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Ruth's Orchids Grown in my greenhouse in Maine |
In the wild, insects are the primary pollinators of orchids. The flowers have myriad ways of ensuring that the sticky masses of pollen cling to the pollinator who is attracted by the scent or appearance. In the greenhouse, the transfer of the pollinia from one flower to the other can be done with a toothpick! |
If the pollination is successful, a seed pod will result (shown enlarged, above left). It takes many months to ripen. The tiny dust-like seeds are then sowed in a flask on a mix of agar and nutrients where they take many more months to grow into seedlings. Then they are removed from the flask to a "community pot", where they grow some more before they are potted up separately. It is many years from flask to blooming! |
Different orchids have different needs. Some like it very warm, some cool. They all benefit from lots of humidity and a buoyant, airy atmosphere. In my greenhouse I achieve this by hanging some high where it's sunny, some low where it's cool and shady, and some in between. I use a propane heater (outside-vented), a fan which is on 24 hours a day, and a big fan in a stack which is connected to a system of perforated pipes iunder the crushed-rock floor. It draws warm air from the ceiling and recirculates it up through the rocks. When I wet down the floor with a hose, the humidity rises, too. There is also a solar-operated roof vent. |
Orchids in the wild are found on every continent except Antarctia. There are more than 25,000 species. The lady slippers (Cypripedium acaule) shown at left,above, grow in our woods in Maine as terrestrials. The Vandas at right (photo by our friend Mike Tompkins) grow in the Himalayas as epiphytes, in trees (they are not parasites, by the way). Many orchids are now seriously endangered by loss of habitat and over-collecting in the past. The best ways to help save them? Don't pick any in the wild, buy from reputable nurseries and grow them at home! To learn more about orchids, click on the links to interesting sites, at left. |
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