What are the control methods for pests and diseases of the lady's tresses orchid?

1. Rust disease

Symptoms: Coleosporium usually grows on the surface of the leaves, and many raised small bumps appear on the leaves, containing rusty-colored or even purple-black powdery spores. Infection with rust disease weakens the growth of the plant.

Control method: First, promptly cut off the diseased leaves, and spray with 65% zineb powder diluted 500 times or a copper-containing fungicide.

2. Southern blight

Symptoms: Southern blight mostly occurs during the plum rain season. When the disease strikes, the leaf bases become covered with white mycelium, and the rhizomes begin to rot.

Control method: Promptly change the pot and soil, and sprinkle lime on infected potting soil to disinfect and sterilize it. In daily care, pay attention to ventilation and light transmission, and the potting soil should be breathable and drain well. Branches with severe disease should be burned promptly.

3. Anthracnose

Symptoms: Anthracnose mostly occurs in summer. The lesions gradually spread from the leaf tips toward the rhizomes, initially appearing brown, then gradually expanding and increasing, and in severe cases causing the plant to die.

Control method: Move the plant to an environment with good ventilation and light transmission. During the disease period, first spray 50% thiophanate-methyl diluted 1000 times, and one week later, spray 1% Bordeaux mixture, spraying 3-5 times in succession.

Common pests and diseases of the lady's tresses orchid and their control methods

Diseases of the lady's tresses orchid

Rust disease

Coleosporium usually occurs on the surface of the leaves, and raised small bumps appear on the leaves, containing rusty-colored or even purple-black powdery spores. The entire lady's tresses orchid infected with rust disease grows weakly.

Control methods for rust disease

Cut off the diseased leaves, and spray with 65% zineb powder diluted 500 times or a copper-containing fungicide.

Southern blight

Southern blight mostly occurs during the plum rain season. When the disease first strikes, the leaf bases become covered with white mycelium, and the rhizomes rot.

Control methods for southern blight

Promptly change the pot and soil, and sprinkle lime on infected potting soil to disinfect and sterilize it. In daily care, pay attention to ventilation and light transmission in the growing environment, and the potting soil should be breathable and drain well. Severely diseased plants should be burned for disposal.

Anthracnose

It can occur throughout the year, and occurs frequently in hot and rainy seasons. The lesions first spread from the leaf tips toward the rhizomes, initially appearing brown, then gradually expanding and increasing, and in severe cases causing the entire plant to die.

Control methods for anthracnose

Move the lady's tresses orchid to an environment with good ventilation and light transmission. During the disease period, first spray 50% thiophanate-methyl diluted 1000 times, and one week later, spray 1% Bordeaux mixture, spraying 3-5 times in succession.

Pests of the lady's tresses orchid

Scale insects

Scale insects live on the plant, causing leaves to turn yellow and wither. Under conditions of high temperature and high humidity with poor air circulation, they reproduce fastest and easily induce sooty mold.

Control methods for scale insects

To kill scale insects, choose systemic pesticides. Many flower growers recommend Japan DX Xiaobaiyao. For plants grown in fields, spray with omethoate diluted 1500 times.

Common methods for pest and disease control of orchids

Today, the editor of Flowers and Potted Landscapes wants to share with you an article about common methods for pest and disease control of orchids. Let's take a look.

Plants of the orchid family (scientific name: Orchidaceae) are commonly known as orchids, also called hujihua. They are a worldwide-distributed and diverse family among flowering plants, often colorful and often fragrant when blooming, and are commonly known by the common name orchid family.

Orchids are herbaceous plants. Under artificial cultivation, their disease incidence is much higher than when growing naturally in forests. Under artificial cultivation, due to differences in temperature, humidity, light, and air, plus unclean ambient air, orchids are most prone to leaf diseases such as anthracnose, black spot, sheath blight, and rust spot.

Add an entry? Orchid This is a polysemous term. Please choose to browse among the following entries (6 entries in total):

One of China's top ten famous flowers Traditional Chinese painting A character appearing in the second part of Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch A 2006 American film directed by Bryce Dallas Howard A 2010 book compiled by the Royal Horticultural Society A poem by Zuo Heshui

Orchid - One of China's top ten famous flowers Free editing Modify entry name

Category: Plants

Orchid (scientific name: Cymbidium ssp.): Epiphytic or terrestrial herb, with several to many leaves, usually borne at the base of the pseudobulb or on lower nodes, two-ranked, ribbon-shaped or rarely oblanceolate to narrowly elliptic, the base generally with a broad sheath that wraps around the pseudobulb, with a joint. The raceme has several to many flowers, with colors including white, pure white, white-green, yellow-green, pale yellow, pale yellow-brown, yellow, red, cyan, and purple.

Orchids among China's traditional famous flowers refer only to several terrestrial orchid species distributed among Chinese Cymbidium plants, such as Cymbidium goeringii, Cymbidium faberi, Cymbidium ensifolium, Cymbidium sinense, and Cymbidium kanran, namely what is usually called "Chinese orchid." This type of orchid is very different from tropical orchids with large and brilliantly colored flowers. It has no eye-catching flamboyance and no huge flowers or leaves, yet it possesses a plain, quiet, elegant, and noble temperament, which fits well with Eastern aesthetic standards. In China, it has a cultivation history of more than one thousand years.

Chinese people have always regarded orchids as a symbol of nobility and elegance, and they are listed together with "plum, bamboo, and chrysanthemum," collectively known as the "Four Gentlemen." "Orchid chapter" is usually used as a metaphor for the beauty of poetry and prose, and "orchid friendship" as a metaphor for true friendship. Orchids are also used to express pure love: "Her spirit is like an orchid, unchanging forever; her heart is like an orchid, never wavering," and "Having found a secluded orchid to repay a bosom friend, one spray is enough as a gift to dream of Xiaoxiang." In May 1985, the orchid was rated fourth among China's top ten famous flowers.

Basic information

Chinese name

Orchid

Alternative names

Chinese orchid, Cymbidium goeringii, orchid grass, orchid flower, secluded orchid, mountain orchid, national fragrance, valley fairy, ancestor of fragrance

Division

Angiosperms

English name

Orchid

Species

29 species

Kingdom

Plantae

Tribe

Epidendreae

Order

Microspermae

Family

Orchidaceae

Latin scientific name

Cymbidium ssp.

Class

Monocotyledons

Subfamily

Orchidoideae

Naming authority and year

Sw.,1799

Genus

Cymbidium

Subclass

Liliidae

Contents

1 Basic introduction

2 Morphological characteristics

3 Distribution range

4 Value introduction

5 Commercial value

6 Hometowns of orchids

7 Cultivation-related

8 History of orchid art

9 Other related

Edit this section Basic introduction

Orchid family (scientific name: Orchidaceae) plants are commonly known as orchids, also called hujihua. They are the largest and most diverse family among flowering plants, with more than 800 genera and 25,000 species (some sources list more than 30,000 species), plus more than 100,000 hybrids and varieties cultivated by horticulturists. The Royal Botanic Gardens' "World Checklist of Orchids" lists about 24,000 accepted species names, with about 800 new species added each year. The orchid family has more species than all vertebrates including Osteichthyes, accounting for about 1/4 of all species in the monocot class. Early classification systems (Cronquist system) classified Orchidaceae and Pontederiaceae within Microspermae. In the APG classification published in 1998, it was placed in Asparagales, and in the improved APG II classification of 2003, which classifies based on genetic relationships, it was placed under Asparagales and considered closely related to Hypoxidaceae. Due to the extreme complexity of orchid flora, all floral characteristics fully demonstrate a high degree of adaptation to insect pollination and establish symbiotic relationships with fungi, and orchids are considered the apex of plant evolution.

Orchid family plants are all perennial herbs. Their lifestyles include terrestrial (such as Orchis, Bletilla, and Spiranthes), epiphytic (or lithophytic; the vast majority of orchids have epiphytic habits), and the strangest saprophytic (such as Gastrodia, Galeola, and Lecanorchis, as well as Cymbidium macrorhizon and Cymbidium rhizomatosum, etc.), and a few are climbing vines (such as Vanilla), with fibrous roots, and epiphytic ones have aerial roots; stems erect, pendulous, or climbing; leaves simple and alternate, with leaf sheaths; flowers have specialized labella due to pollination patterns with insects, and the floral structure is complex; pseudobulbs are organs unique to orchid family plants, mainly seen in epiphytic orchids. Some varieties have large and beautiful flowers with different colors and shapes, so they are often cultivated as ornamental flowers.

Edit this section Morphological characteristics

Orchids are herbaceous plants that are easy to keep alive. Roots are fleshy and thickened, without root hairs, and have symbiotic fungi [2]. They have pseudobulbs, commonly called reed heads, wrapped outside by leaf sheaths, often connected with multiple pseudobulbs in a row existing simultaneously. Leaves are linear or sword-shaped, leathery, upright or drooping. Flowers are solitary or in racemes, with many bracts borne on the pedicel. Flowers are bisexual and fragrant. The corolla consists of 3 sepals, 3 petals, and the column. The middle sepal is called the main petal. The lower 2 are secondary petals; the extent of their spreading is called hu. The upper 2 petals are upright, relatively thick and fleshy, with tips curling inward, commonly called pong. Left-right symmetry, the labellum, pollinia, and the gynostemium are the basic characteristics of orchid family plants: the characteristic of pollen forming masses has some exceptions. Except for Apostasioideae and Cypripedioideae, most other orchid family plants also have a caudicle. The ancients said, "One stem with one flower is an orchid," and one stem with many flowers is a huilan.

Cymbidium goeringii and Cymbidium faberi are divided according to differences and variations in the shape and texture of their main petals, secondary petals, pong, and labellum into plum petal, narcissus petal, lotus petal, butterfly petal, rare type, and plain heart, etc. Plum petal means the sepals are short and round, relatively thick and fleshy, slightly curved inward, with a narrow base; the pong petals are thick and fleshy with tips curved inward to form a pocket; the labellum is short and hard, slightly upward when the flower first opens. Famous varieties include Song Mei, Xishen Mei, and others. Narcissus petal means the sepals are slightly longer than in plum petal, with tips gradually pointed; the pong petals are thick in texture and also form a pocket at the tip; the labellum is slightly drooping or recurved. Famous varieties include Wang Zi, Cui Yipin, and others. Tea petal means the sepals are broad and large, thick in texture, narrow at the base, broad and abruptly pointed at the tip; the pong petals do not form a pocket; the labellum is relatively moist and slightly recurved. Famous varieties include Da Fugui, Cuigaihua, and others. Butterfly petal means the inner sides of the two downward sepals become thicker in texture, form wavy wrinkles, and have red patches; sometimes the number of entire sepals or petals suddenly increases (such as Luyun, whose corolla often has about 8 parts), or the flower shape has special changes. Plain heart means the perianth, flower stem, and bracts are the same color, pure green, yellow-green, etc., without variegated markings. Precious varieties include Zhang He Su, Lao Wentuan Su, and others.

Orchids like shade and fear direct sunlight, like humidity and avoid dryness, and like fertile environments rich in humus and with good air circulation [2]. Climate and environment in different places can all affect the growth of orchids, so the choice of planting medium differs. For example, in southern Fujian, the weather in all four seasons is relatively warm and does not get too cold, so orchids grow quickly and are suitable for planting with small pebbles. First, it saves resources. Second, pebbles facilitate ventilation and do not retain water.

Edit this section Distribution range

Because most varieties of terrestrial orchids originate in China, orchids are also called Chinese orchids and are ranked first among China's top ten famous flowers. Chinese orchids mainly consist of Cymbidium goeringii,

Cymbidium faberi, Cymbidium ensifolium, Cymbidium kanran, Cymbidium sinense, Cymbidium goeringii var. longibracteatum, and Cymbidium tortisepalum, seven major categories, with thousands of horticultural varieties.

Cymbidium goeringii is also called grass orchid and mountain orchid. Cymbidium goeringii is widely distributed and rich in resources. The flowering period is February to March of the year, and can last about 1 month. The flowers have a rich and pure fragrance. Precious varieties include lotus, plum, narcissus, butterfly, and other petal types in various colors. In terms of petal type, the famous varieties from Jiangsu and Zhejiang are the most typical.

Sample Cymbidium faberi Da Yipin

Sample Cymbidium faberi Da Yipin

Cymbidium faberi roots are thick and long, and the leaves are narrowly strap-shaped, relatively rough in texture, hard, gray-green, with obvious serrations along the leaf margins and prominent midribs. The flowering period is March to May. The flowers have a strong fragrance that spreads far and lasts long. Flower colors include yellow, white, green, light red, and compound colors, mostly variegated flowers, and also plain flowers and butterfly flowers.

Cymbidium ensifolium is also called four-season orchid, including summer orchid and autumn orchid that bloom in summer. Four-season orchid is robust and upright, with green leaves and abundant flowers, strong fragrance and beautiful flowers, fearing neither heat nor cold, with strong vitality and easy cultivation. Different varieties have different flowering periods, and flowers can be seen from May to December.

Cymbidium sinense, also called Baosui orchid, Baisui orchid, Fengsui orchid, etc., is native to China's Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian, Yunnan, Taiwan, China, Hainan, and other places. Orchid growers in various parts of southern China, especially Guangdong and Yunnan, most enjoy cultivating and viewing it.

Cymbidium goeringii var. longibracteatum is often called authentic Sichuan orchid. Although Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan all have famous varieties, the famous Sichuan orchid varieties are the most precious. Flower colors include red, yellow, white, green, purple, black, and compound colors, gorgeous and dazzling, with a graceful appearance, elegant charm, strong fragrance and pure taste, and it is often the first choice praised by orchid growers. Cymbidium kanran

Cymbidium kanran is distributed in Fujian, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hunan, Guangdong, and the southwestern regions of Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, and other places. The leaves of Cymbidium kanran are more slender and long than those of four-season orchid, especially finer at the leaf base. The leaf posture is elegant and unrestrained, emerald green and delicate, with varieties including large, medium, and fine leaves and variegated edges. Flower colors are rich, including yellow, green, purple-red, deep purple, and other colors. They generally have variegated veins and spots, and there are also clean and flawless plain flowers. The sepals and pong petals are both relatively narrow and fine, with a unique style, delicate and lovely, and an overwhelming fragrance.

Cymbidium tortisepalum is a terrestrial orchid mainly produced in the northwestern Yunnan region of Yunnan Province, blooming during the New Year's Day and Spring Festival each year. The petals of this orchid are elliptical-strip-shaped, closely resembling the petals of a blooming lotus root, and people use one flower as a metaphor for another, naming it "Cymbidium tortisepalum."

Edit this section Value introduction

Medicinal use

According to records, orchids have the reputation of "queen of flowers," and the roots, leaves, flowers, fruits, and seeds of orchids all have certain medicinal value [1]. The roots can treat pulmonary tuberculosis, lung abscess, and sprains, and can also set bones; decocting Cymbidium ensifolium roots in soup and taking it is said to be a miraculous medicine for inducing labor. The leaves treat whooping cough, the fruit can stop vomiting, and the seeds treat eye cataracts. The whole plant of Cymbidium faberi can treat women's diseases, and the whole plant of Cymbidium goeringii treats neurasthenia, roundworms, hemorrhoids, and other diseases. Cymbidium ensifolium leaves can treat deficiency-related lung qi (also written as liver qi). Orchid pedicels can treat malignant ringworm. Plain-heart orchid petals can induce labor. The dried plain-heart petals of Cymbidium faberi can also induce labor.

In rural areas of some parts of Sichuan, orchids are called "labor-inducing flowers." It is said that if a woman encounters difficult labor, one should quickly bring a pot of "labor-inducing flowers" into the delivery room, and when the pregnant woman smells the orchid fragrance, she will give birth smoothly. Whether this has a scientific basis still awaits verification by obstetrics and gynecology experts.

China's traditional orchids are precious flowers with graceful posture and rich fragrance (the fragrance of kings). However, physicians through the ages have summarized very little about their medicinal value. The whole orchid plant can be used as medicine. Its nature is neutral, its taste pungent and sweet, and it is non-toxic. It has effects such as nourishing yin and moistening the lungs, promoting diuresis and draining dampness, and clearing heat and detoxifying. It can be applied clinically to various internal and gynecological conditions. The summary is as follows:

1. Nourish yin fluids, promote body fluid production and moisten dryness, and treat the sequelae of dry mouth and excessive thirst caused by radiotherapy for malignant tumors.

[Ming] Li Shizhen, Compendium of Materia Medica: "Orchid grass, odor pungent, neutral, sweet, non-toxic." "Its qi is clear and fragrant, promotes body fluid production and quenches thirst, moistens muscles, and treats wasting-thirst and gallbladder heat." "...To treat wasting-thirst and promote body fluid production as a drink, use orchid leaves; this likely originates from this." Modern medical science uses radium (cobalt-60) for radiotherapy after surgery for some malignant tumors or cancers, achieving certain therapeutic effects, but causing a certain degree of damage and functional impact to tissues and organs near the tumor. For example, radiotherapy for nasopharyngeal carcinoma, malignant tumors of the salivary glands (mucoepidermoid carcinoma), and cancer of the upper and middle esophagus causes damage to various glands in the oral cavity, especially the three major salivary glands: the parotid gland, submandibular gland, and sublingual gland, as well as mucosal gland cells of the upper digestive tract, causing a large decrease in glandular secretion and resulting in symptoms of upper wasting-thirst such as dry throat and burning sensation, dry tongue and scorched lips, and thirst with frequent drinking. Using orchids can treat this condition caused by radiotherapy for malignant tumors, with very good results.

According to clinical experience, combining with some Chinese herbal medicines produces better results for patients receiving radiotherapy for malignant tumors in different parts and organs. For example, for radiotherapy patients with laryngeal cancer, it is often used together with Shan Dou Gen, Bai Mao Gen, and Pu Gong Ying; for radiotherapy patients with esophageal cancer, it should be used together with Ban Zhi Lian, Bai Hua She She Cao, Xia Ku Cao, and Ling Xian, etc.

2. Clear heat and cool blood, nourish yin and moisten the lungs, and treat dry cough with prolonged coughing and pulmonary hemoptysis.

Modern traditional Chinese medicine research shows that the whole plant of Cymbidium ensifolium has the effects of clearing heat and cooling blood, and nourishing yin and moistening the lungs, and is commonly used clinically for hemoptysis due to pulmonary tuberculosis and for regulating persistent dry cough with prolonged coughing.

To treat patients with mild to moderate hemoptysis due to pulmonary tuberculosis, use 50-100 g of fresh Cymbidium ensifolium roots, mash and squeeze the juice or decoct in water and take, twice a day, with effects appearing in 4-6 days.

To treat patients with persistent dry cough, use 30-50 orchid stamens, decoct in water, add rock sugar, twice a day, and take for 3-5 days for remarkable effects. This conforms to the statement in the Compendium of Materia Medica that "orchid grass mainly treats blood production, regulates qi, nourishes the nutritive qi, and removes phlegm accumulation in the chest."

3. Regulate qi and harmonize blood, promote diuresis and reduce swelling, and treat urinary tract infections and leukorrhea in women.

According to the Supplement to the Compendium of Materia Medica: "The yellow orchid, called honey orchid, can stop diarrhea and leukorrhea, promote water passage, kill gu poison, reduce carbuncles and swelling, regulate menstruation, and when taken over a long period, boost qi, lighten the body, prevent aging, and communicate with the spirits." Modern traditional Chinese medicine believes that orchid roots have effects such as regulating qi and harmonizing blood, promoting diuresis, and reducing swelling. They treat urinary system infections and excessive leukorrhea in women.

Use 50 g of orchid roots, 30 g of cogongrass rhizome, and 30 g of winter melon peel, decoct in water and take, continuously for 6-10 days, to treat urinary tract infections.

For excessive leukorrhea in women, use 50 g of orchid roots, 30 g of asparagus root, 30 g of lily, and 1 free-range farm chicken, stew together, take the soup and eat the meat, once every 2-3 days, continuously for 2-3 times.

4. Soothe the liver and relieve depression, harmonize qi and blood, and treat dizziness and blurred vision and neurasthenia.

Modern pharmacological research shows that the aromatic component of orchids, aromatic oil, makes people feel relaxed and happy, clears stale qi, relieves depression and dispels boredom, and refreshes the mind.

To treat dizziness and blurred vision (Meniere's syndrome), it is effective. Prescription: 30 g of orchid stamens, 15 g of chrysanthemum, 15 g of dwarf lilyturf root, and 20 g of agrimony, decoct in water and take, 1 dose per day. Take continuously for 4-6 days. This is based on the records in the Supplement to the Compendium of Materia Medica: "Plain-heart Cymbidium ensifolium removes stale qi and relieves depression." "Honey-pickled green orchid steeped in tea and drunk harmonizes qi and blood, relaxes the middle burner, and sobers one from alcohol."

Use 50 g of orchid roots, 20 g of canna rhizome, and 20 g of Cynanchum paniculatum, decoct in water and take, 1 dose per day, continuously for 10-15 days, to treat neurasthenia.

5. Other medicinal uses

According to the record that "orchid leaves receive the qi of metal and water and seem to have fire; people know the preciousness of their floral fragrance but do not know that their leaves have medicinal prescriptions; their leaves can strongly disperse long-accumulated stale and stagnant qi, namely what is now placed on the right," to treat constipation, stagnation and accumulation in the large and small intestines, thick and greasy tongue coating, dry throat and lung dryness, and foul breath, use 20-30 autumn orchid flowers and 50 g of orchid leaves, decoct in water, and when slightly warm, mix in 30 g of honey and take, continuously for 2-3 times. This conforms to the theory that the lungs and large intestine are internally-externally related.

Use 50-100g of fresh orchid roots, wash clean, mash and apply to the affected area, to treat bruises, subcutaneous bleeding, and muscle tumors.

Edible uses

(1) The floral fragrance can be used to scent tea

The fragrance of orchids is fresh and pure, and when used to scent tea, the quality is the highest. In orchid-producing areas or large orchid nurseries, orchid tea has promising prospects for development.

According to records: "The flowers can enhance tea, and the paste can be used as a drink." In Fujian Province, villagers candy the flowers of the Cymbidium ensifolium with honey and then drink it. There is also a record: "Taking the juice soaked from salted plums, called plum oil, and using it to soak fresh flowers as a fragrance." In Japan's ancient capital, on the east side of Kyoto, there is an old little shop that for decades has sold its hereditary "orchid tea." This is made by picking the flowers of Cymbidium goeringii growing on the mountains north of Kyoto, drying them semi-dry by a special method, then salting them and packing them in small clay bottles. When using, take two flowers, put them in a teacup, and pour boiling water over them to drink. After soaking in water, the orchid flowers return to their original shape, both beautiful and with a special fragrance, and the flavor when drinking is extraordinary. The flowers can also be eaten at the same time.

(2) The flowers can be eaten

The flowers can be made into soup. According to records, the flowers can be added to soup; when about to add them to the soup, first scald them with hot water, and the flower color will be fresh and the soup taste delicious. Orchids can be used as a dish, and are a famous Sichuan dish at banquets, with a delicate fragrance that fills the air around the table, unforgettable for a lifetime after eating. Among the famous dishes in Sichuan cuisine are "orchid shredded tripe," "orchid shredded pork," and "orchid buns" also have an endless flavor.

Edit this section: Commercial value

A Singaporean merchant has produced a very unique souvenir: soaking orchid flowers in 18K or 22K gold liquid, and after it solidifies, making them into brooches, small clips, earrings, plates, and other ornaments. Because orchid flowers are natural raw materials, no two flowers can be exactly the same, so each gold-plated orchid jewelry piece is also different. In addition, orchid flowers are also placed in a special kind of wax to make small alarm clocks, pen holders, and various other souvenirs. Singapore is a multiracial country, so souvenirs are also diverse. Walking into Chinatown, with Chinese music lingering, all kinds of small souvenirs with Chinese characteristics can be found everywhere. Stepping into "Little India," people will find its "Indian flavor" is very strong, with saris, spices, garlands, peacock feathers, and so on seen everywhere. And "Holland Village" sells Western-style souvenirs, such as Dutch clogs and so on.

In addition to tourist souvenirs for viewing and wearing, Singapore now also turns some high-quality foods into tourist souvenirs for tourists to choose from. Specialties such as Singapore's dried pork and rock sugar bird's nest are deeply loved by tourists.

Edit this section: Orchid hometowns

Luotian, Hubei

On the morning of April 2, 2013, the awarding ceremony was held in Luotian County, Huanggang City, Hubei Province. This awarding ceremony was hosted by the China Wild Plant Conservation Association, and undertaken by the Hubei Wild Animal and Plant Conservation Association, the CPC Luotian County Committee, and the Luotian County People's Government.

Luotian has a mild climate, abundant rainfall, many mountains and dense forests, and a forest coverage rate of 68.8%, providing good ecological conditions for orchid growth and promoting the coexistence of multiple orchid communities. In high-altitude forest areas, Goodyera schlechtendaliana, Cypripedium japonicum, and Cleisostoma scolopendrifolium are abundant; in mid- and low-altitude mountain forests, Cymbidium ensifolium, Cymbidium kanran, and Cymbidium faberi are abundant. A total of 18 genera and 25 species of orchidaceous plants have been found within the territory, with a growing area of 1.32 million mu.[5]

Edit this section: Cultivation-related

Chinese orchids

Shaoxing orchids

Shaoxing is one of the earliest places in China where orchids were planted, and has long been called the "hometown of orchids." The Southern Song Baoying "Kuaiji Xu Zhi" records: "Lan, the Yue Jue Shu says: Goujian planted orchids at Lanzhu Mountain. The old classic says: Lanzhu Mountain is the place where Goujian planted orchids." Lanzhu Mountain is in present-day Lizhu Lanting, and is still famous at home and abroad for its abundant production of Cymbidium goeringii. Shaoxing orchids have many varieties, and their flower shape, color, and fragrance are all unique. With one branch in a room, a clear fragrance fills the air and refreshes the heart. The Ming dynasty calligrapher and painter Xu Wei wrote in his poem "Orchid": "Do not be surprised that spring light does not belong to you; one fragrance is enough to overpower a thousand reds. Even if picked and placed in Han Niang's sleeve, it does not become the scent of musk in the world." The traditional famous orchid varieties "Song Mei," "Lou Mei," "Huanqiu Hedeng," "Zan Die," and others all come from Shaoxing. Shaoxing's rare variety "Lüyun" is a national-level protected rare resource. In 1959, a rare-petaled famous Shaoxing orchid was named "Zhongshan Hudie He" by Beijing Zhongshan Park. In 1982, the Standing Committee of the Shaoxing Municipal People's Congress designated the orchid as the city flower of Shaoxing, and established the country's first orchid association, namely the Shaoxing Orchid Association.

Major orchid-producing county

Yifeng County, Jiangxi, is a major orchid-producing county. Orchid resources within its territory are very rich. Cymbidium goeringii, Cymbidium faberi, Cymbidium ensifolium, and Cymbidium kanran are all distributed there, with Cymbidium kanran being the most prominent and renowned nationwide. In recent years, orchid cultivation in Tanshan and Tianbao in the county has developed rapidly, and a number of large orchid-growing and orchid-cultivating households such as Heping Orchid Garden and Baiyi Orchid Garden have appeared, and the orchid industry has begun to take shape. In order to guide and support the orchid industry to become bigger and stronger and form scale, the county orchid association carefully organized orchid enthusiasts to participate in the Second China Cymbidium kanran (Chongqing) Expo. At this exhibition, the county won a total of 3 awards: Shenmao, submitted by the county's large orchid grower Yang Heping, won the Special Gold Award, the downhill Cymbidium goeringii line art won the Silver Award, and the side-petal butterfly won the Bronze Award.

Distribution and collection

In China, except for North China, Northeast China, and Ningxia, Qinghai, and ** in the Northwest, every province and region has different species of Cymbidium plants. Generally speaking, terrestrial orchids mostly grow in temperate and subtropical regions, such as Jiangsu and Anhui; epiphytic orchids mostly grow in tropical and subtropical regions, such as Guangdong, Fujian, and Taiwan, China.

Collecting wild orchids in the mountains is of great significance for discovering new varieties and selecting excellent hybrid parents. During collection, consideration should be given to choosing the flowering period, improving the survival rate, the local climate, and the local orchid soil's moisture level. Factors such as different growing environments in different places should also be considered. At the same time, work such as paying attention to safety, preventing fire, not straying into restricted areas, and keeping collection records should be done well.

In the process of orchid cultivation and business operations, due to orchid merchants' frenzied speculation on some novel orchid varieties, orchid prices once rose abnormally, and "sky-high orchids" kept appearing. Driven by huge economic interests, large-scale destructive collection of wild orchid resources appeared, and many wild orchid habitats were extremely damaged. For this reason, the state adopted protection measures such as establishing no-collection reserves, setting protection levels for varieties, improving legislation on wild resources, and strictly punishing illegal collectors.

From the perspective of long-term and effective use of orchid resources and respect for and advocacy of environmental protection, orchid enthusiasts should establish a scientific, rational, environmentally friendly, and law-abiding awareness of orchid collection.

City flower of Guiyang, city flower of Shaoxing, and provincial flower of Zhejiang.

Chinese orchid Cymbidium faberi

Orchids are world-famous flowers. In the Chinese orchid family there are more than 15,000 varieties. The Asian Chinese orchid is Cymbidium faberi. In Oceania and Africa, many are Feng

orchids, Singapore's Vanda, Finland's lily of the valley, Yugoslavia's lily of the valley, Seychelles--Yucca, Zimbabwe--Gloriosa, and South American countries' designated national orchids: Brazil's Cattleya, Costa Rica's Cattleya. Ecuador and Guatemala both have Cattleya, Colombia's Cattleya, and Ecuador's white orchid.

Chinese orchid Cymbidium faberi usually refers to a portion of terrestrial species among plants of the genus Cymbidium. The pseudobulb is relatively small, the leaves are linear, and the roots are fleshy; the flower stem is upright, with 1 to more than 10 flowers, and the flowers are small and fragrant, usually pale green with purplish-red spots. Different species vary greatly in leaf and flower morphology and flowering period. It is produced south of the Qinling Mountains and in the southwestern region. It has a long cultivation history, at least more than a thousand years, and is one of China's ten traditional famous flowers. Since ancient times, people have regarded orchids as a symbol of nobility, elegance, patriotism, and unyielding integrity. A orchid culture with rich Chinese national characteristics has formed. It is propagated by division, sowing, or tissue culture. Pot cultivation with humus soil requires good aeration and drainage; it likes semi-shade and a humid environment. The overwintering temperature for Cymbidium sinense, Cymbidium ensifolium, and Cymbidium kanran is about 10°C, and for the other species about 5°C.

What is now called Chinese orchid was called "hui" in ancient times. As Huang Tingjian (1045-1105) of the Northern Song dynasty described orchids in "Youfang Ting": "One stem with one flower and abundant fragrance is lan; one stem with five or seven flowers and insufficient fragrance is hui."

Ornamental appreciation and cultivation

We Chinese have appreciated and cultivated orchids much earlier than the Western cultivation of tropical orchids. As early as the Spring and Autumn period, 2,400 years ago, China's cultural sage Confucius once said: "Angelica and orchids grow in secluded valleys, and do not cease to be fragrant because no one is there; a gentleman cultivates the Way and establishes virtue, and does not change his integrity because of poverty."

Lan, is a fragrant herb. -- Shuowen

Heng lan zhi ruo. -- Book of Han, Biography of Sima Xiangru

The root of lanhuai is zhi. -- Xunzi, Encouraging Learning

The root of the Chinese orchid is white angelica, and white angelica symbolizes the common people. Hui and zhi have since ancient times been the essence of the traditional virtues of benevolence, righteousness, and civil governance. The great Tang poet Li Bai wrote, "The secluded orchid's fragrant wind travels far; the hui grass spreads its fragrant roots." The roots of Cymbidium faberi are tied to the people.

History of Chinese orchid art

Chinese orchids

Confucius, "Confucius' Family Sayings: In Adversity": Angelica and orchids grow in deep forests, and do not cease to be fragrant because no one is there; a gentleman cultivates the Way and establishes virtue, and does not change his integrity because of poverty. The Song dynasty was the peak period in China's history of orchid art, with numerous books and descriptions about orchid art. For example, Luo Yuan of the Song dynasty wrote in "Erya Yi": "The leaves of the orchid are like those of the sedge, and it sprouts in early spring. The flowers are very fragrant, and it mostly grows in forests. When a gentle breeze passes, its fragrance rises clearly and reaches outside, hence it is called zhilan. Orchids in Jiangnan bloom only in spring, while those in Jingchu and central Fujian bloom again in autumn and summer." Zhao Shigeng of the Southern Song wrote "Jinzhang Lanpu" in 1233, which can be said to be the earliest extant work in China studying orchids, and also the world's first monograph on orchids. The whole book is divided into three volumes and five parts. It briefly describes the morphological characteristics of more than 30 varieties of purple orchids (mainly Cymbidium sinense) and white orchids (that is, pure-hearted Cymbidium ensifolium), and discusses the grade of orchids. After "Jinzhang Lanpu," Wang Guixue wrote "Wangshi Lanpu" in 1247, which gave detailed descriptions of more than 30 orchid varieties. In addition, the Song dynasty also had "Lanpu Aofa," which mainly described cultivation methods and was divided into seven parts: division and planting methods, flower planting methods, placement and watering methods, watering methods, flower fertilizer and soil methods, methods for removing ants and lice, and miscellaneous methods. As for "Zhongyi Biyong" by Wu Zan, it also introduced orchid cultivation. In 1256, Chen Jingyi's "Quanfang Beizu" gave a relatively detailed account of orchids. The complete printed edition of this book was collected in the Japanese Imperial Household Agency library, and in 1979 Japan returned a photocopy to our country. In the Song dynasty, those who used orchids as subject matter in Chinese painting included Zhao Mengjian, whose "Spring Orchid Painting" has been regarded as the earliest extant famous orchid painting, and is now treasured in the Palace Museum in Beijing.

In the Ming and Qing dynasties, orchid art entered a prosperous period again. With the continuous increase of orchid varieties and the growing enrichment of cultivation experience, orchid cultivation became an object of public appreciation. At this time, there were relatively many books, painting albums, poems, and orchid patterns printed on porcelain and certain handicrafts describing orchids, such as Zhang Yingmin's "Luoli Zhai Lanpu" of the Ming dynasty, and the records concerning orchids in Gao Lian's "Zunsheng Bajian." Li Shizhen, the Ming dynasty pharmacologist, in his "Compendium of Materia Medica," also gave relatively complete discussions of orchid nomenclature, categories, and uses. The Qing dynasty also produced many monographs on orchid art, such as the 1805 "Lan Hui Tongxin Lu," written by a Mr. Xu of Jiaxing, Zhejiang, who was addicted to orchids and also good at painting them, with rich experience in orchid art. The book is divided into two volumes; volume one discusses knowledge of orchid cultivation, and volume two describes methods for identifying and classifying orchid varieties. The whole book records 57 varieties and includes his line drawings. Others such as Yuan Shijun's "Lanyan Shulüe," Du Wenlan's "Yilan Si Shuo," Mao Xiang's "Lanyan," Zhu Kerou's "Di Yi Xiang Biji," Tu Yongning's "Lan Hui Jing," Zhang Guangzhao's "Xinglan Pulüe," Yue Liang's "Yanglan Shuo," Wang Hao's "Guang Qunfang Pu," Wu Qijun's "Zhiwu Ming Shi Tu Kao," and the late Qing Ou Jince's "Linghai Lanyan" still have certain reference value today.

Orchid art

Orchid art developed into modern times with the 1923 publication of "Lan Hui Xiao Shi," written by Wu Enyuan of Hangxian, Zhejiang. Using "Lan Hui Tongxin Lu" as a model, he gave a relatively comprehensive introduction in three volumes to orchid varieties and cultivation methods at the time. The whole book records 161 famous Zhejiang orchid and hui varieties, and is accompanied by many photographs and illustrations, with abundant pictures and text, fascinating to read. In addition, "Zhonglan Fa" written by Xia Zhibin in 1930; the 1950 book "Orchids" co-edited by Yao Yumiu and Zhu Youren of Hangzhou; the 1963 "Sichuan's Lan and Hui" compiled by the Chengdu Landscape Bureau; the 1964 "Xiamen Lanpu" compiled by Yan Chujiang of Fujian; the 1980 "Orchids" by Wu Yingyang and the 1991 "Chinese Orchids," as well as books and magazines introducing Chinese orchids published in Hong Kong, China and Taiwan, China, and so on, can be said to be a major achievement in modern Chinese orchid art research.

Orchid art originated in China and spread abroad to Japan and Korea. Today Japan has a very strong interest in Chinese orchids, and its historical origin also began in China. Today Japan's orchid cultivation has formed its own system and developed into a base known as "Oriental orchids." As for Korea, orchid art has inevitably become something revered by the Korean people, and orchids have become an elegant flower for today's Korean people, displayed in bedrooms, residences, and halls. Even more praiseworthy is that they present orchids as a high-grade gift.

Humans are the most intelligent of all things, and orchids are the finest of all flowers. May orchid and hui naturally enter people's spiritual world, and may we together carry forward orchid art, this traditional national quintessence of the Chinese nation, making friends through orchids and progressing together.

Ancient orchid-growing formulas

The "Twelve-Month Formulas" are spoken according to the lunar calendar, recorded as follows:

In the first month, place them in the east, facing the sunlight opposite the light; do not worry about morning and evening sun exposure, just keep the green color from changing as usual.

In the second month, cultivation is truly difficult; beware of leaves developing partridge spots; insert bamboo around them to prevent wind breakage, cherish the leaves as you would cherish a jade ring.

In the third month, new shoots emerge from the old clump; remember that the flower pot should not face the west wind; guard against lice breeding in damp places, and the roots still dislike strong manure.

In the fourth month, the courtyard sun suddenly becomes hot, and the soil in the pot dries immediately; do not water with fresh well water, but occasionally pour oily water, whose taste is sweetest.

In the fifth month, new fragrance fills the old stand, and the depths of green shade are the most peaceful; at this time the leaves recede and follow their nature, and after pruning they appear even more abundant.

In the sixth month, the blazing sun adds summer heat, and the fragrant branches and leaves are just producing flowers; a cool pavilion or waterside chamber is suitable for placing them, or make a shade rack toward the eaves.

In the seventh month, although the summer heat has diminished, it is only suitable to water once every three days; earthworms harming the roots are most detested; adjust with bitter soap decoction and urine.

In the eighth month, the weather feels slightly cool, and letting them face wind and sun does no harm; the dirty water accumulated over the year must now be changed, using water in which chicken feathers have been soaked.

In the ninth month, there is light frost in the season; be careful where they are placed before the steps and under the eaves; if ants or insects appear, guard against yellow swelling; sprinkle oil tea on the leaves so they will not be harmed.

In the tenth month, the warm spring weather returns, and next year's flower shoots are again forming embryos; not exposing the secluded roots is the truly wonderful method, and when the pot is full, it is especially necessary to repot promptly.

In the eleventh month, the weather should face the sun, and at night they must be carefully stored. Always keep the soil surface slightly moist; when it is dry, the leaves turn yellow.

In the twelfth month, wind is cold and snow flies again; strictly store them in a warm place to protect the descendant branches; wait until the freeze thaws and spring takes charge, then move them before the courtyard to face the sunlight.

Propagation methods

Orchids are commonly propagated by division, sowing, and tissue culture.

Division propagation: This can be done in both spring and autumn, generally once every three years. Any plant with robust growth and densely clustered pseudobulbs can be divided; after division, each clump must retain at least 5 connected pseudobulbs. Before division, reduce watering so the potting soil is relatively dry. When potting after division, first cover the drainage hole at the bottom of the pot with a piece of broken tile, then spread coarse gravel to occupy 1/5 to 1/4 of the pot depth, then place coarse-grained soil and a small amount of fine soil, and then plant with sandy loam rich in humus. The planting depth should be such that the pseudobulbs are just buried in the soil; leave a 2cm rim at the edge of the pot, spread Selaginella uncinata or fine gravel on top, and finally water thoroughly, place in a shaded place for 10-15 days, keep the soil moist, gradually reduce watering, and carry out normal maintenance.

Sowing propagation: Orchid seeds are extremely fine, and the seed contains only one incompletely developed embryo, with very low germination capacity. In addition, the seed coat does not easily absorb water, so sowing by conventional methods cannot germinate them. Therefore, orchid fungi or artificial culture medium are needed to supply nutrients before they can germinate. For sowing, it is best to choose fruit that has not yet split; after sterilizing the surface with 75% alcohol, take out the seeds, soak them in 10% sodium hypochlorite for 5-10 minutes, take them out and rinse them 3 times with sterile water, then sow them in culture bottles containing medium, then place them in a dark culture room, keep the temperature at about 25°C, and after they sprout, move them into the light and they can form protocorms. From sowing to transplanting takes half a year to one year. Tissue culture has already been successful, and where conditions permit, this method can be used for propagation.

Propagation techniques

Site selection: The surroundings should be open, with good ventilation, and close to water surfaces, with humid air and no coal smoke pollution. On the southwest side of the site, evergreen broadleaf trees can be planted, with a canopy density of about 0.7, which can reduce afternoon sunlight exposure and regulate humidity and temperature.

Watering: Rainwater or spring water is preferable; water containing salt and alkali should not be used. If tap water is used, it should be left standing for several days before use. Watering should depend on temperature conditions. In spring, the amount of watering should be small; in summer, it should be more; during the plum rain season, when orchids are sending out leaf buds, the potting soil should be slightly dry; after autumn when the weather turns cool, the amount of watering should be reduced appropriately, keeping it moist. In winter indoors it should be dry, reducing the frequency of watering, and it is best to water at noon. Orchids can tolerate light rain, but continuous rain or heavy rain can easily cause rot of the heart and leaves, so attention must be paid to rain protection.

Fertilizing: For planting orchids, cake fertilizer is suitable. Mix 4 parts plant ash, 10 parts bean cake, and 10 parts bone meal evenly, put them in a vat, add water several times until the bean cake is soaked through, then cover and seal, let it decompose for one year, then make it into dry granules. When using, place it on the pot surface. If whole manure is used, it should also be decomposed for one year, diluted with water, and filtered before use. Generally, fertilizing begins in May and stops at the Beginning of Autumn, with the principle of applying thin fertilizer frequently. Fertilizing should be done in the evening, and the next morning water once with clear water.

Shading and cold protection: Except in early spring and winter, they should all be placed under open-air sheds. The shade shed requires good ventilation. When orchids first come out of the room in March to April, they can get more sun, and afterward the shading time gradually increases. In winter, orchids must be moved indoors to protect against cold, and the room temperature only needs to be kept at 1-2°C. In addition, after orchids come out of the room in spring and before they enter the room in autumn, attention must also be paid to frost protection.

Planting methods

For divided orchid clumps, do not split them too sparsely; each clump should have at least 3-5 plants, and it is best to keep one-year-old plants, two-year-old plants, and three-year-old plants in the same clump.

Pot padding

Cover the drainage hole at the bottom of the pot with a piece of tile, then gradually fill with bricks, tiles, or shells, filling the large gaps with mud particles or bean gravel, generally about 1/2 to 1/3 of the pot's inner height. The remaining clear height above is about 10-15cm, reserved for the cultivation soil layer. The specific height should be determined according to the orchid species, the length of the orchid roots, and the height of the pot. The padding should not be filled too densely or too solidly; some pores should be retained. Practice has proved that some new roots can grow well in the pores of the padding layer.

Planting

On the padding layer, first fill 2-3cm of cultivation soil, press it slightly with the hand, then place the orchid upright on it. According to the size of the plant and the flower pot, several single plants, 2 clumps, 3 clumps, or more clumps can be planted in one pot. Three clumps are suitably planted in a tripod arrangement. Four clumps can be planted in a square, and five clumps are suitably arranged in a plum-blossom shape. The orchid roots should spread naturally, and the leaves should spread in all directions. Slowly place the orchid roots into the pot so that the roots spread naturally and as much as possible do not rub against the inner wall of the pot. After the orchid plant is in the pot, gradually fix its posture. For one clump per pot, the old pseudobulbs should be placed toward one side, leaving room for new buds to develop. For several clumps per pot, the old pseudobulbs of each clump should be relatively gathered toward the middle of the pot, so that new roots and new buds developing outward each have enough space.

Filling soil

When planting, hold the leaves with one hand and add nutrient soil with the other, hold the base of the orchid plant and lift it slightly upward to stretch the root system, while shaking the orchid pot. Let the cultivation soil go deep into the root zone; continue adding soil and shaking the orchid pot to adjust the position and height of the orchid plant. Press along the edge of the pot with the hand, but do not press too hard and damage the roots. Continue adding soil and pressing until the soil surface is 2-3cm above the pot rim, slightly in a steamed-bun shape. The cultivation soil should cover all the orchid roots, up to the base of the pseudobulbs. As for the depth of filling soil, tradition holds that Cymbidium goeringii should be planted shallow and Cymbidium faberi deep, but generally the standard is not to bury the leaf bases on the pseudobulbs. When newly collected orchids grow in the wild, the plants leave clear markers above and below the soil surface, and these markers can be used as the standard. The size of the flower pot should also match the size and number of the plants; neither should the pot be large while the plants are small and few, nor should the pot be small while the plants are large and many. Generally, the number of plants should be based on the principle that after 2-3 years they will just fill the pot. The size of the plants should match the height of the pot. This is both beneficial to growth and meets ornamental requirements.

Top dressing

After planting is completed, spread a layer of small stone grains or moss on the surface of the potting soil, preferably high-quality moss from under the forest. It is both beautiful and can regulate moisture, and can also protect the leaf surface from being polluted by muddy water. New buds will also not be infected by pathogens in the soil and rot at the heart; in addition, it can also reduce the washing away of potting soil by rain and keep the potting soil loose.

Watering

After planting is completed, water the first time immediately. The potting soil must be thoroughly wet. The water droplets should be small, and the impact force should not be strong. If placing it in a water basin to soak, it must not be soaked too long. As soon as the potting soil is soaked, immediately take the orchid pot out, then move it to a shaded place for maintenance.

Test-tube cultivation

With the continuous development of orchid tissue culture techniques and sterile sowing techniques, the phenomenon of orchids flowering in test tubes is receiving increasing attention. The main reason this phenomenon attracts the attention of breeders is that artificial hybrid new varieties that originally required many years of conventional cultivation to flower can now, in test tubes, through 1-2 culture cycles, be artificially induced to flower. In this way, according to the flowering situation, individuals with excellent traits can be selected purposefully, and relatively poor individuals can be eliminated, thereby shortening the entire breeding cycle and greatly reducing the workload of cultivating large numbers of varieties that have not yet flowered, making breeding work more targeted.

Because we have long been engaged in the development and research of several conventionally cultivated terrestrial orchid species in the genus Cymbidium, the orchids mentioned below all refer to these several orchid species, including Cymbidium goeringii, Cymbidium ensifolium, Cymbidium goeringii var. longibracteatum, Cymbidium tortisepalum, Cymbidium faberi, Cymbidium kanran, and so on.

According to current observation results, the ways orchids flower in test tubes can roughly be divided into three types. The first type is when the axillary buds of the orchid seedling develop into flower buds. This way is the same as the flowering way of orchids in conventional cultivation, except that in conventional cultivation it is a clump of seedlings that produces flowers, while in test tubes it is a single seedling that produces flowers. This situation is relatively common in Cymbidium ensifolium, and relatively rare in varieties such as Cymbidium goeringii and Cymbidium goeringii var. longibracteatum. The second type is when the terminal bud of the orchid seedling develops into a flower bud, similar to what is usually called an arrow in the grass (heart arrow), with the flower growing from the very center of the orchid seedling. This situation appears in all orchid species, especially commonly in Cymbidium goeringii. The third type is when the tip of the protocorm directly differentiates into flower buds. This type is completely controlled by the hormone level in the medium, flowers quickly and uniformly, and has a high differentiation frequency. It is currently the main method for inducing flowering.

The flowers that orchids produce in test tubes will not change their basic varietal characteristics; for example, pure-hearted varieties produce pure flowers and will absolutely not produce colored flowers. For any fragrant variety, the flowers in test tubes are also fragrant, and the fragrance is rich, no less than the fragrance of potted orchids, which may be unexpected to many people. Due to reasons such as temperature and other environmental conditions in the test tubes, the flowering period is usually only a few days, not as long-lasting as potted orchids; under low-temperature conditions, the flowering period can be greatly extended. The proportion of malformed flowers produced by orchids in test tubes is relatively high; some varieties can reach 10-20%. Generally speaking, these malformed flowers are usually caused by physiological reasons and external culture conditions, such as hormone levels, inorganic salts, and other physicochemical factors, rather than corresponding genetic changes. Therefore, the appearance of these malformed flowers is meaningless for genetics and breeding. We have tracked and observed many strange-flower lines, hoping to select new excellent varieties from them, but the vast majority later produced normal flowers again, and truly stable ones are extremely few.

A phenomenon very useful to orchid breeders is that for flowers produced in test tubes, in most cases the column can develop normally and has normal pollination and seed-setting ability. We have microscopically examined the development process of microspores and found that the meiosis process and the pollen grain formation process are basically normal. In particular, for flowers produced by the axillary bud method, after pollination the resulting fruit easily develops normally to seed maturity, and these seeds produced in test tubes have a certain germination capacity. Although the germination rate is lower than that of seeds from potted orchids, for breeders it is already enough.

With the continuous advancement of technical levels, people's ability to control orchid flowering in test tubes is becoming stronger and stronger, which will undoubtedly have a positive and profound impact on orchid cross-breeding work. Because the main appreciation point of orchids is in flower art, for an unknown variety, before flowering it is basically impossible to judge its quality from the leaves, so breeders not only have to select suitable excellent parents for hybridization and cultivate seedlings, but also have to plant these seedlings, good or bad, all into the greenhouse, and wait bitterly for several years until flowering before they can screen excellent individual plants from them. The workload of this process is very large. Even if an excellent individual plant is obtained, unfortunately the number of each individual plant is also very small, usually only a few plants, which simply cannot meet market demand, and this excellent individual plant must still be used as explant to do tissue culture again from the beginning. From starting cross-breeding work to finally supplying commercial seedlings to the market, this process must go through two tissue culture cycles and two cultivation cycles from bottle seedlings to flowering, generally taking more than ten years. The perfection of test-tube flowering technology allows us to screen excellent lines in test tubes without going through the cultivation process, and once selected, they can be directly rapidly propagated without going through the protocorm induction process, shortening the entire breeding cycle by nearly half.

Another convenience brought by orchid flowering in test tubes is that it makes in-bottle hybridization of orchids possible, which is a completely new applied research field. Some breeding work requires repeated hybridization, backcrossing, and selfing to achieve the breeding goal and select excellent new varieties. For example, in crossing a pure-hearted variety with a plum-petal variety, the first filial generation is usually plum-petal but definitely not pure-hearted, so it is necessary to backcross the first filial generation with the pure-hearted parent once, or self the first filial generation once, and then select pure-hearted plum-petal from the second filial generation. Using conventional methods, this process definitely takes more than ten years. Now with methods to promote orchid flowering in test tubes, we can let the first filial generation flower in test tubes, and carry out self-pollination or mutual pollination between first filial generation plants in test tubes, and cultivate seeds. These seeds can be sown directly on medium without disinfection to obtain the second filial generation, and then flowering can be induced, and the desired variety can be selected from the second filial generation. This process can save at least two cultivation cycles from bottle seedlings to flowering compared with conventional methods.

In addition, because flowering in test tubes is not restricted by season and can be induced at any time, this provides great convenience for hybridization between orchid varieties that flower in different seasons or orchid varieties whose flowering periods do not coincide. In other words, orchids flowering in test tubes provide a stable pollen source for cross-breeding work. Based on this idea, we have to a large extent escaped the restrictions of flowering season and the restrictions of the number of seed sources (for some varieties with very small numbers, seeing them flower once may require waiting many years, and when they flower there may not necessarily be very suitable other parent materials flowering at the same time), and have successfully achieved hybridization between orchid varieties that flower in different seasons.

At present, research work in the field of orchids is still in a just-starting stage, and there are still many unsatisfactory aspects. Not every variety can be induced to flower, nor can every variety reach the required flowering rate, and there is still no ready-made procedure that can make all varieties produce flowers. Every variety requires a large amount of experimentation and exploration. But these are basically technical problems. It is believed that with the advancement of technology and as more people of insight join the research and development in this field, these problems will gradually be solved.

Watering methods

When watering orchid plants, different water management measures should be made according to various natural factors affecting the transpiration of orchid plants, such as humidity, temperature, light, wind, season, and weather.

First, look at humidity. If the humidity in the air is low and transpiration is strong, water more; conversely, if the humidity in the air is high or even saturated and transpiration almost stops, water less or even do not water.

Second, look at temperature. When the temperature is high, transpiration speeds up, water demand is large, and the frequency of watering should correspondingly increase; conversely, when the temperature is low, water molecules move slowly and diffusion is weak, so water demand is low.

Third, look at light. When light is strong, transpiration speeds up and accelerates the diffusion of water molecules, so water demand is high; conversely, water demand is low. Therefore, when light differs and shading differs, water management also differs: those receiving more sun should be watered more, and those facing away from the sun should be watered less.

Fourth, look at wind. When wind is strong, water evaporates quickly; when wind is weak, water evaporates slowly; dry southwest wind will enhance evaporation, while humid southeast wind will cause transpiration to relatively weaken; orchid pots placed in wind openings receive more wind and evaporate water quickly, while orchid pots in leeward places receive less wind and evaporate water slowly.

Fifth, look at season. Different seasons have different temperatures, humidity, and light, and the transpiration of orchid plants also differs greatly. In the hot and dry summer, water more; in the plum rain season, water less or not at all; in the low-temperature cold winter, do not water; in the early spring with lower temperatures, water less; in the mild late spring, which is the germination period, water more; in the dry autumn, water more.

Sixth, look at weather. Weather in nature is changeable, and different weather has different light, temperature, and humidity, and the transpiration of orchid plants also varies greatly. The basic practice is: water more on sunny days, water less on cloudy days, do not water much when rain is imminent, and do not water on rainy (snowy) days.

Accordingly, it is very difficult to have an accurate and unified management method for watering orchid plants. The saying "water once every few days" lacks scientific basis.

Precautions

Wounds must be protected from bacteria -- when repotting or dividing, if the roots have wounds, first apply fungicide to the wounds to prevent pathogens from invading.

Do not use too large a pot -- planting small plants in a large pot uses a lot of planting material, easily leading to poor ventilation, and watering is also difficult to control. If watering absorbs too much water, the planting material is not easy to dry, and bacteria invade and cause root rot.

Orchids should be planted shallowly -- orchid plants must not be planted too deep, otherwise long-term dampness will cause rot. When planting, fill the planting material around the roots, and the base or pseudobulbs must be exposed.

The roots should be spread out -- when planting orchids, the roots should be evenly spread out and must not be squeezed together, so that each root can contact the planting material and ventilation is also good.

Do not water for several days -- newly planted orchids may have injured roots. After the wounds are coated with fungicide, do not water for 3-5 days so that the medicine can take effect and also promote the growth of new buds and new roots.

Avoid strong light -- newly planted orchids must avoid direct strong light to prevent dehydration, and should be placed in a warm and shaded place. Spraying can be used to increase air humidity until the orchids recover normal growth.

Light requirements

Orchids mostly belong to semi-shade plants, and most species fear direct sunlight and need appropriate shading. In early to mid-April, orchids can get more sunlight to promote growth, and after late April they should be appropriately shaded. For Cymbidium faberi and upright-leaf varieties of Cymbidium ensifolium, it is best to place them at the south gate of a shaded place so they receive appropriately more sunlight; for drooping-leaf Cymbidium ensifolium and Cymbidium goeringii, 2 hours of light per day is best. From June to September, they should be placed in shade earlier each day, and shade nets or curtains can be used. After October, the weather turns cool and sunlight is weaker, but around noon attention still needs to be paid to shading work.

Spring orchid care precautions

Spring has many cloudy and rainy days, temperatures change greatly, and cold waves easily appear. If orchids are not well maintained and managed, they will rot at the roots and buds, seriously affecting their normal growth.

Household balcony-style orchid-growing sites should have cold-proof and rain-proof facilities. Cymbidium sinense and Cymbidium goeringii must be placed indoors for protection and management. Cymbidium ensifolium, Cymbidium kanran, and others can be placed outdoors, but attention must be paid to drainage and moisture protection for the orchid pots. It is best to set up plastic film above the orchid pots to shield against rain, pull it open when clear and cover it when raining, to prevent invasion by cold wind, cold rain, and frost and snow.

In orchid growing, good ventilation must be ensured everywhere. For orchid seedlings in greenhouses and warm sheds, exhaust fans should be installed to replace the air and regulate humidity. For general simple warm sheds and low ground-planting sheds covered with plastic film for freeze protection and rain shielding, windows should also often be opened or part of the film lifted to allow air convection, so as to ensure fresh air and moderate temperature in the shed.

After the Spring Festival, for Cymbidium sinense and others, cut off the flower stems and do not let them bear fruit. Use 0.1% omethoate or dichlorvos solution to gently wipe the front and underside of orchid leaves, and use sterilizing drugs and insecticidal drugs to spray the balcony, the surroundings of the site, and the potted orchids once every 7 days and 10 days respectively. Two hours after using insecticidal drugs, spray clear water once on the leaf surface of potted orchids to remove residual medicine.

Before dividing orchid pots, stop water supply for 3-5 days. When the planting material in the pot is 70-80% dry, carefully pour out the orchid plants and planting material, trying as much as possible not to break the orchid roots. Wash with disinfectant water or clear water and air-dry. Wait until the orchid roots become soft and whitish before potting. For potting, use sterile new planting material, with roots close to the planting material, new plants facing outward and old plants facing inward, and the orchid crown exposed one third above the soil surface. After planting, place in a shade shed, spray on the leaf surface in the morning and evening, water thoroughly to settle the roots after 24 hours, and after 15 days switch to normal management.

For orchids planted with new planting material, apply a light and thin fertilizer once every half a month to one month. During the large-seedling and strong-seedling stage, nitrogen fertilizer should be applied frequently, once every three to five days. For rejuvenated orchids, fertilizing can go from once every half a month to once a week, depending on whether the orchids can absorb it. However, weak grass, rootless grass, and leafless bulbs absolutely must be kept plain and must not be top-dressed, otherwise haste makes waste and they will instead suffer harm.

Cold regions

If orchids are to be grown well in northern regions, environment conditions suitable for their growth and development should be created as much as possible, meeting the requirements of the orchids' biological characteristics, so that they can grow and flower well. Specifically, the following tasks should be done well.

Choose good pots and cultivation soil

For general household orchid growing, it is still better to choose clay pots. If greater decorative effect and beauty are desired, a colored-glaze porcelain pot can be placed outside the clay pot. The size of the pot should be such that the orchid roots can fully spread out inside the pot. For potting soil, orchid soil is best. It can also be mixed by oneself. Use 6 parts leaf mold or peat soil, 3 parts sandy soil, and 1 part cake fertilizer, or mix 5 parts leaf mold, 3 parts compost soil, and 2 parts coarse sand evenly. For potting methods, see: Common knowledge for purchasing orchids and cultivation techniques.

Watering should be appropriate

Watering orchids is a routine task and an important part of successful orchid cultivation. The potting soil for orchids should be kept moist at all times, but excessive water content should be avoided. During cultivation, the amount of watering should be determined according to the different seasons and the different growth stages of the orchids. Generally starting from spring, as the temperature rises, orchids enter a vigorous growth period, and the amount of watering should be gradually increased, watering once every 1 to 2 days; in summer, when the temperature is high and orchids are also in their peak growth period, it is usually advisable to water once each in the early morning and in the evening, and watering at noon should be strictly avoided. When the rainy season arrives, the amount of watering should be flexibly controlled according to the amount of rainfall and the degree of moisture in the potting soil, and water accumulation in the pot that causes root rot must be strictly avoided; in late autumn, when the temperature begins to drop, the amount of watering should be gradually reduced, and watering once every 2 to 3 days is sufficient; in winter, when the temperature is low, most orchids enter a dormant period, and watering should be controlled at this time, with watering once every 5 to 7 days, except that the Cymbidium sinense and Cymbidium kanran that bloom in winter should be watered somewhat more.

Thin fertilizer should be applied skillfully

When fertilizing orchids, thin fertilizer should be applied, and concentrated fertilizer must be strictly avoided; there is a saying of "clear orchids, cloudy jasmine." Newly planted orchid plants should not be fertilized in the first year; fertilization should begin after Qingming of the second year and continue until Liqiu. A fully decomposed dilute cake fertilizer solution may be applied 1 to 2 times per month. Because orchids have fleshy roots, fertilizer that has not been decomposed must never be applied, so as to avoid root rot. Before each fertilization, watering should be withheld for 1 to 2 days, and application should wait until the potting soil is slightly dry. On the morning of the second day after application, water should be given once to prevent unclean matter in the fertilizer solution from contaminating the roots and harming the orchid roots. When applying liquid fertilizer, care should be taken to avoid splashing and soiling the leaves. For orchid plants that have been cultivated for several years and have reached flowering age, nitrogen fertilizer should be used mainly in the early stage to promote the sprouting and rapid growth of new shoots; in the later stage, phosphorus and potassium fertilizer should be used mainly to help the pseudobulbs enlarge, the leaves become wide and thick, and to provide sufficient nutrients for flower bud differentiation. Specifically, before flower bud differentiation each autumn, it is advisable to apply two consecutive liquid fertilizer applications mainly based on phosphorus and potassium fertilizer; during the bud pregnancy stage, on a clear evening, first wash the leaves with clean water, and after they dry, use a small sprayer to spray a 0.2% potassium dihydrogen phosphate solution on the leaf surfaces and undersides, or apply wood ash water to the roots. Foliar fertilization at this time is beneficial for promoting the development of orchid roots, stems, and flowers. Do not fertilize on rainy days, and stop fertilizing during the winter dormant period. About 20 days after the flowers fade, apply two more liquid fertilizer or compound fertilizer applications mainly based on nitrogen fertilizer, which can promote plant growth.

There are two commonly used fertilization methods for orchids: one is soil fertilization, and the other is foliar fertilization. Foliar fertilization can make up for a deficiency of trace elements in orchids, but it should not be done too many times; once every 15 days during the peak growth season is preferable. Soil fertilization is further divided into two situations: fertilizer applied in the soil is base fertilizer, and fertilizer applied on the soil surface is called topdressing. Base fertilizer should not be too much, so as to avoid the fertilizer heating up and damaging the roots.

Light should be suitable

Orchids by nature prefer shaded, cool environments and should avoid direct sunlight. Therefore, in northern regions from April to early May, before 9 a.m., they may be given somewhat more sunlight, but after mid-May they need shading, and at this time they should be placed in a cool, ventilated place for cultivation; in winter, place them near a south-facing window to receive more light, so as to enhance their vitality and promote flower bud differentiation. Especially for the Cymbidium sinense and Cymbidium kanran that bloom in winter, they should be placed indoors in a sunny spot in winter; without light, they will not bloom well. In short, when growing orchids, one should achieve "not out in spring, no sun in summer, not dry in autumn, not wet in winter," meaning that in spring, cold wind invasion should be avoided and they should not be moved outdoors; in summer, direct sunlight should be feared, and they should be placed in a cool, ventilated place; in autumn, dryness of the potting soil should be avoided, as this is exactly the orchid bud pregnancy stage, and the amount of watering should be appropriately increased; in winter, they are in a dormant state, and too much water easily causes root rot, so the principle should be alternating dry and wet.

Pest and disease control

The main pests and diseases of orchids include:

(1) Southern blight: mostly occurs during the plum rain season. Prevention should be carried out by ensuring ventilation and light, and good drainage of the potting soil; after onset, the infected potting soil can be removed and pentachloronitrobenzene powder or lime can be sprinkled on.

(2) Anthracnose: occurs throughout the year, and is even more rampant in hot, rainy seasons. In addition to improving environmental conditions, control methods during the onset period may first use a 50% thiophanate-methyl wettable powder 800 to 1500 times solution for spraying, once every 7 to 10 days, and then supplement with 1% Bordeaux mixture of equal amounts, once every half month.

(3) Scale insects: they reproduce fastest under conditions of high temperature, high humidity, and poor air circulation. Use conventional methods for control.

(4) Root rot, also called nematode disease. Nematodes parasitize orchid roots, causing root rot, poor growth of aboveground leaves, leaf color fading and yellowing, and even plant wilting. Nematode damage causes a large number of wounds and also leads to infection by other soil-borne pathogens, causing plants to become diseased and accelerating plant death. The cultivation substrate should be disinfected, and 100-degree steam sterilization may be used to kill insect eggs. For severe cases, repot immediately, soak the diseased plants in the medicinal solution for 20-30 minutes, remove and air-dry, and replant with new substrate. In summary, to grow orchids well, one must grasp their natural growing environment conditions, adopt reasonable measures, and strengthen cultivation management. According to "Secrets of Orchid Growing," "not out in spring, no sun in summer, not dry in autumn, not wet in winter" is a summary of China's experience in growing orchids.

Pollution-free methods for pest and disease control:

Below are some small folk remedies circulating among the people for pollution-free control of orchid pests and diseases. "Small" remedies can often perhaps solve "big" problems, so orchid enthusiasts may as well give them a try.

1. Tea seed cake

Tea seed cake, also called tea bran or tea seed meal, is the residue left after tea seeds are pressed for oil, and farmers often use it to wash clothes. Tea seed cake contains saponin and glycosides, and its water extract is alkaline and has a very good stomach-poison and contact-killing effect on pests.

Control methods: 1. Soak crushed powdered tea seed cake and boiling water at a ratio of 1:5 for a day and a night, use the liquid to drench orchid pots, and at the same time drench the place where the orchid pots are placed and other orchid pots, which has a good control effect on snails. 2. Spraying orchid plants with tea seed cake water has a very good control effect on aphids and red spiders, reaching more than 90%. 3. Tea seed cake water can also kill earthworms. Pour tea seed cake water thoroughly through the potting soil, and after a short while, the earthworms will emerge from the soil surface, and they can be picked out and removed. Opinions differ in orchid circles on whether earthworms are helpful or harmful to orchids. One view holds that earthworms in the pot damage some orchid fungal hyphae when active and injure the root tips of orchid roots, so they are pests and must be removed. Another view holds that earthworms in orchid pots can eat much of the decaying matter in the pot and the rotten roots of orchids, that their activity can loosen the soil, and that their droppings can also serve as fertilizer for orchids, so their merits outweigh their faults and they need not be killed. Which is right and which is wrong remains for orchid enthusiasts to weigh the advantages and disadvantages and make a judgment based on their own practical observations.

2. Strong-flavored vegetables (scallions, garlic, chives, ginger, onions, etc.)

Strong-flavored vegetables each have their own distinctive odor, and their smells can play a role in killing insects and sterilizing.

Control methods: 1. Take 25 g of garlic, crush it and squeeze out the juice, dilute it in 10 L of water, and immediately spray the orchid plants; it can control aphids, red spiders, scale insects, and gray mold. Press peeled garlic into small pieces and place them at equal distances on the surface soil of the orchid pot; after a few days, earthworms and ants will disappear. 2. Soak chopped scallions and water at a ratio of 1:30 for a day and a night, then filter, and use the liquid to spray orchid plants several times a day for several consecutive days; it has good effects on controlling aphids, soft-bodied pests, and preventing and controlling powdery mildew, etc. 3. Use 1 jin of ginger, add half a jin of water, mash and extract the juice, add 6 jin of water to each jin of juice, and spray orchid plants; it can control aphids. 4. Mix chive juice and clean water at a ratio of 1:60, use it to spray orchid plants, spray twice a day, repeat for several days, and black spot disease can be cured. 5. Take 15 g of chopped onion bulbs, place them in 2 jin of water, seal and soak for 7 hours, then filter, and use the filtrate to spray orchid plants; it can control red spiders and aphids.

3. Cigarette butts

Tobacco leaves contain about 3% nicotine. Nicotine has a strong contact-killing and stomach-poison effect on pests. Take about 20 smoked cigarette butts and one portion of quicklime, add water, stir, soak, and filter, then add 30 portions of water, and use it to spray orchid plants, potting soil, and the bottom of pots; it can eliminate ants and other pests without a waxy coating.

4. Washing powder and detergent

Washing powder can dissolve the waxy covering of scale insects and at the same time form a layer of foam that wraps around the insect body, causing the scale insects to suffocate to death. Washing powder solution can prevent and control some pests and diseases.

Control methods: 1. Dissolve a small amount of washing powder in warm water, then dilute with water to a 1000 times solution, and spray orchid plants; it can kill aphids, whiteflies, and red spiders. Dilute to a 600 times solution, spray once every three days, and after three consecutive sprays, all scale insects will die. 2. Mix pig bile and clean water at a ratio of 1:100, add a small amount of washing powder, and use it to spray orchid plants; it can prevent and control anthracnose and soft rot. After spraying orchid plants with washing powder solution, once the pests are dead, the leaves must be rinsed several times with clean water so that the orchid plants can grow normally.

5. White liquor

Mix white liquor and water at a ratio of 1:2, spray orchid plants, once a week, for three consecutive sprays, and scale insects can be killed.

6. Citrus peel

Place citrus peel at the bottom of the pot; it can prevent ants and other pests from entering the potting soil to harm orchids. Citrus peel can also be cut into small pieces and sprinkled on the surface of the potting soil, and if not watered for a few days, it can control aphids, scale insects, and the like.

7. Brown sugar

Mix powdered brown sugar and boiling water at a ratio of 1:100, and after it cools, use the brown sugar liquid to spray orchid plants, once every 3 days, for three consecutive times; it has a relatively good effect on preventing and controlling downy mildew, powdery mildew, black spot disease, and leaf blight.

8. Diesel oil

Mix diesel oil and water at a ratio of 1:60 into an emulsion, then dilute with 100 times water and spray orchid plants; it can control scale insects and the like.

9. Wood ash

Soak wood ash and water at a ratio of 1:50 for two days and nights, then filter, and use the filtrate to spray orchid plants; it can both control aphids and increase potassium fertilizer.

10. Vinegar

Mix vinegar and clean water at a ratio of 1:8, and use it to evenly spray the front and back of orchid leaves; it can control scale insects. If the scale insects have already become adults, the acidity of the mixed liquid can be slightly increased, spraying once every three days, for three consecutive times, and the adult scale insects can be killed. Spraying vinegar liquid on leaf surfaces can also eliminate black spot disease, powdery mildew, leaf spot disease, yellowing disease, and the like. Industrial acid vinegar must not be used.

. For the prevention and control of orchid leaf diseases, I adopt three control methods:

First, the leaf surface spray method. A 1000 times solution of thiophanate-methyl, or an 800 times solution of carbendazim, may be used for spraying to sterilize and prevent disease. Dimethoate 1000 times solution may be mixed in to kill insects, but thiophanate-methyl and carbendazim must not be mixed together for use, because mixing these two drugs together will produce resistance and cause loss of control effect. In hot and humid seasons, applying control once every 10 or 15 days according to the medicinal solution ratio gives even better results.

Second, the root drenching sterilization method. For diseased plants with severe black spot disease, anthracnose, etc., root drenching sterilization and disinfection measures may be adopted. Specifically, a 1000 times solution of carbendazim may be used to drench the potting soil or soak the pot, while at the same time spraying the leaf surfaces with the medicinal solution to sterilize; doing this once every 1 week gives very good results.

Third, the injection disease removal method. For diseased leaves of orchid plants that have already severely developed black spot disease or anthracnose, the usual method is to cut them off. If rare artistic orchids are diseased, cutting off the leaves is truly a pity, so the principles of medicine may be imitated, and the diseased orchid leaves may be injected to remove the disease, with especially good results.

Specific method: use a disposable 20 ml syringe to draw 18 ml of a pre-prepared 800 times solution of thiophanate-methyl, insert the needle at the disease spots on the orchid leaf surface while injecting the medicinal solution. Inject 1 shot at each disease spot, and the effect is obvious. When injecting, use a piece of sterilized foam plastic as a backing to prevent the needle from pricking the hand.