Where to Buy Golden Thread Orchid Seeds? A Detailed Guide to Purchasing Channels
Golden thread orchid, also known as golden thread orchid, bird ginseng, and money grass, is a perennial herbaceous plant of the genus Anoectochilus in the orchid family. The whole plant can be used as medicine, and folk legend holds that it has the effect of treating all diseases. It has long been known by the laudatory title of “king of medicine”, and its numbers are very scarce. At present, greenhouse cultivation or simulated wild cultivation already exists. Let us take a look below at where golden thread orchid seeds are sold!
Where are golden thread orchid seeds sold?
Golden thread orchid seeds are sold at some medicinal herb cultivation bases, but the market generally sells golden thread orchid seedlings, at about 0.3 to 0.5 yuan per plant. Before cell tissue culture, golden thread orchid relied solely on natural seed germination, but the seeds are extremely fine, and there is only one incompletely developed embryo inside the seed, so the germination capacity is very low. In addition, the seed coat does not easily absorb water, and sowing by conventional methods cannot cause germination. Therefore, orchid fungi or artificial culture medium are needed to supply nutrients for germination. From sowing to transplanting takes half a year to one year, so at present golden thread orchid is mostly propagated in production by cell tissue culture.
Cultivation Conditions for Golden Thread Orchid
1. Temperature: Golden thread orchid has strong adaptability to temperature, and the suitable growth temperature is 20 to 32 degC. Under greenhouse coverage, a continuous 30 days of low temperature of 0 to 5 degC still causes no obvious damage to golden thread orchid, while 15 days of daily temperature above 34 degC easily causes leaf curling and damage to quality.
2. Moisture: Golden thread orchid is naturally distributed in forest environments with high humidity and near some streams. Moisture is the most important factor affecting the survival of golden thread orchid, but it can survive in environments with dry climate and water-deficient soil. For artificial cultivation, the relative humidity is above 70%.
3. Light: Golden thread orchid is a shade-loving plant, and its light saturation point for photosynthesis is low. The suitable light intensity is about 3000 lux. Under natural conditions, the canopy density of upper-layer trees is 7% to 80%, and the coverage of lower-layer vegetation is about 40%.
4. Soil: Golden thread orchid is suitable for rooting under slightly acidic soil conditions. The soil is required to be loose, breathable, and moist. Under natural conditions, it is distributed in humus soil, yellow soil, and red soil types. For small-scale planting, peat soil and perlite are recommended.
Cultivation Methods for Golden Thread Orchid
1. Variety selection: At present, the widely cultivated golden thread orchid varieties are the Fujian variety and the Taiwan, China variety, both of which have good adaptability and are liked by consumers. In particular, wild golden thread orchids from Liangye Mountain and Guanzhai Mountain are very popular after artificial cultivation, while the Taiwan, China variety is relatively sensitive to low temperature.
2. Seedling raising method: For large-scale cultivation of golden thread orchid, tissue-cultured seedlings should be used. Tissue-cultured seedlings can maintain the excellent traits of the mother plant and are uniform. It is required to select tissue-cultured seedlings that have been hardened in a shed for more than 15 to 30 days, have a seedling height of more than 6 cm, and have 2 to 3 leaves for transplanting.
3. Reasonable close planting: Plant golden thread orchid at a plant spacing and row spacing of 2×5 cm, transplanting 140 to 150 plants per tray. Wash the seedlings clean with clear water. When planting, control the depth at about 1 cm, and avoid deep planting. After planting, spray with an 800 to 1000 times dilution of 45% metalaxyl-hymexazol wettable powder.
4. Management after planting: One week after transplanting golden thread orchid, spray once every 7 days with a 500 times dilution of 10% amino acids. Within 15 days after transplanting, use film covering, and properly control the temperature inside the shed between 20 and 27 degC, the relative air humidity at 70% to 80%, and the substrate humidity at 70% to 75%.
5. Harvesting and processing: Golden thread orchid can be harvested when it is more than 10 to 15 cm tall, has 5 to 6 leaves, leaf width 2 to 2.5 cm, leaf length 3 to 3.5 cm, the leaf underside is purplish red, the golden vein network on the leaf surface is obvious, and the stem is green. At harvest, shake off the soil, wash clean, and sun-dry or oven-dry.
6. Pest and disease control: Install insect-proof nets around the golden thread orchid cultivation shed, use sugar-vinegar liquid to trap and kill cutworms, or use biological pesticides such as bacteria, fungi, viruses, plant extracts, and antibiotics to kill pests and diseases. For chemical control, pesticides with high efficiency, low toxicity, and low residue should be selected.