How to propagate Cymbidium sinense? Division propagation has a high survival rate
Cymbidium sinense is a fairly common flowering plant worldwide, with high ornamental value, and many people in China grow it. As more people grow it, questions about its propagation have drawn greater interest, so how do you propagate Cymbidium sinense? What are the propagation methods for Cymbidium sinense?
Cymbidium sinense is a fairly common flowering plant worldwide, with high ornamental value, and many people in China grow it. As more people grow it, questions about its propagation have drawn greater interest, so how do you propagate Cymbidium sinense? What are the propagation methods for Cymbidium sinense? Let's take a look below.
I. How to propagate Cymbidium sinense
As for how to propagate Cymbidium sinense, it is mainly done by division, which is relatively simple and reliable to carry out, blooms fairly quickly after division, and preserves the original characteristics of the variety. That is why people mostly use this method when propagating Cymbidium sinense. As for exactly how this Cymbidium sinense propagation method needs to be carried out, let's take a look below.
II. Propagation methods for Cymbidium sinense
1. Division time
When we propagate Cymbidium sinense by division, we must first choose the right time. Generally, dividing it in spring is more suitable, because the climate and environment in spring are more suitable; if you choose to divide at this time, the survival rate will be greatly increased.
2. Pot and soil selection
Before propagating by division, we first need to choose the pot and soil. For the soil, we can choose acidic humus soil; this kind of soil has good drainage and aeration, which will greatly help the growth of Cymbidium sinense. For the pot, we can choose a purple clay pot or a plastic pot.
3. Substrate disinfection
After choosing the substrate, we need to disinfect it, so that it does not carry pests and diseases that could infect Cymbidium sinense. There are two disinfection methods: we can break up the substrate and spread it flat under the sun to bake, or put it in a pot and stir-fry it over high heat; in this way, if there are pests and diseases in the soil, they will also be eliminated by the high temperature.
4. Treatment before division
We must not water Cymbidium sinense for several days before dividing it, because its roots and leaves are relatively fragile when moisture is sufficient, while when lacking water they become wilted, making them less likely to be damaged and making division go more smoothly.
5. Division method
Among the propagation methods for Cymbidium sinense, division is relatively simple to carry out. First, we must carefully dig the mother plant out of the soil, then separate the tillers from the mother plant in the middle. The separated tiller seedlings must have complete roots, after which they can be planted. After division is completed, place them in a shaded place for about 1 week, and then normal care can begin.
6. Follow-up management
One week after division is completed, we can carry out follow-up care for Cymbidium sinense. There are quite a few points to note when caring for Cymbidium sinense, such as watering, fertilizing, and light. The specific care methods are introduced in detail in the article on Cymbidium sinense cultivation methods; interested friends can take a look.
Summary: After reading the above content, I believe everyone has gained some understanding of how to propagate Cymbidium sinense. As long as you propagate according to the above methods, the success rate is still very high. Enough talk; that is all for the propagation methods of Cymbidium sinense, and I hope it can help everyone.
Orchid Cymbidium Orchid Illustrated Guide: How to grow orchids / How to propagate orchids
Orchid profileOrchid Cymbidium
Aliases: Huji flower, Chinese orchid, Zhilan
Classification: Orchidaceae flowering plants
Family and genus: Plantae, Angiosperms, Monocotyledons, Asparagales, Orchidaceae, Cymbidium
Full bloom season: all four seasons
Orchid (scientific name: Orchidaceae), belonging to the family Orchidaceae, is a monocotyledonous perennial herbaceous plant, also called Huji flower. Because most varieties of terrestrial orchids originate in China, orchids are also called Chinese orchids. The roots are long and tubular, and the leaves are clustered from the stem, linear-lanceolate, 2 to 3 in a cluster. The roots, leaves, flowers, fruits, and seeds of orchids all have certain medicinal value. Orchid is a flower known for its fragrance, with the characteristics of nobility and elegance. Famous people ancient and modern have rated it extremely highly, and it is compared to the gentleman among flowers. Among ancient literati, the beauty of poetry and prose was often compared to "orchid writing," true friendship to "orchid friendship," and good friends to "orchid guests."...
Orchid cultivation methods and precautions Orchid introduction
Orchid (scientific name: Orchidaceae), belonging to the family Orchidaceae, is a monocotyledonous perennial herbaceous plant, also called Huji flower. Because most varieties of terrestrial orchids originate in China, orchids are also called Chinese orchids. The roots are long and tubular, and the leaves are clustered from the stem, linear-lanceolate, 2 to 3 in a cluster. The roots, leaves, flowers, fruits, and seeds of orchids all have certain medicinal value. Orchid is a flower known for its fragrance, with the characteristics of nobility and elegance. Famous people ancient and modern have rated it extremely highly, and it is compared to the gentleman among flowers. Among ancient literati, the beauty of poetry and prose was often compared to "orchid writing," true friendship to "orchid friendship," and good friends to "orchid guests."
Orchid is one of China's top ten famous flowers, loved by all. It has a pleasant fragrance: "By the roadside grass cluster grows the orchid, not showing its heroic posture nor its splendor; only when the subtle fragrance scents the heart and lungs does one realize a rare flower hides in the garden." This kind of orchid giving off a subtle fragrance has always been favored by people.
The alluring and mysterious subtle fragrance of the orchid cannot be compared with the fragrance of any other flower in the world. Whether it is the light fragrance of Cymbidium faberi, the strong fragrance of Cymbidium goeringii, the osmanthus-like fragrance of certain Cymbidium ensifolium, or the sandalwood-like fragrance of certain Cymbidium sinense, they all share one common characteristic: clear and subtle.
Orchids are often used for tea. Orchid tea has a jade-green color, visible silver tips, a clear liquor, and a pure taste; it smells pleasantly of orchid fragrance and has a sweet aftertaste when drunk, and can stand alongside famous teas such as Huangshan Maofeng and Taiping Houkui. If you want to store orchids for a long time, you can cut the orchids, dry them, and mix them into tea leaves for later use. Take a small amount, pour in boiling water, steep briefly, and it is ready to drink. The floral fragrance of orchids comes from the volatile oils secreted by the aromatic oil glands in the column of the orchid flower. Due to the physiological action of the plant, the secretion of these volatile oils may be intermittent, so people feel the fragrance sometimes present and sometimes absent, faintly visible, or light or heavy. The main chemical components of these volatile oils are mixtures of esters or lactones of organic compounds and enol and enone compounds of terpenes.
Morphological characteristics of orchids
Orchid is a perennial herbaceous plant. The roots are fleshy and enlarged, without root hairs, and have symbiotic fungi. It has pseudobulbs, commonly called reed heads, wrapped outside with leaf sheaths, often connected together with multiple pseudobulbs, existing in rows at the same time. The leaves are linear or sword-shaped, leathery, upright or drooping; the flowers are solitary or in racemes, with many bracts borne on the pedicel. The flowers are bisexual and aromatic. The corolla consists of 3 sepals, 3 petals, and the column. The middle sepal is called the main petal. The lower 2 are the secondary petals, and the extension of the secondary petals is called the door. The upper 2 petals are upright, relatively thick and fleshy, with tips curled inward, commonly called the pincers. Left-right symmetry, the lip, pollinia, and the gynostemium are the basic characteristics of orchid family plants: the characteristic of pollinia forming masses has some exceptions. Except for the subfamilies Apostasioideae and Cypripedioideae, which do not have them, most other orchid family plants also have pollinia stalks. The ancients held that "one stem with one flower is an orchid," while one stem with many flowers is a huilan.
Cymbidium goeringii and Cymbidium faberi are divided according to differences and changes in the shape and texture of the main petal, secondary petals, pincers, and lip 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 lip is short and hard; the pincer petals are thick and fleshy with tips curved inward to form a pouch; the flower is slightly upward when first opening. Famous varieties include Song Mei, Xi Shen Mei, and others. Narcissus petal means the sepals are slightly longer than plum petal, with tips gradually pointed; the pincer petals are thick in texture and also form a pouch at the tip; the lip droops slightly or rolls back. Famous varieties include Wang Zi, Cui Yi Pin, and others. Tea petal means the sepals are broad and large, thick in texture, narrow at the base, wide and abruptly pointed at the tip; the pincer petals do not form a pouch; the lip is relatively moist and slightly rolled back. Famous varieties include Da Fu Gui, Cui Gai Hua, and others.
Butterfly petal means that on the inner side of the two downward sepals, the texture becomes thicker, forming wavy wrinkles, and there are red patches; sometimes the number of entire sepals or petals suddenly increases (such as Lü Yun, whose corolla often has about 8), 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 of mixed green or yellow-green, etc., without variegated stripes. Precious varieties include Zhang He Su, Lao Wen Tuan Su, and others.
Ecological habits of orchids
Orchids like shade and fear direct sunlight, like moisture and avoid dryness, and like fertile environments rich in humus with good air circulation. Therefore, the cultivation substrate requires: aeration, softness, good water permeability, and slight acidity. The most commonly used outdoor cultivation medium is mud flower soil. Climate and environment in different places can all affect the growth of orchids, so the choice of planting material differs. For example, in southern Fujian, the weather is warmer in all four seasons 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 accumulate water. Orchids grow well when the relative air humidity is 60--70%; too dry or too wet can easily trigger orchid diseases.
Controlling moisture is the most fundamental condition for growing orchids well. Orchid leaves are relatively thick in texture and protected by a cuticle on the surface, so orchid leaves do not consume large amounts of water. The pseudobulbs and fleshy roots of orchids can store certain nutrients and water, so they are relatively drought-tolerant. Except during the root-growing and sprouting stages and the rapid growth period, when more water is needed, they consume less water at other times. If there is too much water, causing water accumulation in the soil and blocking root respiration, root rot easily occurs. Too much water can also cause the cell walls of orchid leaves to fill with water, opening the stomata on the leaf surface, resulting in diluted nutrients, which in turn causes weak tissues, poor growth, and disease. Orchids like rain but fear waterlogging, like moisture but fear dampness. Because air humidity differs in spring, summer, autumn, and winter, orchid growth rates differ, and water requirements also differ. Accordingly, there is a saying that whether one can grow orchids mainly depends on whether one can water them.
Orchids like light feeding; fertilizing should be light rather than heavy. Like other plants, nitrogen can promote lush growth of stems and leaves. Phosphorus can promote well-developed orchid roots, promote robust development of reproductive organs, and spread stems and leaves. Magnesium, sulfur, iron, and other trace elements can make leaves green and flowers strong. During the vigorous growth period of orchids, more fertilizer should be applied; during the dormant period or weak growth period, no fertilizer may be applied. If fertilizer is applied excessively, it will burn roots and leaves, causing irreparable loss.
There is also zhilan, used as a metaphor for fragrant grass.
Cultivation techniques for orchids
We Chinese have appreciated and cultivated orchids much earlier than the Western cultivation of foreign orchids. As early as the Spring and Autumn period, 2,400 years ago, the Chinese cultural sage Confucius once said: "Zhilan grows in a secluded valley, and does 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 fragrant grass. -- Shuo Wen
Heng lan zhi ruo. -- Book of Han, Biography of Sima Xiangru
The root of lan huai is zhi. -- Xunzi, Encouraging Learning
The root of Chinese orchid is white angelica, and white angelica symbolizes the common people. Huizhi has been the essence of the traditional virtues of benevolence, righteousness, and civil governance since ancient times. The great Tang poet Li Bai wrote, "The secluded orchid's fragrant wind travels far, the hui grass spreads its fragrant roots." Huilan's roots are the people.
When cultivating, the separated orchid clusters should not be divided too sparsely; each cluster should have at least 3 to 5 shoots, and preferably one-year-old plants, two-year-old plants, and three-year-old plants should be kept in the same cluster.
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, with large gaps filled with mud granules or bean stones, generally about 1/2 to 1/3 of the pot's inner height. The remaining clear height above is about 10 to 15 cm, reserved as the cultivation soil layer. Its 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; 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 in 2 to 3 cm of cultivation soil, press 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 clusters, 3 clusters, or more clusters can be planted in one pot. 3 clusters are suitable for planting in a tripod arrangement. 4 clusters can be planted in a square. 5 clusters are suitable for arrangement 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 orchid roots spread naturally and try not to rub against the inner wall of the pot. After the orchid plant enters the pot, gradually fix the posture of the orchid plant. If one cluster is planted in one pot, the old pseudobulbs should be placed to one side, leaving room for new buds to develop. If several clusters are planted in one pot, the old pseudobulbs of each cluster should be relatively gathered toward the middle of the pot, so that new roots and new buds have enough space to develop outward.
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 spread 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 or the roots will be injured. Continue adding soil and pressing until the soil surface is 2 to 3 cm above the pot rim, slightly in a steamed bun shape. The cultivation soil should cover all orchid roots, up to the base of the pseudobulbs. As for the depth of soil filling, tradition holds: Cymbidium goeringii is suitable for shallow planting, and Cymbidium faberi for deep planting, but generally the leaf base on the pseudobulb should not be buried. When newly sprouted orchids grow in the wild, the plants leave obvious 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; do not use a large pot for small and few plants, nor a small pot for large and many plants. Generally, the number of plants should be based on the principle that the pot will just be full after an estimated 2 to 3 years. 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, a layer of small stone grains or green moss can be spread on the surface of the pot soil, preferably high-quality moss from under the forest. It is both attractive and can regulate moisture, and can also protect the leaf surface from being polluted by muddy water, so that new buds will not be infected by pathogens in the soil and rot at the center; in addition, it can also reduce the washing effect of rainwater on the pot soil and keep the pot soil loose.
Watering
After planting is completed, water for the first time immediately. The pot soil must be thoroughly wet, and the water droplets should be small, not with strong force. If placed in a water basin to soak, do not soak for too long. Once the pot soil is soaked, immediately take the orchid pot out, then move it to a shaded place for care.
Watering orchid plants should be based on various natural factors affecting transpiration, such as humidity, temperature, light, wind, season, and weather, so as to make different water management measures.
First, look at humidity. If the air humidity is low and transpiration is strong, water more; conversely, if the air humidity 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 and water demand is large, so watering frequency should also increase accordingly; conversely, when the temperature is low, water molecules move slowly and diffusion is weak, so less water is needed.
Third, look at light. Strong light speeds up transpiration and accelerates water molecule diffusion, so more water is needed; conversely, less water is needed. Therefore, when light differs and shading degree differs, water management also differs: water more for those receiving sun, and less for those facing away from the sun.
Fourth, look at wind. Strong wind evaporates water quickly; weak wind evaporates water slowly; dry southwest wind will enhance evaporation, while moist southeast wind will relatively weaken transpiration; orchid pots placed in a wind opening receive more wind and evaporate water quickly, while orchid pots in a leeward place receive less wind and evaporate water slowly.
Fifth, look at the 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, overcast, and cold winter, do not water; in early spring when the temperature is relatively low, water less; in late spring when the climate is mild and it is the sprouting period, water more; in the dry autumn, water more.
Sixth, look at the weather. Natural weather changes unpredictably; different weather has different light, temperature, and humidity, and orchid plant transpiration also varies greatly. The basic practice is: water more on sunny days, water less on cloudy days, no need to water much when it is about to rain, and do not water on rainy (or snowy) days.
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 attracting increasing attention. The main reason this phenomenon can attract the attention of breeders is that artificially hybridized new varieties that originally required many years of conventional cultivation to bloom can, in test tubes, be artificially induced to bloom through 1 to 2 culture cycles. In this way, individuals with excellent traits can be selected purposefully according to flowering conditions, and relatively poor individuals can be eliminated, thereby shortening the entire breeding cycle and greatly reducing the workload of mass-cultivating 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 orchid species, including Cymbidium goeringii, Cymbidium ensifolium, Cymbidium goeringii var. longibracteatum, Cymbidium tortisepalum, Cymbidium faberi, Cymbidium kanran, and others.
According to observation results, the flowering patterns of orchids in test tubes can be roughly divided into three types. The first type is that the axillary buds of the orchid seedlings develop into flower buds. This method is the same as the flowering method of orchids in conventional cultivation, except that in conventional cultivation it is a cluster 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 that the terminal buds of the orchid seedlings develop into flower buds, similar to what is commonly called an arrow in the grass (grass-center arrow). The flower grows from the very center of the orchid seedling. This situation appears in all orchid species, especially commonly in Cymbidium goeringii. The third type is that flower buds differentiate directly from the apex of the protocorm. This type is completely controlled by the hormone level in the medium; flowers start quickly and uniformly, and the differentiation frequency is high, making it the main method of inducing flowering.
Another convenience brought by orchids 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 crossing, backcrossing, and selfing to achieve the breeding goal and select excellent new varieties. For example, in crossing a plain-heart variety with a plum-petal variety, the first filial generation is usually plum-petal but definitely not plain-heart. This requires backcrossing the first filial generation once with the plain-heart parent, or selfing the first filial generation once, and then selecting plain-heart plum-petal from the second filial generation. Using conventional methods, this process would definitely take more than ten years. Now, with a method to induce orchids to flower in test tubes, we can let the first filial generation flower in test tubes, and carry out self-pollination in test tubes or mutual pollination between first filial generation plants, and cultivate seeds. These seeds do not need disinfection and can be sown directly on the medium to obtain the second filial generation, then induce flowering, and then select the desired variety from the second filial generation. Compared with conventional methods, this process can save at least two cultivation cycles from bottle seedlings to flowering.
Propagation methods of orchids
Orchids are commonly propagated by division, sowing, and tissue culture.
Division propagation: can be carried out in both spring and autumn, generally once every three years. Any plant that grows robustly and has dense pseudobulbs can be divided, and after division each cluster must retain at least 5 connected pseudobulbs. Before division, watering should be reduced to make the pot soil relatively dry. When potting after division, first cover the bottom hole of the pot with broken tiles, then spread coarse stones, occupying 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 2 cm rim at the edge of the pot, spread Cuiyun grass or fine stones on top, and finally water thoroughly, place in a shaded place for 10 to 15 days, keep the soil moist, gradually reduce watering, and carry out normal care.
Sowing propagation: orchid seeds are extremely fine, and the seed contains only one incompletely developed embryo, with very low germination ability. In addition, the seed coat does not easily absorb water, so sowing by conventional methods cannot germinate. Therefore, orchid fungi or artificial culture media are needed to supply nutrients for germination. For sowing, it is best to select 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 to 10 minutes, take them out and rinse them 3 times with sterile water, then sow them in a culture bottle containing medium, then place in a dark culture room, maintain the temperature at about 25°C, and after germination move them into the light, where 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: requires open surroundings, good ventilation, and proximity to water, with moist air and no coal smoke pollution. On the southwest side of the site, evergreen broadleaf trees can be planted, and the canopy density should be 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 the temperature. In spring, the amount of watering should be small, and in summer it should be greater; during the plum rain season, when orchids are sending out leaf buds, the pot soil should be slightly dry; after autumn when the weather turns cool, the amount of watering should be reduced as appropriate, and keeping it moist is enough. In winter indoors it should be dry, watering frequency should be reduced, and it is suitable to water at noon. Orchids can be exposed to light rain, but continuous rain or heavy rain can easily cause rot at the center and leaf rot, so attention must be paid to rain protection.
Fertilizing: for growing orchids, cake fertilizer is suitable. Mix 4 parts plant ash, 10 parts bean cake, and 10 parts bone meal evenly, put into a vat, add water several times until the bean cake is soaked, then cover and seal, and after one year of decomposition, make into dry granules. When using, place 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 thin fertilizer applied 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 have just been brought out 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 should be kept at 1 to 2°C. In addition, after orchids are brought out in spring and before they are brought in in autumn, attention should be paid to frost protection.
Precautions
Wounds must be protected from bacteria -- when repotting or dividing, if the roots have wounds, first apply fungicide to the wounds to prevent pathogen invasion.
Do not use too large a pot -- planting small plants in a large pot uses more planting material and easily leads to poor aeration, and watering is also harder 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 should not be planted too deep, otherwise long-term moisture will cause rot. When planting, fill the planting material around the roots, and the base or pseudobulbs must be exposed.
Roots must be spread out -- when planting orchids, the roots should be evenly spread out and not pressed together, so that each root can contact the planting material and ventilation is also better.
Do not water for several days -- newly planted orchids may have injured roots. After applying fungicide to the wounds, do not water for 3 to 5 days to achieve the medicinal 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 return to normal growth.
Leaves turning yellow
Generally it is root rot or hollow roots. It is necessary to improve watering, change environmental humidity, and adjust light intensity.
Another reason orchid leaves turn yellow is normal grass decline, because it is exactly the sprouting time, and due to metabolism, nutrients cannot keep up, so old seedlings decline and leave nutrients for new seedlings to grow. However, other reasons cannot be ruled out, such as root rot, soft rot, and stem rot. These should be observed frequently, and once discovered, handled decisively, otherwise the whole plant may be lost.
Distribution and collection
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 dryness and wetness. Growth environments differ from place to place and other factors should also be considered. At the same time, attention should be paid to safety, fire prevention, not mistakenly entering restricted areas, and keeping collection records.
In the process of orchid cultivation and business, due to the frenzied speculation by orchid merchants in 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, establishing variety protection levels, improving legislation on wild resources, and severely 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, reasonable, environmentally friendly, and law-abiding awareness of orchid collection.
City flower of Guiyang, city flower of Shaoxing, and provincial flower of Zhejiang. During the period of the Republic of China, the Nanjing Special Municipal Government issued an order making the orchid the city flower of Nanjing.
Cold regions
If orchids are to be grown well in northern regions, efforts should be made to create environmental conditions suitable for their growth and development and to meet the requirements of their biological characteristics, so that they can grow and flower well. Specifically, the following tasks should be done well.
I. Choose a good pot and cultivation soil
For ordinary home orchid growing, it is still better to choose a clay pot. 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 suitable for the orchid roots to spread out completely inside the pot. The pot soil is best orchid mud. It can also be mixed by oneself. You can 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.
II. Apply thin fertilizer skillfully
When fertilizing orchids, apply thin fertilizer and never apply heavy fertilizer. There is a saying: "Clear orchid, turbid jasmine." Newly planted orchid plants should not be fertilized in the first year; fertilizing begins after Qingming in the second year and continues until the Beginning of Autumn. Apply fully decomposed dilute cake fertilizer water 1 to 2 times a month. Because orchids have fleshy roots, never apply undecomposed fertilizer, to avoid root rot. Before each fertilization, control water for 1 to 2 days, and apply after the pot soil is slightly dry. On the morning of the second day after application, water once to prevent unclean matter in the fertilizer liquid from polluting the root system and harming orchid roots. When applying liquid fertilizer, be careful to avoid splashing the leaves. For orchid plants that have been cultivated for several years and have reached flowering age, in the early stage, mainly apply nitrogen fertilizer to promote new bud germination and rapid growth; in the later stage, mainly apply phosphorus and potassium fertilizer, which is beneficial for pseudobulb enlargement, wide and thick leaves, and provides enough nutrients for flower bud differentiation. Specifically, before flower bud differentiation each autumn, it is suitable to apply liquid fertilizer mainly based on phosphorus and potassium fertilizer twice in succession; during the bud pregnancy period, on a clear evening, first wash the leaves with clear water, and after they dry, use a small sprayer to spray a 0.2% potassium dihydrogen phosphate solution on the leaf surface and the back of the leaves, or apply plant ash water to the roots. At this time, foliar fertilization is beneficial for promoting the development of orchid roots, stems, and flowers. Do not fertilize on cloudy and rainy days, and stop fertilizing during the winter dormant period. About 20 days after the flowers fade, apply liquid fertilizer mainly based on nitrogen fertilizer or compound chemical fertilizer twice, which can promote plant growth.[6]
III. Light should be suitable
Orchids by nature like shaded, cool environments and fear direct sunlight. Therefore, in the north, from April to early May, before 9 a.m., they can appropriately get more sunlight; after mid-May, shading is needed, and at this time they need to be placed in a cool and ventilated place for cultivation. In winter, place them near a south window to receive more light, so as to enhance their vitality and promote flower bud differentiation. Especially for Cymbidium sinense and Cymbidium kanran, which bloom in winter, they should be placed indoors in a sunny place in winter; without light they cannot bloom well.[6] In short, growing orchids should achieve "not out in spring, not in the sun in summer, not dry in autumn, not wet in winter," meaning in spring avoid cold wind invasion and do not move them outdoors; in summer they fear direct sunlight and should be placed in a cool and ventilated place; in autumn avoid the pot soil drying out, as this is exactly the orchid bud pregnancy period, so 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 is alternating dry and wet.
Orchid disease control The main pests and diseases of orchids include：
Southern blight: mostly occurs in the plum rain season. Attention should be paid to ventilation and light transmission, and good pot soil drainage for prevention. After onset, remove the infected pot soil and sprinkle pentachloronitrobenzene powder or lime.
Anthracnose: present year-round, and more rampant in hot and rainy seasons. In addition to improving environmental conditions, during the onset period, first spray with 50% thiophanate-methyl wettable powder 800 to 1500 times solution, once every 7 to 10 days, and then supplement with 1% equal-strength Bordeaux mixture, once every half month.
Scale insects: reproduce fastest under conditions of high temperature, high humidity, and poor air circulation. Use conventional methods for control.
Root rot is also called nematode disease. Nematodes parasitize orchid roots, causing root rot, poor growth of aboveground leaves, leaf color fading to green, yellowing, and even plant wilting. Nematode damage causes many wounds and also causes infection by other soil-borne pathogens, leading to plant disease and accelerating plant death. The cultivation substrate should be disinfected, and 100°C steam sterilization can be used to kill eggs. For severe damage, immediately repot, soak the diseased plants in the medicinal solution for 20-30 minutes, take them out to dry, and replant with new substrate.
In summary, to grow orchids well, one must master their natural growth environment conditions, take reasonable measures, and strengthen care and management. According to the "Orchid Growing Formula": "Not out in spring, not in the sun in summer, not dry in autumn, not wet in winter." This is a summary of China's experience in growing orchids.
Pollution-free pest and disease control methods：
Below are some small folk remedies passed down among the people for pollution-free control of orchid pests and diseases. "Small" remedies can often solve "big" problems, so orchid enthusiasts may as well try them.
I. Tea bran
Tea bran, also called tea dregs or tea seed cake, is the residue left after tea seeds are pressed for oil, and farmers often use it to wash clothes. Tea bran contains saponin and glycosides, and its water extract is alkaline, with good stomach poison and contact-killing effects on pests.
Control methods:
Soak crushed powdered tea bran and boiling water at a ratio of 1:5 for a day and a night, use it to pour over orchid pots, and at the same time pour it over the place where orchid pots are placed and other orchid pots. It has a fairly good control effect on snails.
Spraying orchid plants with tea bran water has a very good control effect on aphids and red spiders, reaching more than 90%.
Tea bran water can also kill earthworms. Pour tea bran water thoroughly through the pot soil, and after a short while the earthworms will drill out of the soil surface; pick them out and remove them. There are differing views in the orchid community on whether earthworms help or harm orchids. One view holds that earthworms in the pot, when active, will destroy some orchid fungus hyphae and damage the root tips of orchid roots, so they are pests and must be removed. Another view holds that earthworms in orchid pots can eat many decaying substances in the pot and rotten orchid roots, their activity can loosen the soil, and 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 pros and cons and judge based on their own practical observation.
II. Strong-smelling vegetables (scallions, garlic, chives, ginger, onions, etc.)
Strong-smelling vegetables each have their own distinct odor, and their smell can play a role in killing insects and sterilizing.
Control methods:
Take 25 g of garlic, crush it and squeeze the juice, dilute it in 10 L of water, and immediately spray 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 orchid pots. After a few days, earthworms and ants will disappear.
Soak chopped scallions and water at a ratio of 1:30 for a full day and night, then filter. Spray the orchid plants with the filtrate several times a day for several consecutive days. This has a good effect on controlling aphids, soft-bodied pests, and preventing and treating powdery mildew.
Take 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 the orchid plants to control aphids.
Mix chive juice and clean water at a ratio of 1:60, and spray the orchid plants with it twice a day for several consecutive days. This can cure black spot disease.
Take 15 g of chopped onion bulbs, place them in 2 jin of water, seal and soak for 7 hours, then filter. Spray the orchid plants with the filtrate to control red spiders and aphids.
III. Cigarette Butts
Tobacco leaves contain about 3% nicotine. Nicotine has a strong contact-killing and stomach-poisoning effect on pests. Take about 20 leftover cigarette butts and one part quicklime, add water, stir, soak, and filter, then add 30 parts water. Spray the orchid plants, potting soil, and pot bottoms with it to eliminate ants and other pests without a waxy coating.
IV. Laundry Detergent and Dishwashing Detergent
Laundry detergent can dissolve the waxy coating of scale insects and at the same time form a layer of foam that wraps around the insect body, suffocating the scale insects to death. Laundry detergent solution can prevent and control some pests and diseases.
Control methods:
Dissolve a small amount of laundry detergent in warm water, then dilute with water to a 1000-fold solution and spray the orchid plants to kill aphids, whiteflies, and red spiders. Dilute to a 600-fold solution, spray once every three days for three consecutive sprays, and all scale insects will die.
Mix pig bile and clean water at a ratio of 1:100, and add a small amount of laundry detergent. Spray the orchid plants with it to prevent and control anthracnose and soft rot. After spraying the orchid plants with laundry detergent solution and the pests die, the leaves must be rinsed several times with clean water so that the orchid plants can grow normally.
V. Baijiu
Mix baijiu and water at a ratio of 1:2, and spray the orchid plants once a week for three consecutive sprays to kill scale insects.
VI. Citrus Peel
Place citrus peel at the bottom of the pot to prevent ants and other pests from entering the potting soil and harming the orchids. Citrus peel can also be cut into small pieces and scattered on the surface of the potting soil. Without watering for a few days, it can control aphids, scale insects, and others.
VII. Brown Sugar
Mix powdered brown sugar and boiling water at a ratio of 1:100. After it cools, spray the orchid plants with the brown sugar liquid once every 3 days for three consecutive treatments. This has a relatively good effect on preventing and treating downy mildew, powdery mildew, black spot disease, and leaf blight.
VIII. Diesel
Mix diesel and water at a ratio of 1:60 to make an emulsion, then dilute with 100 times water and spray the orchid plants to control scale insects and others.
IX. Plant Ash
Soak plant ash and water at a ratio of 1:50 for two days and nights, then filter. Spray the orchid plants with the filtrate. It can both control aphids and increase potassium fertilizer.
X. Vinegar
Mix vinegar and clean water at a ratio of 1:8, and spray it evenly on the front and back of orchid leaves to 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 sprays, and the adult scale insects can be killed. Spraying vinegar liquid on leaves can also eliminate black spot disease, powdery mildew, leaf spot disease, yellowing disease, and others. Industrial acid vinegar must not be used.
Orchid Cultivation Methods: Spring Care
In spring there is more cloudy and rainy weather, temperatures vary greatly, and cold waves are likely to occur. If orchids are not well cared for and managed, root rot and bud rot can occur, 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 pot drainage and moisture prevention. It is best to set up plastic film above the orchid pots to shelter from rain, pull it open when sunny, and cover it when raining, to prevent cold wind, cold rain, and frost and snow.
Orchid cultivation should always ensure good ventilation. Orchid seedlings in greenhouses and warm sheds should be equipped with exhaust fans to replace the air and regulate humidity. General simple warm sheds and low ground-planting sheds covered with plastic film for freeze protection and rain shelter should also have windows opened frequently or part of the film lifted to allow air convection, ensuring fresh air and moderate temperature inside the shed.
After the Spring Festival, cut off the flower stems of Cymbidium sinense and others, and do not let them bear fruit. Gently wipe the upper and lower surfaces of orchid leaves with 0.1% omethoate or dichlorvos solution, and spray the balcony, surrounding areas where orchids are cultivated, and potted orchids separately with sterilizing agents and insecticides once every 7 days and 10 days. Two hours after using insecticides, spray the leaf surfaces of potted orchids once with clean water to remove residual chemicals.
Before dividing orchid pots, stop watering for 3-5 days. When the growing medium in the pot is 70-80% dry, carefully pour out the orchid plants and growing medium, trying as much as possible not to break the orchid roots. Wash with disinfectant solution or clean water and dry, and repot after the orchid roots become soft and whitish. Use sterile new growing medium for repotting, with roots adhering to the growing medium, 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 shaded shed, spray the leaf surfaces in the morning and evening, water thoroughly to settle the roots after 24 hours, and transfer to normal management after 15 days.
For orchids planted with new growing medium, apply a light, thin fertilizer once every half month to one month. During the large-seedling and strong-seedling stage, apply nitrogen fertilizer frequently, once every three to five days. Rejuvenated orchids can be fertilized from once every half month to once a week, depending on whether the orchids can absorb it. However, weak grass, rootless grass, and leafless bulbs must absolutely be maintained without fertilizer and must not be top-dressed, otherwise haste makes waste and they will instead suffer harm.
Orchid Distribution Regions
Orchids are world-famous flowers. Chinese orchids have more than 15,000 varieties. In Asia, Chinese orchids are Cymbidium faberi; in Oceania and Africa, most are Cymbidium; Singapore has Vanda; Finland has lily of the valley; Yugoslavia has lily of the valley; Seychelles has Yucca; Zimbabwe has Gloriosa; South American countries have designated national orchids: Brazil has Cattleya; Costa Rica has Cattleya. Ecuador and Guatemala both have Cattleya; Colombia has Cattleya; Ecuador has white magnolia.
Because most varieties of terrestrial orchids originate in China, orchids are also called Chinese orchids and are listed first among China's top ten famous flowers. In China, apart from 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.
Chinese orchids are mainly divided into seven major categories: Cymbidium goeringii, Cymbidium faberi, Cymbidium ensifolium, Cymbidium kanran, Cymbidium sinense, Cymbidium tortisepalum, and Cymbidium faberi var. There are thousands of horticultural varieties.
Cymbidium goeringii is also known as 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, pure fragrance. Famous and 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.
Cymbidium faberi has thick and long roots, narrow strap-shaped leaves, relatively rough and hard texture, dark green color, obvious serrations on 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 multicolor, mostly colorful flowers, and there are 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, not afraid of heat, not afraid of 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 known as bao sui lan, bai sui lan, feng sui lan, and others, is native to China's Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian, Yunnan, Taiwan, China, Hainan, and others. Orchid growers in various parts of southern China, especially Guangdong and Yunnan, most enjoy cultivating and viewing it.
Cymbidium tortisepalum 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 multicolor, brilliant and dazzling, with graceful bearing, elegant charm, strong fragrance, and pure taste. It is often the first choice highly praised by orchid growers.
Cymbidium kanran is distributed in Fujian, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hunan, Guangdong, and the southwestern regions of Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan. The leaves of Cymbidium kanran are more slender and longer than those of four-season orchid, especially narrower at the leaf base. The leaf posture is elegant and unrestrained, lush green and delicate. There are large-, medium-, and fine-leaf varieties as well as edged varieties. Flower colors are rich, including yellow, green, purple-red, deep purple, and others, generally with mixed-color veins and spots, and there are also clean, flawless plain flowers. The sepals and petals are both relatively narrow and fine, with a unique style, delicate and lovely, with an intoxicating fragrance.
Orchid Variety Classification
Variety identification is the appraisal of the overall qualities of orchids and is the most skill-demonstrating branch of orchid art. Therefore, orchid masters through the ages have all been especially cautious about this, never making conclusions rashly, and always adhering to the "three looks" principle.
Leaf Shape
In flowerless seasons, the main basis for people to identify famous orchid varieties is leaf shape, including leaf buds and plant form. The color of orchid buds when they emerge from the soil has a certain reference value for appreciating orchid varieties, and the bud stage requires careful observation. Generally speaking, if new buds are white, white-green, or green, Cymbidium goeringii is generally a plain-heart variety, and Cymbidium faberi is mostly plain-heart or green Cymbidium faberi; if the bud tip has a white rice-grain-like "white peak," it may produce fine flowers.
Flower Buds
Traditional famous orchid varieties not only have their own characteristics in leaf shape, but their flower buds are also full of distinctive features.
Therefore, when identifying, people should look at both leaf shape and flower buds. Regarding the identification of flower buds, predecessors summarized the "nine shapes and eight forms" of orchid and Cymbidium faberi head shapes and the "five gates and eight forms" of Cymbidium faberi small bud arrangement. These valuable experiences are of great benefit to us in identifying varieties and are worth digesting and absorbing well.
All things develop and change. In orchid art practice, people have found that even for the same pot of orchids, the color of the flower buds is sometimes different in different years, or even in the same year. I have personal experience with this. After many years of observation, the flower buds of famous orchid and Cymbidium faberi varieties I cultivate, such as Dafugui and Yuanzi, sometimes differ in different years; in some years the flower bud color is deeper, and in some years it is lighter.
Flower Presentation
The most direct and effective way to identify orchid and Cymbidium faberi varieties is to look at their flower presentation, which is also the main reason why introduced varieties must be introduced when in flower. Generally speaking, as long as the flower presentation is up to standard, the variety can be identified once the flower is seen. But everything has its particularity. Orchids and Cymbidium faberi of the same variety often produce different flower presentations sometimes because of different cultivation methods.
Special Varieties
[Shaoxing Orchid]
Shaoxing is one of the earliest places in China to plant orchids and has long been called the "hometown of orchids." The Southern Song Baooqing "Kuaiji Xu Zhi" records: "Orchid, 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 are diverse in variety, and their flower shape, color, and fragrance are all unique. With one branch in a room, a delicate fragrance fills the air and refreshes the heart.
The Ming dynasty painter and calligrapher Xu Wei wrote in his poem "Orchid": "Do not be surprised that spring light does not belong to me; one fragrance is enough to surpass a thousand reds. Even if the fragrance is picked to scent Han Niang's sleeve, it will not become the brain-musk wind of the world." Traditional famous orchid varieties such as "Song Mei," "Lou Mei," "Huanqiu Heding," and "Zan Die" 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 Shaoxing Orchid Association, the first orchid association in the country.
[Chinese Orchid Cymbidium faberi]
Chinese orchid Cymbidium faberi usually refers to a portion of terrestrial species in the genus Cymbidium. The pseudobulbs are relatively small, the leaves are linear, and the roots are fleshy; the flower stem is upright, with 1 to more than 10 flowers, the flowers are small and fragrant, usually light green with purple-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 regions. Its cultivation history is long, at least more than a thousand years, and it is one of China's top ten traditional famous flowers. Since ancient times, people have regarded orchids as symbols of nobility, elegance, patriotism, and unyielding integrity.
It has formed an orchid culture with strong Chinese national characteristics. It is propagated by division, sowing, or tissue culture. Pot cultivation with humus soil requires good aeration and drainage; it likes a semi-shaded and moist environment. The overwintering temperature for Cymbidium sinense, Cymbidium ensifolium, and Cymbidium kanran is about 10°C, and for the other types about 5°C. What is now called Chinese orchid was called "hui" in ancient times. Just as Huang Tingjian of the Northern Song dynasty (1045-1105) described orchids in "Youfang Pavilion": "One stem with one flower and abundant fragrance is orchid; one stem with five or seven flowers and insufficient fragrance is hui."
[Chinese Orchid]
Confucius, "The Family Sayings of Confucius: In Adversity": angelica and orchid grow in the forest 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 heyday of China's orchid art history, with numerous books and descriptions related to orchid art. For example, Luo Yuan of the Song dynasty wrote in "Erya Yi": "The leaves of the orchid are like sedge and emerge in early spring.
The flowers are very fragrant and mostly grow in forests. When a gentle breeze passes, their fragrance rises abundantly and reaches outside, hence they are called angelica and orchid. Orchids in Jiangnan bloom only in spring, while those in Jingchu and Minzhong bloom again in autumn and summer." Zhao Shigeng of the Southern Song dynasty wrote "Jinzhang Lan Pu" in 1233, which can be said to be the earliest surviving work in China devoted to studying orchids and also the world's first monograph on orchids. The whole book is divided into three volumes and five parts, briefly describing the morphological characteristics of more than 30 varieties of purple orchids (mainly Cymbidium sinense) and white orchids (that is, plain-heart Cymbidium ensifolium), and also discussing the grade of orchids. After "Jinzhang Lan Pu," Wang Guixue wrote "Wangshi Lan Pu" in 1247, which gave detailed descriptions of more than 30 orchid varieties.
In addition, the Song dynasty also had "Lan Pu Ao Fa," which mainly describes cultivation methods and is divided into seven parts: division and planting methods, flower planting methods, placement and watering methods, watering methods, flower fertilizer and soil methods, ant and louse removal methods, and miscellaneous methods. As for Wu Zan's "Zhong Yi Bi Yong," it also introduced orchid cultivation. In 1256, Chen Jingyi's "Quan Fang Bei Zu" gave a relatively detailed account of orchids. The complete engraved edition of this book was collected in the Japanese Imperial Palace Library, and in 1979 Japan returned a photocopy to China. In the Song dynasty, works entering Chinese painting with orchids as the theme included Zhao Mengjian's "Spring Orchid Picture," which is considered the earliest surviving 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. As orchid varieties continuously increased and cultivation experience became increasingly rich, orchid cultivation had already become an object of public appreciation. At this time, there were relatively many books, painting albums, poems, and orchid patterns printed on porcelain and handicrafts describing orchids, such as Zhang Yingmin's "Luoli Zhai Lan Pu" of the Ming dynasty and the orchid-related records in Gao Lian's "Zun Sheng Ba Jian."
The Ming dynasty pharmacologist Li Shizhen's "Compendium of Materia Medica" gives a relatively complete discussion of the explanation of orchid names, categories, and uses. The Qing dynasty also produced many monographs on orchid art, such as the 1805 "Lan Hui Tong Xin Lu," written by a Mr. Xu of Jiaxing, Zhejiang. He was addicted to orchids and also good at painting orchids, with rich experience in orchid art. The book is divided into two volumes. Volume one discusses knowledge of planting orchids, and volume two describes methods for identifying and classifying orchid varieties. The whole book records 57 varieties and includes line drawings made by him. Others such as Yuan Shijun's "Lan Yan Shu Lue," Du Wenlan's "Yi Lan Si Shuo," Mao Xiang's "Lan Yan," Zhu Kerou's "Di Yi Xiang Bi Ji," Tu Yongning's "Lan Hui Jing," Zhang Guangzhao's "Xing Lan Pu Lue," Yue Liang's "Yang Lan Shuo," Wang Hao's "Guang Qun Fang Pu," Wu Qijun's "Zhi Wu Ming Shi Tu Kao," and Ou Jince's late Qing "Ling Hai Lan Yan" still have certain reference value today.
Orchid Dietary Therapy or Medicinal Value
The medical information and health dietary therapy information on Huhua Network are for reference only and cannot be used as a basis for diagnosis or medical treatment. For any health problem, consult professional medical personnel, and for the treatment of any disease, please follow doctor's orders.
Ultimate flower-protecting task: to love yourself, start from reality and carefully follow doctor's orders. For illness, do not be careless, do not delay, do not give up hope, face it bravely, use love to warm the silent world, and use your heart to care for the flower field within.
Medicinal Value
According to records, the roots, leaves, flowers, fruits, and seeds of orchids all have certain medicinal value. The roots can treat pulmonary tuberculosis, lung abscess, and sprains, and can also set bones; Cymbidium ensifolium root decocted in soup and taken is said to be an excellent medicine for inducing labor. The leaves treat whooping cough, the fruit can stop vomiting, and the seeds treat eye opacity. The whole plant of Cymbidium faberi can treat women's diseases, and the whole plant of Cymbidium goeringii treats neurasthenia, roundworms, and hemorrhoids. Cymbidium ensifolium leaves can treat deficiency-type lung qi (also written as liver qi). Orchid flower stems can treat malignant ringworm. Plain-heart orchid petals can induce labor. The plain-heart petals of Cymbidium faberi, dried in the shade, 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, quickly bring a pot of "labor-inducing flower" 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 plant of orchids can be used as medicine. Its nature is neutral, its taste is 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 to various clinical internal and gynecological symptoms. Summarized as follows:
1. Nourish yin fluids, promote 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, odor pungent, neutral, sweet, non-toxic." "Its qi is clear and fragrant, promotes fluid production and quenches thirst, moistens muscles, and treats wasting-thirst and gallbladder jaundice." "...To treat wasting-thirst and promote fluid production, use orchid leaves; this is probably based on this." Modern medical science uses radium (cobalt-60) for radiotherapy after surgery for some malignant tumors or cancers and has achieved certain therapeutic effects, but it causes a certain degree of damage to tissues and organs near the tumor and affects their function. For example, radiotherapy for nasopharyngeal carcinoma, malignant tumors of the salivary glands (mucoepidermoid carcinoma), and upper and middle esophageal cancer damages various glands in the oral cavity, especially the three pairs of major salivary glands, the parotid, submandibular, and sublingual glands, as well as mucosal gland cells of the upper digestive tract, causing a large reduction in glandular secretion and producing symptoms of upper wasting-thirst such as dry throat and burning sensation, dry tongue and scorched lips, and thirst with desire to drink. Using orchids can treat this condition caused by radiotherapy for malignant tumors, with very good results.
According to clinical experience, radiotherapy patients with malignant tumors in different sites and organs have better results when combined with some Chinese herbal medicines. For example, radiotherapy patients with laryngeal cancer should be used together with Shan Dou Gen, Bai Mao Gen, and Pu Gong Ying; radiotherapy patients with esophageal cancer should be used together with Ban Zhi Lian, Bai Hua She She Cao, Xia Ku Cao, and Ling Xian.
2. Clear heat and cool blood, nourish yin and moisten the lungs, and treat dry cough and chronic cough, 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, nourishing yin and moistening the lungs, and is often used clinically for hemoptysis due to pulmonary tuberculosis and for regulating chronic dry cough that does not stop.
For 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 obvious effects in 4-6 days.
For patients with dry cough that does not stop, use 30-50 orchid stamens, decoct in water, add rock sugar, twice a day, and take for 3-5 days with remarkable effects. This conforms to the statement in "Compendium of Materia Medica" that "orchid mainly treats blood production, regulates qi, nourishes the nutritive qi, and removes phlegm and stagnation in the chest."
3. Regulate qi and harmonize blood, drain dampness and reduce swelling, and treat urinary tract infections and women's leukorrhea.
According to "Supplement to the Compendium of Materia Medica": "The yellow orchid is called honey orchid and can stop diarrhea and leukorrhea, promote water passages, kill gu poison, reduce abscesses and swelling, regulate menstruation; taken for a long time it boosts qi, lightens the body, prevents aging, and communicates with the spirits." Modern traditional Chinese medicine believes that orchid roots have effects such as regulating qi and harmonizing blood, draining dampness, and reducing swelling. They treat urinary tract 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 vertigo, 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 vertigo (Meniere's syndrome), it is effective. Prescription: 30 g orchid stamens, 15 g chrysanthemum, 15 g dwarf lilyturf tuber, 20 g agrimony, decoct in water, 1 dose per day. Take continuously for 4-6 days. This is based on the records in "Supplement to the Compendium of Materia Medica" that "plain-heart Cymbidium ensifolium removes stale qi and relieves depression." "Honey-pickled green orchid flowers brewed as tea harmonize qi and blood, soothe the middle, and sober one from alcohol."
Use 50 g of orchid roots, 20 g of canna rhizome, and 20 g of Xu Chang Qing, decoct in water, 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 yet seem to have fire; people know the preciousness of their floral fragrance but do not know that their leaves have medicinal formulas; their leaves can strongly disperse long-accumulated stale and depressed qi, namely what is now placed on the right," to treat constipation, stagnation and accumulation of 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 orchid leaves, decoct in water, and when slightly warm, mix in 30 g honey and take, continuously for 2-3 times. This conforms to the theory that the lungs and large intestine are interior-exterior paired.
Use 50-100 g of fresh orchid roots, wash clean, mash and apply to the affected area, to treat traumatic injuries, subcutaneous hemorrhage, and muscle tumors.
Edible Value
(1) Floral Fragrance Can Scent Tea
Orchid fragrance is clear, mellow, and upright, and when used to scent tea, the quality is highest. In orchid-producing areas or large-scale orchid gardens, orchid tea has development prospects.
According to records: "Flowers can enhance tea, and paste can substitute for drink." In Fujian Province, villagers preserve Cymbidium ensifolium flowers in honey and then drink it. There is also the record: "Use salted plum dried and steeped to obtain juice called plum oil, use it to soak fresh flowers as a fragrance." In Japan's ancient capital, on the east side of Kyoto, there is an old small shop that for decades has sold a hereditary "orchid tea." This is made by picking Cymbidium goeringii flowers produced on the mountains north of Kyoto, sun-drying them semi-dry by a special method, then salting them and putting them in small clay bottles. When using, take two flowers and place them in a teacup, pour in boiling water, and drink. After soaking in water, the orchids recover 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) 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 to soup, first blanch with hot water, and the flower color will be fresh and the soup taste delicious. Orchids can be used as dishes and are famous Sichuan dishes at banquets, with a clear fragrance that fills the air and lingers around the table, making them unforgettable for a lifetime. Famous Sichuan dishes include "orchid shredded tripe," "orchid shredded pork," and others, and "orchid buns" are also endlessly delicious.
Orchid Cultural Background: Chinese Painting Orchids
China's orchid culture has a history of more than 2,000 years since orchid appreciation began. The ancient esteem for orchids embodies the characteristics of traditional Chinese aesthetics. Literati and poets through the ages have endlessly chanted and praised orchids, referring not only to the elegant form of orchids but even more to their clear, secluded fragrance.
The orchid's appearance is simple and elegant, with slender, soft leaf shapes, graceful flower posture, and plain, faint, secluded fragrance. It has the temperament of "clear color, clear qi, clear spirit, and clear rhyme," and is also called junzi lan, indicating that orchids are close to gentlemen. Literati preferred planting orchids, appreciating orchids, chanting orchids, painting orchids, and writing about orchids, with an orchid complex that could not be shaken off.
Poetry, Lyrics, Songs, and Rhapsodies
(Tang) Li Bai
A lone orchid grows in a secluded garden, amid all the grasses overgrown and hidden.
Though it is lit by the spring sunshine, it again grieves under the high autumn moon.
Flying frost patters down early; its green beauty may wither and cease.
If there is no clear breeze to blow, for whom will its fragrance be released?
Guang Qun Fang Pu
(Qing) Liu Hao
The orchid grows in a secluded valley with no one to know it; a visitor planted it in the eastern chamber and left me its fragrance.
I know it has a clear fragrance that can remove filth, and I love even more its slender leaves that cleverly brave the frost.
Its roots settle among dense stones and its autumn fragrance comes early; clusters lean on tall bamboo for cool noon shade.
I wish to send it with asarum to share beneath the hall; before my eyes I always see the verses of Chu.
Guang Qun Fang Pu
(Qing) Liu Hao
Weeping dew scatters the light in disorder; facing the wind, its shadow slants of itself.
How can ordinary people understand this? Looking at the leaves is better than looking at the flowers.
Ode to Orchid (Yuan) Yu Tonglu
By hand I cultivated two or three orchid plants; with warm sun and gentle breeze they bloomed one after another.
Sitting long, I did not know the fragrance was in the room; when I pushed the window open, sometimes butterflies flew in.
Huan Xi Sha: Orchid
As if in a bronze bottle I see dew-covered sprouts; sparse flowers, cold and quiet, faintly holding charm.
The clear tears of the Xiang River drip into the spring tide; how could heart match heart in tender loveliness?
No leaf after leaf aids its graceful bearing; one heartbroken collection is the Li Sao.
Ode to the Orchid (Modern) Zhu De
In Yuexiu Park's grove of flowers and trees, a hundred blooms all vie for spring.
Only the orchid's fragrance is just right, prized for a time in the city of Five Rams.
The Secluded Orchid (Tang) Cui Tu
Planted in seclusion, who would know it? Its fragrance it holds only in secret.
Of itself it has no gentleman to wear it, yet it is not that its national fragrance has faded.
White dew moistens it long and early, the spring wind always arrives late.
It is not like the grass by the roadside - what use is all its rich fragrance!
The Orchid (Song) Yang Wanli
On a snowy path it secretly opens pale blue flowers, from icy roots wildly sprouting small red buds.
Born without the peach and plum's spring breeze face, its fame lies in the mountain forest recluse's home.
Truly because its national fragrance reaches the court and market, it will not let its frosty integrity age among the clouds.
The river angelica and garden hui are no match for me; leave it to the poets to settle the ranks.
Inscribing a Painting of Orchids (Qing) Zheng Xie (xie), Zheng Banqiao
Its body is atop a thousand mountain peaks, in sudden cliffs and deep crevices its wondrous fragrance is thick.
It is not that there are no floating clouds clamoring beneath its feet; they come without knowing it and leave without staying.
Contemporary Poems on the Orchid
Ancient Style [Huzhou] Yao Danping
I do not vie for favor with the jade grass, but seek only to meet the clear breeze often;
I wish to spread fragrance everywhere, to fulfill a heart full of fervor.
The Orchid Yu Yafei
Among the clumps of grass by the roadside there is an orchid, showing no heroic bearing, displaying no splendor;
Only when its subtle fragrance soaks into the heart and lungs does one realize a rare flower hides in the garden.
Famous Figures and the Orchid
Confucius Praises the Orchid
Confucius was extremely fond of orchids. Because he placed special importance on the cultivation of personal moral character, he lodged deep feelings in the orchid. In the book Kongzi Jiayu (The School Sayings of Confucius), collected and compiled by Wang Su of the Wei dynasty of the Three Kingdoms period, a much-told anecdote of Confucius praising the orchid is recorded.
"Confucius said: 'After my death, Shang will improve day by day, while Ci will decline day by day.' Zengzi said: 'What do you mean?' The Master said: 'Shang likes to associate with those better than himself, while Ci likes to associate with those not as good as himself. If you do not know a son, look at his father; hence the conclusion "a gentleman must be careful about where he places himself." From then on, "the chamber of iris and orchid" became a byword for a good environment and an idiom praising the orchid.
The Kongzi Jiayu also excerpts another passage of Confucius: "The iris and orchid grow in deep valleys, and do not cease to be fragrant because no one is there; the gentleman cultivates the Way and establishes virtue, and does not change his integrity because of poverty and hardship." This was a passage in which Confucius answered Zilu. At that time King Zhao of Chu invited Confucius, and Confucius, accepting the invitation, set out and was caught between Chen and Cai. "The great officers of Chen and Cai plotted together, saying: Confucius is a sage; whatever he criticizes always hits the ailments of the feudal lords. If he is employed by Chu, then Chen and Cai will be in danger." So they sent troops to surround Confucius, "and Confucius could not proceed. He went without food for seven days, with no communication from outside, and not even wild vegetable soup to fill them; his followers all fell ill, yet Confucius lectured all the more fervently, and his singing to the zither did not cease." At this point Zilu said: "I have heard that Heaven rewards those who do good with blessings, and visits those who do evil with calamity. Now you, Master, have accumulated virtue and embraced righteousness, and have practiced it in person for a long time - why should you be reduced to such poverty?" Thereupon Confucius enumerated the worthy and virtuous men of history - Bo Yi and Shu Qi, Prince Bi Gan, Wu Zixu, and others - who in the end met with misfortune, explaining that "whether one meets the right time or not is a matter of timing; whether one is worthy or unworthy is a matter of talent; gentlemen of broad learning and deep planning who do not meet the right time are many - why should it be I alone?" He also cited the iris and orchid, which "do not cease to be fragrant because no one is there," as a vivid metaphor to demonstrate the view that "a gentleman does not change his integrity because of poverty and hardship."
Goujian Plants Orchids
The place where Goujian planted orchids - Lanzhu Mountain, a small hill on the south face twenty-five li from the city, facing the ancient Jian Lake to the east and backed by Kuaiji Mountain to the west - was indeed a good place for growing orchids. From the pottery unearthed from the Hemudu cultural layer in Yuyao, it can be determined that the awareness and technique of potted plants already existed at that time; in the Yue state 4000 years later, it can be confidently affirmed that King Goujian of Yue planted orchids at Zhushan. Goujian's orchid planting had not only motive but also technical guarantee.
Regarding Goujian planting orchids at Zhushan, there are many records in history. Besides the Baoqing Xu Kuaiji Zhi, for example, the Shaoxing Fuzhi from the Wanli period of the Ming dynasty records: Lanzhu Mountain, there is a plant there, with long leaves and white flowers, the flower has a national fragrance, its name is orchid, planted by Goujian. The Ming scholar Nan Fengji, annotating Wang Shipeng's Kuaiji Fengsu Fu, also said: Lanting is Lanzhu. The Yue Jue Shu says: Goujian planted orchids at Zhushan. The Ming scholar Xu Wei also mentioned in his Lange Ge that Goujian planted orchids and must have chosen the site, and that Lanzhu today is that place. The Shaoxing Dizhi Shulue records: Lanzhu Mountain, twenty-seven li south of the city, where Goujian planted orchids. Because Goujian planted orchids at Zhushan, later generations named Zhushan Lanzhu Mountain, named the market below Lanzhu Mountain Flower Street, and named the post station below Lanzhu Mountain Lanting.
Qu Yuan Wears the Orchid
Qu Yuan (c. 340 - early 278 BCE), a great poet of the Warring States period. Personal name Ping, courtesy name Yuan, style name Lingjun, also known as Zhengze. A native of the state of Chu. The Shiji: Biographies of Qu Yuan says of him: "Broadly learned and strong in memory, clear about the principles of order and disorder, skilled in speech." But his political views met with fierce opposition from the old bureaucratic aristocracy, and King Huai of Chu, on whom he relied, was muddled and incompetent, unable to distinguish the loyal from the treacherous. As a result, he believed slander and grew angry with Qu Yuan and exiled him. By the time of King Qingxiang of Chu, Qu Yuan suffered even greater misfortune, being long exiled to the Yuan and Xiang region. Qu Yuan met with poverty and hardship, but his will did not change, and his conduct became even more upright: "I cannot change my heart and follow the vulgar crowd - I would rather suffer sorrow and end in poverty!" He expressed this loyalty to his lord and love for his country, this desire to save the times and help the world, through many fragrant flowers and rare plants, stirring emotion through things and lodging his will in objects, and he made new developments in this technique of comparison and evocation, thus blending object and self, feeling and scene into one, fused in a single furnace, thereby greatly expanding the realm and expressive power of poetry. In selecting fragrant flowers and rare plants, Qu Yuan especially chose the orchid, and so in many poems of Li Sao, Jiu Ge, and Jiu Zhang, he writes of how he cultivated orchids, wore orchids, strung orchids, plucked orchids, and cut orchids. He placed boundless hope in the orchid: "I had already cultivated nine wan of orchids, and also planted a hundred mu of hui... when the branches and leaves are tall and lush, I wish to wait for the time to cut them." He took the orchid as a friend, treating it as a kindred spirit: "The time grows dim and is about to end; I tie the secluded orchid and linger." He took the orchid as an ornament, expressing his own pure and self-respecting character: "I wear the river angelica and the bi zhi, and string the autumn orchid to wear as a pendant." He also worried that the orchid would wither in the autumn wind and cold dew and follow the vulgar crowd, changing its integrity and losing its fragrance: "The times are chaotic and ever-changing - how can one stay long? The orchid and zhi have changed and lost their fragrance; the quan and pu have turned into weeds." The above are only a few examples of the orchid cited in Li Sao, showing how deeply Qu Yuan loved the orchid, praised it, lodged his feelings in it, and used it to remonstrate - here the orchid is not a simple metaphor or a thing that stirs emotion, but a symbol, an embodiment, a pursuit of spirit and character.
Zheng Sixiao's Paintings
Zheng Sixiao (1241-1318), a poet and painter of the late Song and early Yuan, a native of Lianjiang (present-day Fujian). His original name is unknown; after the fall of the Song he changed his name to Sixiao, because the character "Xiao" is a component of Zhao, the national surname of the Song dynasty. His courtesy name was Yiweng, meaning he did not forget his old country; his style name was Suonan. In the Yuan dynasty, Zheng Suonan (that is, Zheng Sixiao) was most famous for painting orchids, and his implied meaning was also the most explicit. After the fall of the Zhao Song regime, it is said that he would sit and lie facing south, to show his longing for the former dynasty and his shame at serving as a subject of the Yuan dynasty; the orchids he painted never included soil or roots, as if floating in the air. When people asked him about it, he said: "The land has been seized by the foreigners - do you not know?" Or he would answer: "The national territory has already been seized by the foreigners - how could I be willing to touch the ground?"
After the fall of the Song, Zheng Suonan vowed not to associate with northerners. People knew he was eccentric and did not find it strange. He lived in seclusion in Wuxia, with several tens of mu of land, which he lodged with the Baoguo Temple south of the city, using the annual income from the land to fund ancestral sacrifices at the temple. On memorial days he would wail greatly below the temple, and the master also lodged and boarded at the temple. His room was bare and quiet, and he always sat facing south. When the powerful and noble sought his orchids, he was especially reluctant to give them. But to ordinary people and children who somewhat understood his meaning, he would instead give them. When the county magistrate sought them and could not get them, knowing he had land, he threatened him with taxes and corvee labor to obtain them. The master angrily said: "My head may be cut off, but the orchids cannot be painted!" On seasonal and year-end sacrifice days, he would weep toward the southern fields and bow twice. He delighted in Buddhist and Daoist teachings, was skilled at painting orchids, with sparse flowers and simple leaves, not seeking great refinement. Once finished he would destroy them, not giving them out carelessly, and so the orchids he painted that survive are extremely few; today only one, the Ink Orchid, remains, kept in the Osaka Municipal Museum of Art in Japan.
Zheng Banqiao's Paintings
Zheng Banqiao was an outstanding representative of the "Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou," and especially a master of a generation in painting orchids, bamboo, and flowers.
Historically it is said that "Banqiao had three excellences: painting, poetry, and calligraphy; and among the three excellences there were again three truths: true spirit, true meaning, and true delight." His calligraphy formed a style of its own, half clerical and half regular script, called "six-and-a-half-point script," with a charm of crisscrossing strokes, lean and rugged, strangely steep. His poetry reflected life, said something substantive, and had the qualities of being vivid and accessible. Pairing such poetry and calligraphy with his orchid paintings made his paintings all the more interesting and full of true spirit. His "three truths" were the expression of his inner heart, concentratedly showing his sympathy for the sufferings of the people. He said: among all people between heaven and earth, the first class is only the farmers... they all labor their bodies and exert their strength, plowing, planting, and harvesting, to feed the people of the world. If there were no farmers in the world, everyone in the world would starve to death. Therefore his painting of orchids was precisely to express this sincere and intense feeling of "treating all people as one's own and all things as companions." He said: "Whenever I paint orchids and paint stones, it is to comfort the laborers of the world, not to serve those who sit at ease and enjoy themselves." With such a breadth of mind, his paintings possessed the "three truths."
Banqiao liked to paint potted orchids, and also often painted orchids on cliffs and orchids among thorns. Among Banqiao's orchid paintings, the most numerous and most evocative are the pictures of orchid, bamboo, and stone. This was of course the tradition of ancient orchid painting and a characteristic of the "Eight Eccentrics'" flower painting, but it was also his creation and his outstanding achievement. In his orchid and bamboo paintings he often added stones, believing that "one bamboo, one orchid, one stone - there is integrity, there is fragrance, there is bone," and "orchid, bamboo, and stone appear in succession; the great gentleman cannot do without them."
Banqiao's orchid, bamboo, and stone paintings reached the peak of perfection, and his inscription poems played the role of adding the finishing touch, such as: "Half green mountain, half bamboo, half green shade, half jade. I ask you, when the tea is brewed and you wake from sleep, facing this it is just like being in a stone house." "A patch of green mountain, a patch of orchid; the orchid's fragrance and bamboo's greenness are pleasing to behold. Dongting and Yunmeng stretch three thousand li; filled with spring wind, one does not feel the cold." "On the stone spreads the orchid and further spreads the bamboo; a beauty accompanies them in the secluded valley. I ask, from where does the east wind blow? It blows into the Xiang waves, a river of green."
Lu Xun Gathers Orchids
Several generations of Lu Xun's family loved orchids. On November 14, 1933, Lu Xun, in a letter to Yamamoto Hatsuko, mentioned that "my great-grandfather once cultivated many orchids and even specially built three rooms for this purpose." On March 18, 1911, Lu Xun, along with Zhou Jianren and Wang Hezhao, went to visit the mausoleum of Yu the Great at the foot of Kuaiji Mountain. Before setting out, Lu Xun had prepared two painted tin buckets and a copper [tool] and told everyone to bring them. Upon reaching the mausoleum of Yu the Great, they toured the Yu Temple and the Bianshi Pavilion, then went up Kuaiji Mountain to gather orchids. Later, Lu Xun wrote up the experience of this mountain trip as Xinhai Youlu (Record of an Excursion in the Xinhai Year), published in the first issue of the Yueshe Congkan in February 1912, signed "Qiaofeng, Zhou Jianren of Kuaiji."
Regarding that orchid-gathering on Kuaiji Mountain, Zhou Jianren often brought it up in his later years: "After the eldest (Lu Xun) gathered the 'one-leaf orchid,' he was extremely excited and said to me: 'Old Third, our trip was truly not in vain!' Back home, we carefully potted the orchids. Later, when the eldest was invited by Mr. Cai Yuanpei to take up a post in Beijing, at first he wanted to take the orchids with him, but in the end did not take them because the journey was so far. Before leaving, he especially instructed me to take good care of these pots of orchids. Soon after, I too was hired to teach at a school and rarely went home, and in the end the 'one-leaf orchid' died. To keep the eldest from being pained, I never told him the news."
In the late 1920s, Lu Xun moved to Shanghai. Around the time of Jingzhe each year, when people passed by Lu Xun's residence, the subtle fragrance of orchids would greet them. In Shanghai he also became acquainted with the Japanese orchid enthusiast Obara Eijiro. Obara ran a shop in Tokyo called "Keikado" dealing in Chinese curios, and also engaged in the orchid trade. Before the War of Resistance, Obara Eijiro had visited Hangzhou, Shaoxing, Shanghai, Suzhou, Wuxi, and other places many times to collect Chinese spring orchids. He was on old terms with Zhu Zhangfu, Wang Shuping, and others, and once wanted to invite Zhu Zhangfu to Japan to grow orchids. He authored the Lan Hua Pu (Orchid Spectrum). In 1931, when the Kuomintang suppressed the writers of the Left-wing League, Lu Xun took refuge in the Japanese-run Garden Villa inn. It happened that Obara was about to return home with orchids, and, moved by the scene, using the matter of a friend carrying orchids back east, he expressed his feelings through the orchid:
Pepper is burned and cinnamon broken, the beauty grows old; alone it leans on the secluded cliff and displays its pure heart.
Why grudge its fragrance left to those far away? In my native place, as if drunk, there are thorns and brambles.
Zhu De Loves Orchids
Throughout his life Zhu De had a special fondness for orchids. Whether in wartime or in peacetime, his love for orchids remained constant. Orchids not only brought great pleasure to Zhu De's life, but also let people see his side full of zest for life and delicate feeling.
As early as his early years in the army in Yunnan, Zhu De had already begun to like orchids. In the intervals between marching and fighting, he often gathered orchids everywhere and transplanted them to admire, thereby accumulating some knowledge about orchid varieties and cultivation.
In 1928, Zhu De led the troops of the Nanchang Uprising and the troops of the Autumn Harvest Uprising led by Mao Zedong in a victorious meeting at Jinggangshan. The mountains southeast of Ciping in Jinggangshan abound in all kinds of orchids, especially the Jinggang orchid, and the place is called "Orchid Flat." Seeing wild orchids again after many years, Zhu De was extraordinarily excited; he often went into the mountains in his leisure to seek and admire flowers, and when he came upon rare specimens he would gather them and cultivate them carefully. The story of Zhu De's love of orchids spread widely among the people of Jinggangshan, leaving the much-told tale that "in those years Commander Zhu introduced orchids, and their fragrance drifted eight hundred li along the Hunan-Jiangxi border," and it was even woven into a red ballad sung: "Commander Zhu drew up the waters of the Xiang River and watered the Jinggang orchids into bloom."
Far from the era of war flames, Zhu De had the conditions to study orchids seriously. Whenever he went out on inspection, as long as the locality produced orchids and he had leisure, he would always go with great interest to parks or the wild to seek orchids, and when he came upon good varieties he would bring them back to Beijing and cultivate them carefully. If he encountered a flower exhibition, he would certainly not miss it. His footprints covered almost all the main orchid-producing regions - Jiangsu and Zhejiang, Fujian and Jiangxi, Guangdong and Guangxi, Sichuan and Guizhou, and Hainan Island. It is said that in February 1961, when he visited Gushan in Fuzhou, passing an old tree, he looked up and said there were orchids in the tree, and everyone was half doubtful. So someone climbed the tree to look, and indeed gathered a bunch of orchids from the tree.
Under Zhu De's both scientific and careful care, the several thousand pots of rare orchids kept in Zhu De's home grew well, yet he was not satisfied with this; he often gave away the orchids he had carefully cultivated to others or to landscaping departments, sharing the fragrance and beauty of the orchids with everyone. Beginning in 1961, he sent people specially to give more than 160 pots of orchids suitable for cultivation in subtropical regions, in three batches, to the Du Fu Thatched Cottage in Chengdu. Many of the orchids in Beijing's Zhongshan Park were given by Zhu De. According to the recollection of an old gardener at the park: "Old General Zhu often gave us orchids, such as Hainan Island's 'Haiyan Qifei,' Guangdong's ink orchid, 'Yuchen Dagong,' 'Yinbian Dagong,' 'Jinsi Mawei,' Sichuan's multi-flowered orchid, Xiahui, 'Longchang Su,' 'Heqi Lüyi,' Jiangsu and Zhejiang's 'Quzhou Su,' Yunnan's 'Dahong She,' and autumn orchids, etc." In addition, Zhu De also gave the orchid-related books he had collected to landscaping departments, encouraging them to study earnestly and improve cultivation techniques.
Orchids added much charm to Zhu De's life. Whenever he saw orchids blooming in rivalry, each striving to be the most beautiful, or discovered new orchid varieties, Zhu De would often be stirred to poetic inspiration. On March 3, 1961, when Zhu De visited the orchid garden in Yuexiu Park in Guangzhou, he improvised the poem "Visiting Yuexiu Park": "In Yuexiu Park's grove of flowers and trees, a hundred blooms all vie for spring. Only the orchid's fragrance is just right, prized for a time in the city of Five Rams." In the late autumn of the same year, Zhu De once composed a seven-character quatrain to describe the pleasure he gained from his diligent labor: "The secluded orchid, graceful, waits for winter to bloom; green leaves, lush, reflect on the painted terrace. Just opening, red blossoms with pearl dew falling; fragrance fills ten paces, coming out from the courtyard."
On January 1, 1962, Zhu De visited the orchid exhibition at Beijing's Zhongshan Park and composed the poem "Praising the Orchid Exhibition": "Spring comes, purple air rises in the east; all things grow and together shine forth. The secluded orchid newly displayed in the new city; everyone praises the national fragrance. The secluded orchid puts forth its beauty beneath the tall forest, yet still coils its roots beside the common grass. Even if no one comes to admire it, it still, where it stands, holds its own fragrance." Its last four lines were later printed on the souvenir sheet of the special stamp "Chinese Orchids" issued on December 25, 1988.
In 1963, during a visit to the Du Fu Thatched Cottage in Chengdu, Zhu De composed more than 10 poems under the title "Spring Inspirations at the Thatched Cottage," among which one praises the orchid: "The secluded orchid comes out of the valley, weak and slender; moved to the Thatched Cottage, it is willing to bow. Though its fragrant bearing does not understand intention, accompanying the Ministry of Works it puts forth new shoots."
On April 20, 1963, during an inspection in Sichuan, Zhu De went to Shishun Peak on Mount Emei to seek orchids, and with his own hands planted the orchids he gathered into pots, saying to the accompanying staff: "The ancients said that bamboo has integrity but no flowers, plum has flowers but no leaves, pine has leaves but no fragrance; only the orchid has leaves, flowers, and fragrance. Please take good care of these few pots of orchids for me; in the future I will come to Emei again, and I will come to see these orchids again." And he improvised a lyric to the tune "Yingwu Qu - Gathering Orchids at Shishun Peak": "On Mount Emei I lodge as karma allows; in the secluded valley of Shishun I become an immortal father. Pine and bamboo, friends, always shine upon each other, together enduring mist, clouds, wind, and rain. The accomplished man, knowing me, comes to visit and seek; my vow follows you as you go forth. If I may be offered as the national fragrance, an imperishable fragrant name will remain everywhere."
In his lifetime Zhu De composed about 40 poems praising orchids. These poems truly reflect what Zhu De felt and realized in the course of seeking, cultivating, and admiring orchids, and are full of Zhu De's praise and love for orchids. In Zhu De's view, growing orchids had many uses. On February 6, 1961, Zhu De visited Fuzhou West Lake Park, and when he reached the orchid nursery, he said to Chen Shizhang of the Fuzhou Municipal Landscaping Administration: "The Liuxiang Ravine on Mount Wuyi produces many orchids; they should be widely collected and propagated in large quantities as export materials, which can both take part in international cultural exchange and enrich the contents of orchid catalogs." On January 1, 1963, while inspecting the South China Botanical Garden, he again said to the head of the garden: "Do not look down on orchids; orchids can be exported. We should plant orchids widely and earn more foreign exchange." At a time when China's industrial level was backward and its export capacity limited, developing the cultivation of flowers such as orchids could indeed serve as a way to increase exports and earn foreign exchange.
The orchid is a traditional famous flower of our country. It is dignified and plainly elegant, simple and noble, tenacious and resolute, and is highly esteemed by people; together with plum, bamboo, and chrysanthemum it is called one of the "Four Gentlemen." The noble character of the orchid is precisely what Zhu De greatly valued, esteemed, and required of himself. Throughout his life he strove with unwavering purpose for the pursuit and practice of truth; he was modest and prudent, approachable and amiable; he was indifferent to fame and gain and broad-minded - just like that simple and noble orchid, fragrant for long ages!
The Flower Language of the Orchid
The flower language, symbolism, and representative meaning of the orchid are: indifference to fame and gain, and elegance. There are many varieties of orchids; according to incomplete statistics, there are more than 20,000 orchid varieties in the world, among which the more famous are the Phalaenopsis, the orchid, and the cymbidium, etc. In fact, each has its own flower language, but the general flower language of the orchid is indifference to fame and gain, and elegance. [8]
Violet: everlasting beauty
Freesia: pure, innocent
Cattleya: noble lady
Phalaenopsis: happiness gradually arriving
Oncidium: hidden love
Gladiolus: elegance, longevity, peace and health
Orchid flower language: indifference to fame and gain, elegance, beauty, nobility, virtue
Orchid Pictures
How to Grow Cymbidium sinense at Home; How to Propagate Cymbidium sinense
Cymbidium sinense is a strongly fragrant flower, an excellent ornamental potted plant in the home, and many people grow it. So it is still necessary to understand relevant knowledge about Cymbidium sinense from many aspects. So, how do you grow Cymbidium sinense? How do you propagate it? Below, we introduce the relevant knowledge about growing and propagating Cymbidium sinense.
How to Grow Cymbidium sinense at Home
1. The commonly used substrate for potted Cymbidium sinense is decomposed bark blocks, peat soil, and leaf mold. When watering, pay attention to cleanliness and avoid spraying directly with tap water. In midsummer, water once a day; in winter, once every 4-5 days. Room temperature should not be too high, otherwise it is prone to disease in spring. During the growing period, fertilize once a month; in autumn prevent drought; in winter the potting soil should not be too wet. In August-September, take the relatively large clumps of Cymbidium sinense out of the pot and divide them into clumps of 3-4 pseudobulbs per pot.
2. After buying bare-root Cymbidium sinense seedlings, first soak them in clean water until the shrunken fleshy roots are plump with no wrinkles, then wash the roots clean and cut off the rotten roots; dry them until the roots turn white and are slightly soft, then plant them in Cymbidium sinense mud or waste from edible fungus culture substrate or coal stove ash plus leaf mold. The potting soil can also be dug from mountain areas under trees or among stone crevices, from soil weathered over many years, then mixed with river sand to facilitate ventilation and drainage and ensure it does not compact. The culture soil must all be disinfected; it can be sun-dried for three or four days, or disinfected by heating in a pot. When potting, avoid deep planting; it is best for the pseudobulbs to be exposed 2/3 above the soil surface. After planting Cymbidium sinense, do not water immediately; place it in a shady spot for two days, then water thoroughly; plant about 10 plants per pot.
3. "Air" is the very lifeblood of the orchid; whether above ground or below ground, all parts need ventilation. Place a 3 cm thick layer of charcoal or sand and gravel at the bottom of the pot. Keep the potting soil loose; do not water too much; it is better to spray the leaf surfaces and the ground more to increase air humidity. From May to October, pay attention to shading; do not let direct sunlight hit it, but it may receive more morning light. Especially during the flower bud differentiation period, that is, six or seven months before Cymbidium sinense blooms, it should be placed on a windowsill or balcony to receive sunlight, to promote flower bud differentiation. After Cymbidium sinense grows new leaves, apply a thin liquid fertilizer mainly of phosphorus and potassium once a month, and apply one additional time after the flowers fade. Remember: if the leaves of Cymbidium sinense appear yellow and thin, it is a lack of fertilizer. If the leaves appear dark green and the leaf tips are scorched, it is too much fertilizer.
Propagation Methods of Cymbidium sinense
(1) Division propagation.
This method is simple and reliable to operate, blooms soon after division, and can preserve the original characteristics of the variety. It is a propagation method of dividing the pseudobulbs of a clustered orchid, separating them into single ones or groups of 2-3, and planting them independently, to achieve the purpose of multiplication. Division propagation of orchids is best done during the dormant period, that is, before the new buds emerge from the soil and before the new roots grow, or during the dormant period after flowering. The separated orchid plants should be inspected and have rotten roots and dead leaves cut off. For the disinfection method, a 800-1000 times solution of 70% thiophanate-methyl can be used to soak the orchid plant roots for 10-15 min; after soaking, dry them slightly, and then they can be replanted.
Although division propagation is simple and easy to carry out and can preserve the inherent characteristics of the variety, allowing many rare varieties to be preserved, the multiplication coefficient of division is, after all, small, and it is hard to meet the needs of large-scale production and the market. Therefore, we must explore more scientific and more advanced propagation methods. Tissue culture propagation of orchids is a more advanced propagation method that can meet the needs of production and the market.
(2) Tissue culture.
Tissue culture is an advanced science and technology developed on the basis of cell theory and the theory of plant cell totipotency. At present it is being continuously promoted in forest tree propagation. According to relevant statistical analysis, tissue culture propagation of herbaceous plants is easier than that of woody plants, and the success rate is also greater. Orchid tissue culture propagation is an advanced method of propagating orchids using advanced equipment and modern science and technology.
Orchids propagated by tissue culture have strong resistance, few pests and diseases, and a high survival rate, and can be produced in batches. Over the past 20 years, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Beijing, Kunming, and South China Botanical Research Institutes, the Shanghai Institute of Landscape Architecture, the Sichuan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, and other domestic research institutions have all carried out this work, achieving progress to varying degrees and obtaining meristematic asexual seedlings of Cymbidium goeringii, Cymbidium ensifolium, Cymbidium sinense, and others. For tropical orchids, in Taiwan, China, automated control, factory production, tissue culture rapid propagation, and new variety selection and breeding are all on a certain scale.
The above is the relevant knowledge about growing and propagating Cymbidium sinense introduced for everyone. Is everyone clear now? For more home knowledge, please pay attention.