The Orchid Family

The orchid family

Almost everyone loves orchids. It would be great to take a closer look at our explanation on what biological processes are involved with regards to Orchids.

Tissue culture

Tissue culture techniques are applicable to all orchids. This would involve a sterile process performed under aseptic conditions that will ultimately result in the creation of suitable varieties. Most if not all the tissue culture procedures are performed under strict sterile conditions, under which bacterial impurities of the said culture that could result in the orchid being contaminated is reduced. This would be seen as the first step in getting the orchids to achieve a successful embryo culture. Further to this, tissue culture is also used in imitating valuable plants that do not breed.

It is also used in the reproduction of valuable plants that do not breed by means of seed propagation. This would mean that whatever good qualities the mother plant has will also be displayed in its clones.

Growing orchids

Generally orchids are easy to grow, depending on the species. Orchids do not grow on the ground; instead, they grow on trees and rocks. But, they often require some form of potting media so they can grow healthily. Tree bark, coconut husk chips, cork and even polystyrene chips are generally used. Orchids enjoy as much light as possible but not under direct sunlight where they will be burnt. Take the necessary precaution to always check the Orchid leaves.

Orchids bloom better if they experience a good fluctuation of the temperature between the day and night temperatures. Be careful in overwatering orchids as most people love the plant so much that they tend to overwater it. Even if the potting medium is dry, you will find that the roots of the plant would still have accumulated water on it, so it is better to check on the roots before trying to water the orchid again. Certain types of orchids may require more watering than others.

Pollination

There are many methods by which orchids can be pollinated. A beginner orchid grower would enjoy experimenting, depending on what type of orchids are grown. For example, one could use seed, division of plants, meri-cloning (artificially produced clone of an orchid), stem propagation and offshoots. Orchid seeds are very small; they do not have food stored in the seed grain, only the embryo.

Some orchid flowers are pollinated by male insects. A few orchid flowers give off very strong scents which attract flies, bees and other insects. Certain brightly colored orchid flowers attract bees looking for honey – instead they get pollen shot at them with a hair-trigger mechanism which sticks to their body and then gets deposited off on to the next flower.

Certain orchids that are attracted by birds, produce more diluted nectar making the texture of its pollen sticker and larger so it remains on the beak, preventing self-pollination when the bird flies away.

This is the kind of valuable information you can expect from Orchid and plant lovers like Hexacon Green. For further information that will simply blow you away, we encourage you to visit our Facebook Page at http://www.facebook.com/hexagongreen.