Orchids growing in Vietnam.

There are more than 700 orchid species found in Vietnam. At present (2006), only a small number of large companies, including foreign-invested ones, cultivate orchids in the Central Highlands city of Da Lat, Saigon and the Mekong Delta provinces, with growing area of about 50-60 hectares each. With suitable climate, Vietnam is likely to become a major orchid producer in Southeast Asia in the near future.

Dendrobium, Mokara, Phalaenopsis, Cattleya and some other tropical orchids can be grown easily in the warm weather of South Vietnam. Other orchids, such as Cymbidium, Paphiopedilum thrive in cooler area like Da Lat or some Northern provinces of Vietnam.

Many orchids growing commercially in Vietnam are hybrids. If you want to see Vietnamese orchid species, you need to visit some private collectors in Saigon, Da Lat or Hanoi. A nursery located in Thu-Duc (a suburb of Saigon city), owned by a former South Vietnamese General, has many wild Vietnamese orchids.