Growing and Maintaining Orchids

Growing Orchids (Cattleya spp.)

Orchid Flower

Considered as a herbaceous plant, orchids belongs to one of the largest and colorful families of plants, where the big number is mostly found in the tropics growing in the mountainous places.

 Its flowers are elongated, lasting, and mostly pollinated by insects – peculiar variation of shapes and colors, usually range in sizes from a centimeter to several centimeters in diameter.

 Most orchid species are terrestrial but others are epiphytic that grows in the air which find support on branches of trees or on top of rocks. 

 Roots of orchids are classified into three types

1.    Provides mains of support.

Orchids roots are used to cling to its support to stand its own. Being an epiphytic plant they look for some strong support to survive.

2.  For feeds.

The roots of orchids are the ones that get food nutrients from the air. They are dependent from the moisture provided by nature. In order to survive you should supplement their water needs.

3.  Aerial, which usually hangs downward and extract moisture from the air.

 Most of the leaves of orchids are parallel-nerved and look almost like those of grass while others have long and wide leaves.

Culture of Orchids.

They are grown easily, especially in moist and shady places. Other species may be grown in sheltered rocks in the corner of the gardens, under trees which don’t get direct sunlight.

 But there are some new species that can withstand direct sunlight, however, they need frequent watering morning and afternoon – a tedious work especially if you’re on a commercial venture.

You have to make sure they are protected from strong wind.

Orchids needs ample amount of light , but not to the extent of excessive sunlight for it may cause scorching of the plants.

If you can make it see to it that orchids can receive the morning sun than the afternoon sunshine, because afternoon sunlight is too intense to the leaves and flowers.

For sun tolerant species, you can select Vandas, Renantheras, and some Dendrobiums, while for shade loving varieties, Phalaenopsis and Cattleyas response better.

A simple rule in orchids growing is to expose them gradually to sunlight, to increase light intensity without getting them sun-sunburned.

A little amount of light produces dark green leaves with few flowers, while those exposed to too much light makes them slower growth with yellow and tough leaves.

Its unsightly when the leaves are scorched since dark spots appears with too much light intensity.

For best result, and to produce more flowers, you should grow orchids in the nursery, terrarium or greenhouse. In the greenhouse, although costly to establish, you can control sunlight distribution, temperature and humidity are controlled to suit the plant needs.

The advantage of a greenhouse is, you can control pests and diseases attack since it’s properly screened.

For Phalaenopsis, the temperature is not a problem if grown in the open – putting a roof over them will do. You may also raise orchids in a plastic-roofed slat house.

Propagation.

Generally, orchids are propagated by seeds. The seeds are extremely small and numerous.

They are hard to propagate because they are easily killed by sudden changes in their physical environment and they are attacked by parasitic fungi which are apparent during its early plant growth.

 However, you can produce better propagation by placing the seeds in sterile agriculture tubes and incubate for about one year

Some new and other varieties of orchids are being raised and improved through breeding and selection.  Cattleya, butterfly orchids, vandas, and dendrobiums are propagated easily from the divisions of their root sections.

The waling-waling and mariposa produces few branches at their bases when very old. Roots grew on these branches, where propagation is done through these roots.

How to Mount Orchids.

Proper mounting is very important to promote faster and vigorous growth and produce them in abundance.

Some common mounting materials available are coconut husks (for countries that grows coconut), wooden basket, piece of wood, wire basket and earthen jar.

 If you’ll use an earthen jar, select the one with openings at the bottom as against with openings on the sides because it provides better drainage and with better moisture retention which is ideal for orchids.

If you’ll use a piece of wood for mounting, select the hard wood type with thick bark to withstand a longer usage.

Tie or strap firmly the plant to the wood with moss and shredded coconut husk making the plant lie closely to the wood and strapped firmly to promote faster recovery. Water the newly mounted plants at least once or twice a day.

To make a longer support for your orchids, a living tree is usually advisable to make them comfortable in their natural habitat.

Orchids does not compete with the tree for food nutrients because they are not parasitic, but epiphytes, meaning they are only using the plant as support but not their nourishment from the tree.

Plant Medium.

A mixture of moss, pieces of charcoal, and adobe stones for weight and firmness are a good plant medium for growing orchids.

Some orchid species needs no use of any plant medium. Other gardeners just simply tie the plant directly to the support and place in a shaded area.

 However, frequent watering is advised to retain enough moisture.