Ruminations of an Expatriate

Please keep in mind that I’ve been seriously looking into orchid growing only for about that last couple of weeks since orchid vendors showed up on the streets and I decided to give it a try. Basically I don’t know squat of the subject. However, I am seeing new root and shoot growth on the plants I have mounted on pieces of tree branches, so figure my method of simulating the plants’ natural habitat, the best I can, works.  Though I am reserving final judgment until I see a mass of new roots roots clinging to the mounts and new shoots, blossoms, and pseudobulbs emerging.

My initial report may be found here.

Also keep in mind that I live, more or less, within the native range of the orchid plants I have purchased and mounted; and that my remarks pertain to epiphytic orchids, and most particularly “pseudobulb” epiphytic orchids.

Epiphytes, for those who may not know, are benign parasitic plants, the roots of which attach to trees or rocks, thus their roots do not contact soil. The moisture storing pseudobulbs and succulent roots see the orchids through times of little moisture. There has been periodic rain showers here for the last few days, after a couple of dry weeks, and the epiphytes growing on the trees along the avenues here have quite noticeably perked up.

Initially I had mounted a number of orchids on a branch I salvaged, with permission, from a pile in a nearby park which I had placed in my little patio at the bottom of a four story light well. I decided there was insufficient light to the patio for orchids and that it afforded no protection from rain, so moved the orchids to the security grills on the outside of my bathroom and bedroom windows where there is bright light but no direct sunlight and a roof three stories up provides a bit of protection from excessive rain.

Almost all of the orchid growing information web sites I have visited focus on growing orchids outside of their native ranges so provide instructions for growing orchids in pots filled with growing medium, such as ground up tree bark.  The sites all caution of over watering orchids.

I have learned, however, that  it is difficult to over water mounted orchids.  I have been spraying my plants thoroughly, two or three times each day during dry weather while they are becoming established on there wood mounts.  I have purchased the plants from street vendors and the roots have been very dry and pseudobulbs shriveled, so figure lots of water is appropriate while the plants acclimate to their new habitat. I have learned also that when buying an orchid plant it is best to buy one with at least three pseudobulbs.

You can see in the photo above, of what I believe is a Encyclia vitellina, that one of the blossoms has produced a seed pod, which means that the appropriate critter happened by and wandered through the blossoms. The photo also shows a fresh shoot of what I believe is a Cattlelya.

I have been reading a bit about pollinating and hybridizing orchids. It seems that the Cattlelya, informally known as the “corsage orchid”, is a favorite for hybridizing. The Cattlelyas have large, showy flowers with easily accessible pollen; and, thus, there are lots of different Cattlelyas.  One shown in the photo below.

I have also been reading about growing orchids from seeds, in anticipation of the maturity of the seed pod shown above.

Orchid seeds are almost microscopic, and develop within the pods amidst a fuzzy material which facilitates the spreading of the seed by the wind. The seeds contain no feed stores; and, thus, in their flight to a suitable nursery are reliant upon serendipitous contact with Rhizoctonia fungus which provides nutrients to the barren seeds. A German scientist discovered in the early 1900s that inoculating orchid seeds, placed upon sterilized peat, with ground up roots of adult plants greatly increased germination rates.

Now days orchid seeds are generally germinated in laboratories upon sterilized agar based medium. I’ll be trying the ground root inoculation method.

Gratuitous Editorial: I have been appalled, in researching orchids through the internet, at the number of web sites identifying México as being a part of either Central or South America, and at the number of sites which indicated that epiphytes aren’t parasites, as they don’t harm their hosts.

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