How to find good orchids in the mountains? Sharing practical methods
To collect orchids and good orchids, you must pay attention to the following points:
One, look at the mountain. If you see many Chinese fir trees, many moso bamboos, or planted forests, or severe cutting and clearing, do not enter this mountain. Orchids are also very rare on mountains where cattle and sheep have been.
Two, enter the mountain. Mountains and water are connected; if the mountain has broadleaf forest and moso bamboo, with trees and bamboo growing well and rarely damaged, low grass and trees not dense, and a large water channel running through the mountain, you can enter this mountain.
Three, direction. When entering the mountain, remember the direction the sun rises. No matter which mountain you go around to, remember that east-facing mountain hollows generally have many orchids. Of course, there are also special cases.
Four, orchid location. Cymbidium kanran generally grows in relatively close-to-water, moister places, near the middle of the mountain, but it also grows near the top area, and also on slopes or on slopes that are relatively spacious and flat. Cymbidium goeringii generally grows between the middle and top of the mountain, in drier places, and on higher mountain terrain. Cymbidium ensifolium is more flexible, and Cymbidium faberi is similar to where Cymbidium goeringii is found.
Six, good orchids. Once you find a patch of orchids, there is often one fine specimen, so you must search carefully. Do not overlook under dead trees or among grass and leaves. Those growing under large trees, with roots tangled with tree roots, may have distinctive features. Those growing under or near cliffs often include fine specimens. Fine specimens are also often hidden in gloomy, rather damp places. Good orchids are also often found in rather dangerous places with snakes and the like.
Seven, feeling. Encountering a good orchid is also often related to feeling, which seems to be fate. What you seek comes effortlessly, but it can only be sensed, not explained.
However, in practice I have found that orchid growth is also greatly related to the mountains and water, terrain, climate, forests, and so on of each place. It is not a formula that can be applied universally. Only by relying on experience plus feeling can you get twice the result with half the effort.
In addition, I have found that after finding a good orchid in a certain place, it is almost impossible to make the dream come true again. Perhaps this is Heaven's will: a good orchid can only grow a little in one place, and when there is more, it loses its value. After I dug up good orchids such as golden-edged golden-striped, silver-edged silver-striped, silver-striped, scape-on-scape, Crystal Dragon, dwarf Cymbidium ensifolium, and Big Rich (round-tipped broad-leaved dwarf Cymbidium kanran), I revisited the old spots repeatedly, hoping good things would come in pairs, but the result was futile.