For the past year, most of the topics I've covered in my monthly orchid care tips have come from questions I've received at my classes and presentations. I would now like to open this up to anyone who may have a question on orchid care. Send your question to my email address listed at the bottom of this page. I will go through the questions I receive each month and pick one to address here.
October Orchid Care Tip
Orchid Terminology II
Continuing on from last month, I'd like to discuss a few more orchid terms and concepts that might make Orchidaceae, the family of orchids, a little easier to understand. Orchids made three evolutionary adaptations that allow them to grow the way they do. First, most orchids grow very slowly. This means they don’t need a lot of water or nutrients at once to survive. Second, they have adapted their leaves and roots to absorb as much water and nutrients as possible when these resources become available. Finally, orchids have evolved to store water and nutrients in their leaves, pseudobulbs or their roots. Orchid roots have a coating around them called velamen. Velamen is a sponge-like substance that absorbs and stores water and nutrients. This is also one of the reasons why these types of orchids don’t need to be watered often. Pseudobulbs are bulges in the stem that also store water or nutrients.
Where an orchid grows in nature is important because it gives you clues as to the type of care it’s going to need. Terrestrial orchids need the soil they are growing in and want this soil to stay somewhat moist. The media they are planted in is usually smaller chunks of organic media that drains easily. Epiphytic or Lithophytic orchids do not need any media or the pots and want air around their roots. Their media is usually larger chunks with some inorganic components, such as stones or perlite, that drains easily.
There are also two different ways that orchids can grow. Monopodial orchids have a single, vertical stem. New leaf growth appears at the top of the stem. Sympodial orchids grow horizontally across the surface of the media from a rhizome. Picture the rhizome as the plant’s stem which has fallen over and now lies just under the surface of the soil. New growth on a sympodial orchid will appear as a new shoot(s) coming up from the rhizome. Most sympodial orchids have pseudobulbs.
Continuing on from last month, I'd like to discuss a few more orchid terms and concepts that might make Orchidaceae, the family of orchids, a little easier to understand. Orchids made three evolutionary adaptations that allow them to grow the way they do. First, most orchids grow very slowly. This means they don’t need a lot of water or nutrients at once to survive. Second, they have adapted their leaves and roots to absorb as much water and nutrients as possible when these resources become available. Finally, orchids have evolved to store water and nutrients in their leaves, pseudobulbs or their roots. Orchid roots have a coating around them called velamen. Velamen is a sponge-like substance that absorbs and stores water and nutrients. This is also one of the reasons why these types of orchids don’t need to be watered often. Pseudobulbs are bulges in the stem that also store water or nutrients.
Where an orchid grows in nature is important because it gives you clues as to the type of care it’s going to need. Terrestrial orchids need the soil they are growing in and want this soil to stay somewhat moist. The media they are planted in is usually smaller chunks of organic media that drains easily. Epiphytic or Lithophytic orchids do not need any media or the pots and want air around their roots. Their media is usually larger chunks with some inorganic components, such as stones or perlite, that drains easily.
There are also two different ways that orchids can grow. Monopodial orchids have a single, vertical stem. New leaf growth appears at the top of the stem. Sympodial orchids grow horizontally across the surface of the media from a rhizome. Picture the rhizome as the plant’s stem which has fallen over and now lies just under the surface of the soil. New growth on a sympodial orchid will appear as a new shoot(s) coming up from the rhizome. Most sympodial orchids have pseudobulbs.
- Monopodial Growth – a vertical growth pattern with a single stem.
- Orchidaceae – in botanical terms, this is the Family that orchids belong to.
- Pseudobulb – a widened portion of an orchid stem that is used to store water and nutrients.
- Rhizome – the main stem on a sympodial orchid that is growing horizontally across the media.
- Sympodial Growth – a lateral growth pattern where multiple stems grow from a rhizome.
- Terrestrial – grows in the ground.
- Velamen – a sponge-like substance surrounding orchid roots that absorbs and stores water and nutrients.