propagating orchids

Hello, can anyone get a novice like me started on propagating and caring for orchids, I have received 2 for my birthday and I think they are absolutely fascinating.

 

How exciting for you Jill on of my freinds also go orchids in a gift and is hoping to propagate I shall have a chat when next I see her.

They are so beautiful if you study them long enough its amazing what you think you are seeign can see see faces dancers monekeys you name it.

We got a slide show of orchids at our Fuchsia club last month so spectacular.

On my wish list .

 

I got one in the same way a few years ago. Like you I had to do a bit of research and found that some are quite easy to grow..

Have a look in here http://tinyurl.com/yx3bqv Click on the thumbnail and you will see the one I grew.

 

Hi Jill
Orchids should really be grown in a clear or semi clear pot as this lets light in which in turn encourages important bacterias etc that th e roots love. Havins said that the one i have is in a standard pot & seems to do well
Orchids also often tend to look pot bound but don't be tempted to re-pot. they love having their roots crammed & constrained.
I've had mine for about 2 years now, no special treatment just water & deadheading, it flowers regularly.

 

orchids reproduce in a peculiar way: they produce some capsules which contains something like 10.000 to a few millions seeds that can only develop in the presence of a particular substance which is found in nature and it is artificially produced in laboratories.
Only one of many seeds springs up and the flowers will come after 4 to 12 years.

Orchids need:
1 - a lot of light
2 - watering only if necessary and never for too long
3 - very diluted fertilizer, more than double the usual proportions
4 - high humidity in the air (50, 60%)


If there is not enough light, the plants will be floppy, with elonged dark green leaves and without flowers.
If the light is too much, the leaves will be yellowish, sometimes presenting some darker areas


Some Himalayan varieties such as:"Cymbidium, Pleione and some Dendrobium (HELLO)" and some South American varieties are used to cold winters, therefore resist well the cold.

 

One of the leading group of people in propagting Orchids is a school near Bristol )I think they are) They use tissue culture to propagate they & then they re-introduce them back to the rain forests.

If you do a google search, I'm sure they must have a site somewhere & I guess they will be only too pleased to talk you thru the process.

Nick

 

Hello to you too, Miraflores! :D

I too find orchids fascinating, and decided to call myself this name as I was given a dendrobium last Christmas, and had a bit of difficulty remembering its name - not now though!

I've always understood that propagation is a lab technique - has anyone tried it?, which seems to be borne out by your reply, Nick (Hi, and welcome!). Is that the case, or is it just that the Bristol people are doing this as a more efficient and clinical way?

 

It's not the only way, but it is the quickest as they can propogate a lot from tissue culture quickly.

If you do get some flowers pollenated it takes a few months for the "seed pod" to form & then as Miraflores said you need the presence of a beneficial fungus to make the seed grow but the victorians used to so the seed (which is a fine as ladies face powder) in the same pot as the parent plant. Then after 12 months you get a sort of moss on the top then about another 12 months they look like plantlets that you can pot up. Then you've got about 4 years till they flower.

You can see why they do tissue culture

I'll try and find the link to the school and post it here.

Thanks for the welcome BTW

Nick

 

As promised, here is the link

http://www.writhlingtonorchidproject.org.uk/

Nick

 

I've bookmarked that to read later - ta, Nick!
Yes, I DO see why tissue culture is desirable! :rolleyes: