Vivi's Orchid Corner

Dear Orchid Friends:

Orchids arriving as bare root plants may be a bit shriveled and desiccated. This came as quite a surprise to me on the arrival of my first bare root shipment. This may be especially true of plants shipped from foreign countries and may be attributed to the length of time in transit or packing techniques. Certain countries are known for considerable amounts of red tape, so plants may sit for extended periods of time before they are shipped increasing their likelihood of becoming damaged. Some plants may actually show signs of new growth, others will be dormant and others shriveled on arrival.

Open the box upon arrival, remove plants and carefully inspect your plants. Look for signs of infestation or soft areas, bruises. Bruises and damaged areas can lead to disease or infection later. Using sterilized tools, cut off damaged areas. Damaged port ions will not grow well and only invite disease. Water your plants thoroughly or let them soak for some time. Treat them with a fungicide to prevent the spread of infection during handling. Hydrate bare root orchids well. Water thoroughly to soak and drench the plants and roots. You may need to water twice a day initially. One grower suggested that I use a syringe and inject the orchids with water to help hydrate them and allow them to plump out. This technique may be quite labor intensive if you have many plants. Another technique is to submerge your plants in water for a few days to revive roots. Then place plants on trays or benches and continue to water once or twice a day until ready for planting. Remember to keep these plants separated from your other plants to reduce any possibility of spreading diseases or viruses. Hindsight is a wonderful thing. I now realize I did not water my bare root plants often enough to hydrate them adequately and bring them to a healthier state before potting. House your plants in a shaded location with good air circulation until ready for potting. Desiccated plants do not do well if potted. If the plant is too badly damaged, discard it. It will never do well.

Another valuable tip I learned over the past few years is to provide humidity to bare root orchids. This is a basic element to growing orchids and is vitally important with your bare root plants. Place the bare root plants into plastic bags to raise the humidity. Place a little wet medium (i.e. sphagnum moss) in the bag and set your plants on the wet medium. If it is possible to place your plants in an upright position in the bag, do so. This will promote upright growth. Close and secure the bag. keep the plants in the bag until new growth/roots appear. Occasionally open the bag and add a little fresh water. Remember to keep warm and shaded. When new growth is seen, pot your plants. Perhaps I would have had more success with my first bareroot shipment had I known about this tip!

Pot your plants when new growth appears. Don't be too eager to pot before they are ready. Originally, I was under the impression that these orchids required potting immediately. I had a little difficulty in getting my newly potted orchids established initially. Much of this is secondary to not knowing about their care on arrival. I potted them before they were ready and before signs of new growth appeared. Thus, I found these plants slow to get established (well over a year) and experienced a higher loss rate. Flowers were few and unspectacular. Of course, I can now ponder past practice and realize I have learned quite a bit over time! Mist plant leaves and top of potting medium, but do not overwater. Keep the medium inside the pot on the dry side to promote root growth. Once new root growth occurs, water more frequently as appropriate for the type of plant.

Proper packaging of bare root plants when shipping will assist in maintaining their health on arrival. Ensure the bare root plants are wrapped to help reduce water lose and loss of moisture. I would definitely package and ship differently today than my first few attempts a few years ago. Ahh, there is much to learn....Purchasing bare root orchids is cost effective and allows you to pot plants in the medium of your preference. If you purchase plants from outside the United States, your plants will be shipped bare root.

Growing healthy specimens from bare root orchids can be done - all you need is a little knowledge and information. Learn from my encounters... and do enjoy your orchids. Good luck!

Until next time,

Vivi