seeds Video about 4 orchid reproduction methodsAnd after mastering the basics of care, the question arises: “How to propagate an orchid at home?” Read also about Phalaenopsis - the butterfly orchid!
It turns out that tropical guests are not as capricious and mysterious as it may seem to a beginning florist. All indoor orchid plants can be propagated vegetatively, but it is important to know what type of green pet is:
- There are several growing points in sympodial orchids that form on horizontal shoots. As the germ develops, it becomes a full-fledged rosette with a pseudobulb at the base.
- Monopodial plants develop only from one point, and daughter rosettes may appear from dormant buds on the peduncle.
Due to the difference in the structure, the reproduction of orchids of these two species has its own characteristics. But in any case, it is worth starting this work in the spring, when the green pet completes the winter period of rest, has a good rest from the previous flowering and is preparing for a new one.
How to propagate the orchid by dividing the bush?
This is the main breeding method for orchids of the sympodial type. A plant consisting of several pseudobulbs can be safely divided into parts, because each such juicy thickening is the germ of an independent sheet rosette.
How do orchids multiply in this way, and what will it take to divide an adult plant? Pre-worth to prepare:
- new containers for young orchids;
- some amount of fresh substrate;
- crushed wood or activated carbon;
- sharp, sterilized knife.
The flower extracted from the pot is divided into parts so that each new plant has its own root system and at least 2–3 full pseudobulbs with a supply of nutrients.
Read also: Do you know how to properly water the orchid?
Cuts of rhizomes for the prevention of decay are dipped into crushed coal, orchids are lightly dried and transferred to their own pots of suitable diameter.
If some of the delenok have got too few roots to quickly acclimate to the substrate, it is better to place them in a bag with a wet sphagnum and close tightly. With constantly high humidity the roots are formed much more actively. When a sufficiently independent root system is formed, the young orchid can be transplanted into the substrate for adult specimens.
When starting to grow orchids at home, some growers make a serious mistake when young pseudobulbs are not left on the mother plant. This leads to slower growth and more rare flowering of a previously strong flower.
In order to simplify the process of orchid reproduction, a year before, small cuts are made on the rhizomes of plants in places of the proposed division of the bush. This technique activates rooting on daughter pseudobulb and will encourage kidney growth. By next spring, the mother orchid will be strong enough not to lose in growth after transplantation, and the resulting delenki will be able to immediately settle in their own pots.
How to grow an orchid at home with cuttings?
The cuttings are suitable for monopodial orchids and are held in the springtime. A healthy adult plant is cut off the apex so that it always has a few live, juicy aerial roots. The cut on the mother plant and the top handle is sprinkled with coal powder, treated with fungicide and garden pitch.
Strong cutting does not require additional care. After the orchid has been propagated, it is transplanted into a separate pot according to the size of the socket and the root system and placed in a greenhouse with moist warm air. This also carries the pot with the rest of the adult flower. Soon new shoots from the axillary buds will appear on the “stump”.
Read also: Home care for hymenocallis
If the formation of daughter rosettes is slow, or dormant buds do not want to wake up, they can be treated with a special hormone paste or a solution of plant hormones for orchids.
For this, the leaf near the kidney is carefully cut off and is initially processed. Repeatedly hormones act in 5–10 days.
Orchid reproduction by a spikelet
A young plant of a monopodial orchid can also be obtained from a peduncle that has completed its task. However, before you grow an orchid at home in this way, you will have to wait until the plant has completely faded:
- The shoot is cut at the base and is divided into cuttings so that each has a node with a sleeping kidney.
- Prepared planting material is treated with a fungicide and laid out on the surface of wet moss so that the kidney is not immersed in the substrate.
- Under a film at room temperature, cuttings are left until an independent socket with a root system is formed at the nodes.
- All this time planting is regularly sprayed, preventing rotting of the cuttings and the formation of mold.
How to propagate orchid cuttings, if there is no moss?
You can root the cuttings in ordinary water, but the container should also be covered with a package to maintain a stable temperature and humidity.
If the plant is not weakened after flowering and is completely healthy, it is not necessary to cut the peduncle to obtain the daughter rosettes. How to propagate the orchid at home in this way? You only need:
- to choose a strong kidney at the top of the shoot;
- very carefully cut and remove the surface scales;
- process kidney cytokinin paste, causing a portion of the size of millet grain.
Read also: Transplanting orchids that are sick - the wizard’s case is afraid of
In summer, a sprout will appear from such a kidney in warm and humid conditions. Over time, it will turn into a small outlet with its own roots and can be separated and transplanted into a small pot.
Orchid reproduction by
affiliated rosettes. Orchids with succulent articular shoots can be easily propagated with the help of lateral shoots emerging from the sinuses. But before propagating an orchid, it needs to create favorable conditions for this, ensuring:
- abundance of nitrogen in the substrate;
- high humidity;
- stay in a warm room.
The buds of the lateral shoots are formed in the nodes. When they have their own roots, small orchids can be cut from the mother plant. If you wait for the full development of the sockets is not possible, cut the entire stem and divide it into parts so that there is one germ at each segment.
An adult plant with this orchid breeding method develops in 2–3 years. A video about breeding orchids at home will help in theory to prepare for this interesting, but difficult process and prevent you from making annoying mistakes in practice.
Orchid propagation with seeds
This method of obtaining young plants is considered the most laborious and is practically never used anywhere except in specialized laboratories. The reason is the special structure and type of seeds of this culture.
The seed buds in the seeds have no nutrient reserves and protection against external hazards, that is, from infections, pests, or changes in weather conditions.
Therefore, before breeding an orchid at home using this method, the florist needs to weigh his strength and abilities many times over.
Video about 4 ways to grow orchids
