What is the true value of wild orchids? Orchid growers: no wonder famous varieties are cheaper now

A fellow orchid grower asked me: what exactly is the difference between wild orchids and those from professional orchid nurseries? Why are many famous orchid varieties now cheaper than wild orchids? In fact, the differences between wild orchids and nursery varieties come down roughly to these points:

1. Different appearance. The leaves of wild orchids are mostly not as beautiful as those of nursery orchids. Professional orchid nurseries can control temperature and humidity, and regularly spray foliar fertilizer, so the leaves look very marketable; wild orchids, by contrast, may have some blemishes.

Wild orchid

2. Wild orchids mostly have horizontal roots, because they form them by drawing nutrients from the humus layer in the wild; in nurseries, because of the confines of the pot, orchid roots grow vertically down along the pot. That is why, before potting a wild orchid, we always trim the roots and cut the leaves.

Wild orchids have good resistance and their own defenses against some common pests and diseases, so when we see a wild orchid on the mountain, even if it is infected with pests or disease, the whole plant will not die. But once a nursery orchid is infected with pests or disease, the whole plant will very likely be destroyed.

Wild orchid

3. In fact, the biggest difference between wild orchids and nursery orchids is value,and here I do not mean price, but value. Nurseries mostly cultivate some famous and precious orchid varieties, and what they produce are products and commodities. If a grower is willing to spend money, he can buy the Mei or the Petal he likes, and perhaps the one you keep at home is exactly the same as the ones kept by Zhang San and Li Si, so this kind of orchid can only be regarded as a commodity.

Wild orchids are different: they vary in many ways because of differing altitude, soil and climate at their growing sites. It is very hard to find at another grower's home an orchid exactly like the one you keep. This is the uniqueness of wild orchids, and also where their charm lies.

A wild orchid after one year of domestication

If we use a personification analogy, a nursery orchid is like a Korean beauty: as long as you are willing to spend money, you can sculpt that kind of prettiness too. A wild orchid, by contrast, is more like Brigitte Lin's Dongfang Bubai, Athena Chu's Zixia Fairy, or Joey Wong's Xiaoqian, whose subtle charm cannot be imitated.