Orchid Care

Archive for the ‘Growing orchids’ Category

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There are over 30,000 species of orchids making it the largest family and the plant world. These fabulous flowering plants are known for their gorgeous flowers that come in all colors. Although they can grow in many places, orchids love tropical climates where they grow on trees trunks and branches.

In Australia, orchids grow in the southern region and can be found growing on tree trunks as well as in the ground. Australia boasts about 1200 orchid species many of which are not found anywhere else in the world.

Many of the Australian orchids have adapted some specialized methods of enticing insects over for pollination. The Drakonorchis Barbarossa or common dragon orchid looks like a wingless female wasp and therefore is very attractive to male wasps.

These specialized orchids are so interesting that scientists at the CPBR study these orchids which are sent to them by licensed collectors of Australian orchids. This national herbarium orchid collection consists of 48,000 dried specimens 18,005 hundred cards whichh contain the affected pieces of flowers and over 19,000 Spirit preserved orchid specimens.

Some of the interesting Australian orchids Include the Durabaculum Nindii or endangered blue orchid which is native to North Eastern Queensland, the dotted Sun orchid, the nodding green hood, the tongue orchid, and the cowslip orchid to name but a few.

In Australia, you will find epiphytes which grow on trees as well as terrestrials which grown around. The ratio is about 70% terrestrial to 30% epiphytes. Epiphytes are the easiest to grow in the most common in orchid collections.

Western Australia is home to mostly terrestrial orchids which are well-known for their size, bright color and strange markings. These dainty fragile flowers fascinate most everyone who sees them. Some of these orchids like those of the endemic genus Rhizanthella live their whole lives underground.

Orchids are great plants and make an unusual gift whether they are given as a live potted plant or in a vase with other flowers. If you have a green thumb, you might even try growing your own orchids if you can provide them with enough humidity and proper nutrients you may be successful not matter where you live in the world.

When growing orchids, the most important thing you can do is provide enough humidity. They will need over 50% so be sure you setup an area where you can provide them with this!

Orchids can be challenging to grow but if you love these beautiful plants, you can easily find them at your florist or even in the supermarket and take an already grown plant home to enjoy!

Lee Dobbins
http://www.articlesbase.com/gardening-articles/an-overview-of-the-worlds-most-beautiful-flowers-australian-orchids-72837.html

Flowers ranks among the simplest and least expensive gift items available to us. They come in different colors, sizes and shapes. Flowers can be gifted as a single piece, as combinations like bouquets, wreaths and similar arrangements or combined with other gift articles.

Different types of flowers suit different occasions. While roses represent love and affection, white lilies are best suited for funerals. It is also customary to design funeral wreaths in the form of tear drops using diamond shaped flowers.

The business of growing flowers and delivering them at the doorsteps of customers is a huge one because of the importance of flowers as gifts as well as decorative pieces. While roses are the all time favourites, carnations, daisies, lilies, orchids and tulips are also in huge demand. All these flowers portray different allegories and suit different occasions. However, dried flowers like larkspur, cassia, amaryllis, lavender, hydrangea and artificial silk flowers are also used to convey feelings and best wishes. Some artificially manufactured silk flowers are gorgeous to look at and may last for long periods too.

Flowers are the most beautiful creations of nature. It seems that they are created with a view to give happiness and color to our lives. Natural flowers come in thousands of colors. Flowers symbolise mirth and warmth. Most commonly found flowers have some kind of symbolism attached to them. Flower wreaths adorned the heads of tribal chiefs and ancient kings, but were later replaced by crowns made of precious metals.

Flowers adorn the pride of place in the lives of us too. Many of us however, are forced to rely on flower deliveries to fulfil our needs. For modern people like us, flowers are best suited as gifts or mantelpieces. Roses are traditionally used to express love and wreaths and bouquets made by mixing and matching different kind of flowers having unique colors expresses a variety of positive emotions in one go.

These are the days of baskets gift. Flowers, arranged neatly to a pattern in an exquisitely weaved wicker basket would fill the days of the receiver with joy, and gratitude towards you. Designer flower arrangements are also seen as perfect gifts. Such arrangements are made on unique bases which add to their desirability quotient. They are better suited as centre pieces for holiday and celebrations arrangement and have the potential of being the cynosure of all eyes.

Buying such perfect baskets gift has become a cakewalk with the advent of a handful of internet based florists. A very limited number of them create their own combinations with symbolisms and meanings attached to them. These symbolisms may be based on national history, present conditions of the intended recipient and our present social situations. Such allegories help people to empathise with one another.

Let me remind you that the flower deliveries you make should match the mood, the occasion, the social status and more than anything else, the tastes of the recipient. Otherwise, your carefully made gesture would be lost on him and your esteem may fall in his or her eyes.

Roberta Groche
http://www.articlesbase.com/home-and-family-articles/growing-flowers-as-gifts-731918.html

Many people think that growing orchids is something that can only be done in big hothouses however, you can grow orchids at home if you pick the right type and provide it with the right environment.

Growing orchids can be a rewarding hobby and can produce beautiful plants that you can enjoy or give as gifts. If you have a green thumb and love exotic plants, then growing them yourself is something that might be worth the effort.

Orchids that work best for home growing are those that grow high in the trees hanging from the branches and get the nutrition from the rain, jungle air and decaying vegetation that their roots come in contact with. In order to grow these orchids at home, you’ll need to provide them with a growing area that comes close to their native environment.

Humidity

Orchids thrive in humid climates and if you want to grow them at home you’ll need to provide them with an area where they can have at least 50% humidity. in order to do this, you can set your orchid pots on a tray that is filled with water but not In the tray just above it so that the humidity from the water can come up with a water does not soak into the pot. may sting is also important to make sure there is sufficient in circulation so that the leaves and pedals can dry off properly.

Water

It’s important that your work is to not sit in water but remain moist. You should water than once a week after the soil has dried out. Make sure there is no standing water. Fertilize with a water-soluable fertilizer made specifically for orchids.

Sunlight

Different types of orchids need different amounts of sunlight and if you can’t provide natural sunlight you can try fluorescent grow lights. In the winter, your records will need at least four hours of light.

Soil

You can buy ready mixed orchid potting mixes and this is what you should use for your orchids.

Pests

Orchids can be prone to diseases and pests. They can succumb to fungal disease viral disease and bacterial disease and often have mites, aphids, caterpillars, slugs, mealy bugs, snails, white flies, and dendrobium beatles. growing them indoors can reduce the bugs immensely but you still have to be on the lookout for pests and disease.

To treat pests on your orchids, you should use pesticides from a local garden supply store. Be sure to always use them per instructions. If you can, try to go with organic pesticides that are easy on the environment.

Lee Dobbins
http://www.articlesbase.com/gardening-articles/learn-how-you-can-grow-orchids-at-home-71284.html

The beginnings of the orchid family are shrouded in mystery. Since most orchids are epiphytic that is, having aerial roots through which they accept sustenance from the minerals in the damp loaded air of the tropics they have left no traces such as the fossilized vestiges of ground upward plants. Dr. E. Soysa, text in Orchid Culture in Ceylon, advances the delightful and plausible, if unproved, concept the orchids antedated the fossil era, but in their passion of light ascended plants to discharge the advancing jungle.

There they lived, died, dried up, and floated away, departure no remnant. Whatever the start of the orchid family, it cannot be doubted that the orchid family is very old, judging both by its great range and its well center structural development, attainable only through the passage of time.

The orchid is among the major and most decidedly urbanized of the hide families, with some fifteen to twenty thousand species. A sagacious sort has lavished every means to insure the perpetuation of this darling newborn. She has provided the flower with all the charm and pull of a fairy princess to win insect vassals to execute the sacrament of annoyed pollination.

Nature has decreed that the orchid should be dependant on some past insect agent, and the secondary relative is a wonderful example of cooperation between the bury and animal kingdoms. The premier means of perpetuation in plants, obstruct pollination is required in all but a very few species of orchids. In the few bags of person pollination the seeds are frequently arid.

The insects performing the mass of irritable pollination adapt with the species and are as diverse as the ingenious contrivances by which the orchids develop them. It is in every defense a reciprocal arrangement, the deposit receiving the repayment of fertilization, the insect the largess of food and drink. Each species typically has its particular insect, as is exposed by the unusual means each flower uses to attract its insect.

Darwin first renowned a stunning example of this specialization. On a stumble to South America he had an opportunity to see a yard of Angraecum sesquipedale. This starry colorless flower, a rare orchid of Madagascar, has a curiously elongated lip containing a nectary, about eleven inches long, that holds one and the half ounces of the adorable fluid formed by the honey secreting glands. Darwin immediately predicted that some day a moth with an antenna at slightest twelve inches long would be discovered to be responsible for cross pollination of this abnormal orchid.

In time such a moth was found and was duly named Xanthopan morgani praedicta. In this particular alliance it is probable that the moth would starve lacking the orchid and that the orchid would become destroyed lacking the moth. Such high specialization has insured the purity of species that has manifest the evolve of the orchid family.

This specialization is reflected in the really mixed forms of the reproductive organs. These organs lie within the lip, more scientifically known as the labellum, along a fleshy enlargement called the string. The anther effected stamens are regularly sealed together into the stake, and a projection of this elongated fleshy organ is the rostellum, whose objective seems to be to split the pollen and the stigmatic nook, hence minimizing the jeopardy of self pollination.

The anthers produce tiny fine grains of bountiful pollen, commonly seized together by a mysterious viscid fluid that hardens on exposure to air and is not affected by coil or spit. The stigmatic cavity with its bright ovum (egg) waits at the `marrying` insect to deposit pollen from another flower.

Jules Sims
http://www.articlesbase.com/gardening-articles/mystery-of-growing-orchids-754757.html

The beginnings of the orchid family are shrouded in mystery. Since most orchids are epiphytic that is, having aerial roots through which they receive sustenance from the minerals in the moisture laden air of the tropics they have left no traces such as the fossilized remains of ground growing plants. Dr. E. Soysa, writing in Orchid Culture in Ceylon, advances the delightful and plausible, if unproved, theory that orchids antedated the fossil era, but in their love of light ascended trees to escape the advancing jungle.

There they lived, died, dried up, and floated away, leaving no trace. Whatever the genesis of the orchid family, it cannot be doubted that the orchid family is very old, judging both by its great variety and its highly complex structural development, attainable only through the passage of time.

The orchid is among the largest and most highly developed of the plant families, with some fifteen to twenty thousand species. A provident nature has lavished every means to insure the perpetuation of this favorite child. She has provided the flower with all the charm and allure of a fairy princess to win insect vassals to perform the service of cross pollination.

Nature has decreed that the orchid should be dependent on some outside insect agent, and the resultant relation is a beautiful example of cooperation between the plant and animal kingdoms. The highest means of perpetuation in plants, cross pollination is necessary in all but a very few species of orchids. In the few cases of self pollination the seeds are frequently infertile.

The insects performing the service of cross pollination vary with the species and are as diverse as the ingenious contrivances by which the orchids utilize them. It is in every case a reciprocal arrangement, the plant receiving the benefits of fertilization, the insect the largess of food and drink. Each species usually has its particular insect, as is shown by the special means each flower uses to attract its insect.

Darwin first noted a striking example of this specialization. On a trip to South America he had an opportunity to see a plant of Angraecum sesquipedale. This starry white flower, a rare orchid of Madagascar, has a weirdly elongated lip containing a nectary, about eleven inches long, that holds one and a half ounces of the sweet fluid produced by the sugar secreting glands. Darwin immediately predicted that some day a moth with a proboscis at least twelve inches long would be discovered to be responsible for cross pollination of this peculiar orchid.

In time such a moth was found and was duly named Xanthopan morgani praedicta. In this particular alliance it is probable that the moth would starve without the orchid and that the orchid would become extinct without the moth. Such high specialization has insured the purity of species that has marked the progress of the orchid family.

This specialization is reflected in the extremely varied forms of the reproductive organs. These organs lie within the lip, more scientifically known as the labellum, along a fleshy enlargement called the column. The anther bearing stamens are usually sealed together into the column, and a projection of this elongated fleshy organ is the rostellum, whose purpose seems to be to separate the pollen and the stigmatic cavity, thus minimizing the danger of self pollination.

The anthers produce tiny powdery grains of fertile pollen, usually held together by a mysterious viscid fluid that hardens on exposure to air and is not affected by wind or rain. The stigmatic cavity with its receptive ovum (egg) waits for the `marrying` insect to deposit pollen from another flower.

Jimmy Cox
http://www.articlesbase.com/gardening-articles/the-mystery-behind-growing-perfect-orchids-88531.html

Bamboo has become such a popular plant in recent times; not only can you grow and enjoy it but it’s use in other areas such as wood flooring and as blinds is rapidly gaining in popularity. Then there’s the human version in the shape of musical band Bamboo Manalac which just like it’s plant namaesake, is climbing in the popularity ratings!

The Bamboo Orchid

So what about bamboo orchids? It would probably surprise many garden enthusiasts that bamboo orchids even exist but they certainly do! In some areas they are considered somewhat of a pest but in general, they excel as a decorative plant, enhance any flower arrangement and produce a distinct fragrance.

Bamboo orchids can be found scattered throughout areas in southern Asia and also the pacific islands. They are a popular form of decorative plant in Hawaii and can also be found in countries such as Costa Rica.

Characteristics Of The Bamboo Orchid

Bamboo orchids can be a little fussy to grow as orchid lovers in the western world are finding out but essentially, by following some well-worn guidelines, they can be grown with good success.

The bamboo orchid is also known as Arundina and it can grow to heights of 6-8 feet and is a multi-perrennial plant. The flowers generally bloom during summer and autumn and can produce up to a dozen flowers. The foliage of the plant has a grassy appearance while the flower itself is either lilac, lavender or mauve, depending on your interpretation of color flanked by a white disc and either a purple or yellowish lip.

Growing Bamboo Orchids

While bamboo orchids can make a great indoor plant and add a touch of variety to any home decor, growing the orchid outside in ground requires just a little know-how. If you are about to take the plunge and embed one in your garden try the following tips for best results:

- Avoid planting in a wind-prone area and give the new planting as much space as possible. In other words, don’t crowd the orchid as it can be a little claustrophobic.

- Make sure the plant is in a position to attract plenty of sunlight, especially during the morning with a little extra cover during the hottest part of the day.

- You want to ensure the orchid is kept fairly moist although avoid putting it in an area where flooding is likely to occur. If this is a scenario you’re concerned with either put it in higher ground or elevate the ground where you intend to plant it.

- The soil can be kept moist simply by providing a good cover of mulch while in rainfall deficient areas, watering every 2-3 days is required. Applying intermittent doses of fertilizer during the year will be appreciated by the orchid in fact, a slow release fertilizer every couple of months should do the trick.

- Bamboo orchids appreciate warm conditons so if you live in an area where temperatures drop drastically at night, then it may be wise to plant your bamboo in a pot because cold temperatures are not something they appreciate.

Bamboo orchids are creating more and more interest among plant lovers and given their attractive nature when in bloom, are an interesting addition to any “green thumb’s” cache of flora.

Dean Caporella
http://www.articlesbase.com/gardening-articles/bamboo-orchids-under-the-spotlight-five-growing-tips-you-can-try-124075.html