The Orchid Garden

Orchids in Ireland

Question:

What do the leave of your orchid plant look like? Are they long grasslike leaves, Or thick rounded, or thick bright green ones? If your plant has a name label that will help in advising you. sandra

Response:

I live in Cork in southern Ireland.  I got a present of an orchid last year which had beautiful flowers on it.  They lasted for about a month.  They were firm and waxy in texture.  However I have not seen a bloom since.  I have been told not to use potting compost but rather leaf mould.  Also it is bursting out of its pot with lots of fleshy roots coming out.  I am not a very good plant nurse,  but I manage to keep them alive. I would love if my orchid flowered again this year.  could some kind soul advise. from an amateur orchid grower

Response:

Hi Avril, When I visited Dublin 2+ yrs ago the fellows at the Botanic Gardens opened the Orchid greenhouse just for me (they had been closed for repairs to the glass) and let me tour while they got tea. So with such wonderful memories of your country I’ll try to answer your question. First off you have to figure out what type of orchid it is. There are many places to look for orchid pictures on the web, one of which is the American Orchid Society page (http://orchidweb.org), or if that downloads too slowly for you try Rod Vengers site (http://www.vengers.com/). The idea is to identify your orchid into a type, such as Cattleya, Phalaenopsis, Dendrobium, Cymbidium, etc. Then we can answer you questions more intelligently. Of course, if you already know what kind of orchid it is, or if the plant has a plastic tag with its name on it, please write back and let us know! That’s the precise info we’d need. As to the questions you’ve already asked, many Cattleya – type orchids will will bloom only once a year and have flowers that last about a month or so. Congratulations on having many large fleshy roots bursting out of its pot! Most people rot their roots, so you are doing something right, no matter what kind of orchid it is! I have heard of using leaf mold for potting material, but I have no direct experience with it. What I have heard is favorable, but I think its mainly used for Cymbidiums around here (USA). Don’t quote me on that, hopefully someone else can help on that point once you let us know what type of orchid you have. Cork should be a wonderful place to grow orchids. Write back! K Barrett – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I live in Cork in southern Ireland.  I got a present of an orchid last year which had beautiful flowers on it.  They lasted for about a month.  They were firm and waxy in texture.  However I have not seen a bloom since.  I have been told not to use potting compost but rather leaf mould.  Also it is bursting out of its pot with lots of fleshy roots coming out.  I am not a very good plant nurse,  but I manage to keep them alive. I would love if my orchid flowered again this year.  could some kind soul advise. from an amateur orchid grower

Response:

Filed under: Cymbidium Orchids

Related Posts