Cathy Isom began this series informing you of the extraordinary types of orchids. She covered planting, watering and feeding. Cathy concludes her series with how to breed your own homegrown orchids. That’s coming up on This Land of Ours.
Once you have an orchid in your home that you’ve fallen in love with, you can take a cutting from the rootstock, to create more of the same plants.
Most orchids develop special storage organs when they are actively growing. These growths contain all of the nutrients and water that your plant needs. In the spring time, separate these from the mother plant, when the bulbs are active and environmental conditions are just right.
First, dry your plant out a little. Then, fill a small, sterilized terracotta plant pot 1/3 full with a broken up and equal mix of 1 part Osmunda fiber, 1 part polypodium and 1 part sphagnum moss. It’ll create a perfect, airy compost that will also soak up excess moisture.
Gently remove the parent plant from the pot and gently tease off the soil from the roots. Remove any dried-up bulbs and anything that looks unhealthy. Then separate the pseudo bulbs into small groups by hand. You’ll need three bulbs with new growth for each new plant. Place each bulb group into a pot, and then fill it with that potting mixture.
I’m Cathy Isom…