Another Orchid Group Buy
Yeah, I had new additions to my orchid collections. I’ve decided that’s it for this year. I have to grow them well and nurture them to bloom before I buy another one. I joined a WeChat group where the group leader organized a pre-order from one of the orchid show vendors. There are pros and cons to this way of buying orchids. The good thing is I have enough time to research every single item on the vendor’s catalog, and determine if my home environment is suitable for the orchid’s culture; and the price is very reasonable because we get a group buy discount. The down side is you don’t know the condition of plants you’ll be receiving. Some of them come with flower spikes, but some of them seem a little bit on the weaker side. Although vendor allows for exchange or refund, you spent all those time researching and falling in love with the orchids you ordered, it’s hard to let them go some times.
I ordered 6 plants this time:
Luckily, 2 cymbidium sinense come in with flower spikes: Jin Niao 金鸟, and Fu Cui 馥翠. Oh gosh, cymbidum sinense flowers just smell so nice. My entire dining room is filled with this light pleasant fragrance.
Cattleya Cariads Mini-Quinee Angel Kiss:
Dendrobium King Zip ‘Red Splash’:
Last but not the least, Cymbidium Goeringii Song Mei 宋梅: this plant is somewhat weaker than other orchids.
Hopefully, I can grow them well and see them bloom one day!
Cymbidium goeringii 宋梅 Songmei (Ch reading) Soubai (Japanese reading) is a classic/traditional Spring orchid variety (春蘭品種). it has green round/plum flower petals (梅弁. It looks like a medium to large seedling, which means that it will take 2-3 years to bloom. Of course, it is the weakest of all the Asian Cymbidium orchids you received. Cymbidium goeringii is the most difficult Asian Cymbidiums to grow and to bloom. Your Cymbidium goeringii is potted to high and it is in the wrong mix. You won’t do well in an apartment, it is too dry, needs high humidty all year round (50%-70%). Asian Cymbidiums such as C. ensifolium and C. sinense can be forgiving if you don’t have the humidity and they are generally more forgiving to conditions. For C. goeringii, if you don’t have the specific conditions it requires, it will decline very quickly. If you need to know how to grow, you can always contact me…..
Also, I noticed the label is wrong. Cymbidium goeringii songmei is Chinese Cymbidium from Mainland China, not from Taiwan. The correct name for Cymbidium goeringii songmei is Cymbidium goeringii variation goeringii, cultivar Songmei. Cymbidium goeringii var. goeringii songmei will require winter temp between 4C-14C with at least 50% humidity, anything higher than this temp, it won’t be happy and the flower buds will blast (turn brown and die(.
The scientific name of Taiwanese Cymbidium goerinigii (Taiwanese Spring orchid 台湾春蘭）is Cymbidium goeringii variation formosanum. Cymbidium goeringii var. formosanum can tolerate a warmer temperature in the winter (can grow between 10-15C in the winter and it is considered a “warm” growing Cymbidium goeringii. I hope you purchased the correct Cymbidium goeringii and good luck growing it 🙂