What kind of root of orchid is dragon root?

The "dragon root" and "dragon root seedling" in orchids can be divided into true and false. The so-called "dragon root seedling" is actually formed by seed germination, which is also called "real seedling". As we all know, the seeds of orchids are very small, many and light. After the orchid capsule matured and split, the seeds were scattered in the original place where she raised her. In the event of the wind, some of these gentle seeds flutter with the wind, leave their homes, fly away, and scattered in other places. The landing place is suitable for orchid growth of hillside stone wall, mountain woodland, mountain stream canyon, where some scattered seeds take root, sprout, long leaves, settle down and thrive. In nature, after the orchid seeds germinate, the "dragon root" is first formed in the soil. This "dragon root" is not the root of the orchid, but the rhizome of the orchid. When the "dragon root" grows to the soil surface, its top expands to form a small pseudo-bulb, which takes root downward, grows leaves upward, and grows into seedlings. This kind of orchid seedling with "dragon root" is called "seedling", commonly known as "dragon root seedling", also known as "dragon root seed seedling". Generally speaking, the dragon root has only the primary plant, while the secondary bud has no dragon root.

The dragon root is small and dense, the internodes are short and crisp, there are many nodes and internodes, each node has a dormant bud, each dormant bud may sprout a new seedling. Generally speaking, the life span of a dragon root is about 2 years. After the small seedling grows and the Reed head is formed, the dragon egg falls off on its own, and the dragon egg no longer comes back. The original dragon root will leave papillae for a long time after decay, and the traces of the dragon root are vaguely discernible.

There are two cases of true dragon root and dragon root seedling: one is the dragon root seedling germinated by a single seed. In nature, most of this kind of dragon root is the young and weak seedling of a single seedling, and each plant has only one dragon root, which is vertical or nearly vertical under the bud. In the mountains, most of the young single orchid seedlings belong to this kind of dragon root seedlings, and sometimes dozens of such dragon root seedlings can be collected at a time up the mountain. This kind of dragon root seedling is weak and laborious in management, and it is not easy to see flowers for 5-8 years. The second is ginger-shaped dragon root. Ginger-shaped dragon root, also known as massive dragon root, shaped like ginger, also like coral, orchid plant grows from the tuber. The ginger dragon root may be due to the fact that tens of thousands of seed particles sprouted densely at the same time after the orchid capsule fell to the ground, intertwined into tubers. This ginger-shaped dragon root sprouts sometimes several or even dozens of seedlings grow together.

It has been suggested that dragon root seedlings are easy to produce new varieties of variation, with a probability of about 1.4%, and in the evaluation of dragon root, it is said that the length of dragon root is superior to the elderly, the short is inferior, the short Internode is better, and the Internode length is inferior. The more weird the dragon root, the better. Whether these views can be established or not needs to be further verified.

About the formation of false dragon root seedlings. In general, the pseudobulbs of orchids are clustered together, and there is a short underground stem where they are connected. During the growth of this underground stem in nature, for some reason, if the soil is buried too deep or is pressed by large rocks, the growth is restrained, endangering the survival of orchid clumps, a longer bamboo root (false dragon root) will sprout all the way to the appropriate place to form new buds, roots and leaves, and form new pseudo-bulbs. this bamboo-like underground stem is also commonly known as "dragon root". The growing plant is also called "dragon root seedling". The dragon root that Taiwan's Orchid Jie calls "digging three feet into the ground is hard to find" may refer to the dragon root that this kind of orchid plant is deeply buried in the soil. Some people say that for domestic orchid plants, due to improper planting, false bulbs are buried too deep in pot soil, resulting in a similar situation. And put forward this kind of "dragon root seedling" variation is more, this point of view also needs to be confirmed by orchid friends.

In recent years, under the influence of the theory that dragon root seedlings are easy to produce new varieties, many people, driven by profits or eager to seek better varieties, blindly purchase or go up the mountain to dig dragon root seeds to produce seedlings, resulting in destructive destruction of orchid resources. It is true that the Han Kuang and Wan Daifu in Taiwan's New year Orchid inscriptions are cultivated from the dragon root seedlings. It is an indisputable fact that the double-petal strange flower of Orchid has the characteristics of strange root, strange nail, strange leaf, dragon root, three-sided thorn, and so on. In fact, it is possible for dragon root seedlings to produce leaves and flowers, but this is only a possibility. Because the inscription is a very rare thing. It is "strange flowers have characteristics, but those with characteristics do not necessarily bloom strange flowers". "Dragon Root" is only one of the characteristics of Jiapin Orchid, but not all dragon root seedlings with dragon root will produce Jiapin frequently.