if you grow it well, it becomes a bonsai; if you fail to keep it alive, you won't feel heartbroken. Placed in the home, when it blooms the whole room is filled with fragrance. It is well worth having.