Orchid Propagation

Orchid Propagation

Orchid Propagation

There are quite a few ways to multiply orchids, the most difficult being from seed. That's a subject to cover separately. There are also some very easy ways to make that one glorious plant you own into lots of little glorious plants.

The easiest way to turn your one orchid into numerous orchids is to separate its roots during repotting. This cannot be done with all orchids. It needs to be done to the kind of orchids that grow sideways across the top of the pot in which they're growing. They are called sympodial orchids. A common orchid that is a sympodial orchid is the cattleyea.

When you remove a large sympodial orchid from its pot to repot it, you will notice that its roots can be detangled and separated. The detangling is, of course, a little bit of a chore but when you're done you'll have, perhaps, four or five separate plants with good root systems and some tiny plants. The tiny ones probably aren't worth keeping unless the orchid you're repotting is very special indeed. Each of the new orchid plants that you choose to repot should have its own small pot and it should be planted with its pseudobulb above the potting medium.

Some orchids will produce their own baby orchids. They are called "keikis", or"babies" in Hawaiian. They will be perfect reproductions of the parent plant. They normally show up on a plant that, for one reason or another, is taking a vacation from blooming. Where the flower node should have been, a keiki will spring up. You, the orchid grower, can snap it right off and repot it as soon as its roots are an inch or two long.

Some orchids can be propagated by the removal of a young cane that has not flowered or leafed yet and by separating that cane into a few sections. To separate the sections the orchid grower must (using all sterilized tools) cut the cane between the nodes, or swollen or scaly places, on the stem. The pieces can then be laid on a bed of moss, covered with a piece of glass, and new plants should begin growing in a number of weeks.

Some orchids, called monopodial orchids, will grow a new plant at the base of the old plant. The older plant will nurture the newer plant until it has established roots and can grow on its own. The grower just needs to remove the new plant and repot it.

Some orchids will have a dead looking "back bulb" growing behind their orchid's pseudobulb. No matter how dead that back bulb looks, if it has an eye (which looks like a swelling) it can be brought back to life. The grower should remove the back bulb, set it on its base in some medium, keep it warm and moist and this dormant bulb may very well spring back to life, and grow into a nice new plant.

So there are lots of ways to propagate, or reproduce an orchid. The orchid grower needs to know about the plants he or she owns and then do a little research into how that particular kind of orchid is best reproduced.

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