moonboy87

Today I took a class on the basics of orchid care, history, and culture at one of my favorite garden centers in CO, Paulino Gardens. The majority of the class was a lesson on caring for orchids indoors as it pertains specifically to Colorado, but I learned a few things that I thought I could share (I imagine most of you already know this stuff, anyway :P ) So here are some of the more interesting bits of info that I learned today!

- There are around 30 species of native orchids in Colorado, although none of them have been successfully transplanted and grown indoors or in greenhouses. This is due to the fact that all of the orchids found in this specific climate have created symbiotic relationships with bacterium and fungi to survive.

- The Vanilla bean is the reproductive system of an orchid ( I never knew vanilla was an orchid!), and although you can easily buy a vanilla plant, the conditions have to be near perfect for it to stem, bloom, and for the beans themselves to mature. Even if you successfully grow a vanilla bean, you have to go through an entirely different process to cure the bean for use in food.

- The root system of an orchid is absolutely VITAL. Because most orchids are epipythic, meaning they do not need a potting medium (they live on trees with exposed roots), their roots must be strong and efficient at collecting nutrients and water. The roots appear white due to velamen, a 'furry' layer of dead cell material that protects the root system from damage, prevents the plant from drying out too quickly, and regulates the amount of water that enters the plant. Pretty awesome.

- Nifty way to tell if you are watering the plant properly: the velamen becomes transparent and you can see the green roots below it.

- Certain orchids contain 'pseudo bulbs' which act as a reservoir for water, and with some plants, the blubs appear to be very tall and stemish, and with others it is very bulbous and round.

There is much more, and if I think of anything else that struck my fancy, I'll definitely add it, I just thought I would share with you what I have learned. I am not much of a picture taker, so my camera did not make an appearance at the class, but I was able to get a Dendrobium 'Salaya Lai' Orchid, and repot it. Currently it has THREE flower stems getting ready to grow and bloom for me, and according to the instructor, the flowers can change dramatically in color depending on the plant. I researched the specific plant and came up with this pretty picture:

And here is mine as of right now:


So there you have it! ^_^

island cassie

Congratulations Miles - you are hooked!!!! Beautiful plant by the way!

momoese

So this is why you were talking about orchids the other day!

LilRaverBoi

Thanks for the info and pictures! Did you know 10% of the world's plant species are orchids?? It's true! Crazy, huh?

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moonboy87

10%?! That's impressive! I did learn also that every continent on earth (minus Antarctica of course) has orchids. Another fun fact: There are only 3 orchids that are native to Hawaii. Instructor stated something along the lines of the fact that they are such old plants that Hawaii being a 'newer' land mass didn't allow many orchids to evolve there, plus the fact that it must have been difficult for any seeds to find their way there....Interesting stuff. Cool to know that CO has so many native orchids, when Hawaii doesn't. Now I want to spend all of next spring and summer in the mountains looking for them.

ArchAngeL01

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kemistry

Beautiful pictures there!!! : )

I was thinking about Orchids the other day, though I don't really care for most, but some are very elegant, especially the white flowering ones. I will try them in the future, when I'm less obsessive over my fragrant plants : )

r3tic

There are many varieties of orchids that are fragrant. If you Bing it you will find them.

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moonboy87

Heck yes, there are plenty of orchids that smell amazing. Like my fav onicidium 'sherry baby' that smells of chocolate

Here's a list too!
Fragrant orchids -

kemistry

wow, i know some are fragrant, but that is a big list lol

thanks r3tic and moonboy87.

damaclese

yes and some smell really bad like Rotten meat like the Bulbafilums some of which are pollinated by a certain fly that is attracted to the aroma

PS the American Orchid Society is on face Book if you all would like a steady stream of info real time on orchids

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moonboy87

Great Bloomin Orchid Batman!
Sorry my pictures suck, I don't own a digi cam, so all pictures are thanks to my stable computer cam, lol. Definitely don't do the color justice, but again if you refer to the first post on this thread, the color is VERY accurate!

damaclese

Its to bad this thread didn't start weeks ago i had a vary nice cinbideum going to town its just got one last flower left so theirs no point in taking any pictures but thanks for sharing yours maybe all post some of my phials their always blooming so much so that i kinda forget about them i keep them on the back of my kitchen sink its got a big triangular area as the sink sits across a corner and theirs a window there to boot so it makes for a happy orchid site
there are three plants in bloom all try and get some pictures later today and post them if any one is interested there all hybrids

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