ORCHIDS

Where did orchids originate? How many different orchids are there? Where do orchids grow? These are just three of the questions often asked along with the greatest question of them all, "What is an orchid?"

To try and answer the last of the four questions first is logical but difficult! There is no simple answer to the question, "What is an orchid?" No obvious statement or definition is possible: there is no single country of origin, no single habit of growth and no single shape, size or colour of the flower. The Orchidaceae are the largest family of flowering plants known to us. Estimates of how many species there are range from 15,000 or so to over 35,000 but it is generally accepted that there are at least 25,000 derived from 750 genera placed together in numerous tribes and sub-tribes.

Orchids are thought to have started in the Cretaceous Geological Period some 150 to 200 million years ago on the then super continent of Pangaea. As this super continent split apart and the pieces started to move away from each other (Continental Drift) the orchids went with them and adapted to the changing conditions. Today every continental block except Antarctica has its orchids. One of the oldest orchids still around today is, perhaps, familiar to many from a cooking point of view: - the Vanilla family. Unfortunately this is, again perhaps, one of the most difficult to grow successfully in the UK.

As noted above the are many different orchid species and for the past 200 years or so many species have been interbred, cross bred and hybridised by us humans to the extent that it is difficult to say now how many orchids of all types there now are. Perhaps the easiest way to answer that question is to restrict it to the families that are commonly grown in the UK. Orchids come in two types, Terrestrial and Epiphytic, though strictly speaking the epiphytes that grow on rocks should be called Lithophytes.

Terrestrial Orchids

Terrestrial orchids, ones that grow in the ground include: - Cypripedium (slipper orchids) and the related slipper types of Paphiopedilum and Phragmipedilum, Disa, Ophrys (bee orchids) and Orchis. Disa, Paphiopedilum and Phragmipedilum are all tropical; the others have Europium examples and all samples that grow in the UK.

Epiphytic Orchids

Epiphytic orchids include: - Brassavola, Cattleya, Coelogyne, Cymbidium, Dendrobium, Laelia, Masdevallia, Miltonopsis (pansy orchids), Odontoglossum (star shaped orchids), Oncidium, Phalaenopsis (moth orchids), Stanhopea, Vanda and Vuylstekeara. It is the crossbreeding and hybridisation of epiphytes that have produced the oh so numerous hybrids around today, for example crossing Brassavla, Cattleya and Laelia to give the many types of Brassolaeliocattlleya.

Orchids grow in the ground, attached to rocks or on trees but those that grow on trees are not parasites as they use the trees only as anchors for their roots and to get themselves closer to direct sunlight and away from ground dwelling pests. Epiphytes use aerial or adventitious roots to draw moisture and nutriments from the air and their anchor roots a little nourishment from the debris collected in the boles of tree branches of fissures in the bark. Almost all the epiphytes are tropical from Central and South America, South and South East Asia, Australasia and Africa but that doesn't mean we cannot grow them in the UK. Many tropical orchids grow on trees high up in mountains were the day/night temperatures either range greatly or are stabilised at a more or less constant by the shade and protection of the trees on which they are growing. What is more difficult to reproduce is the almost constantly high humidity produced by low cloud and mist/fog but which we can help with by growing on saucers of constantly kept damp grit or pea gravel. Growing medium ranges but many orchids can be grown successfully on/in bark chips/pieces.

The biggest mistake the amateur and/or new grower can make is to try to grow too many different types in the same conditions - better to start with one or two families that need very similar care and attention. Orchids are not difficult to grow; they are far tougher than many believe. If anyone wants to try growing orchids as houseplants then the easily obtainable Phalaenopsis (moth orchids), Miltonopsis (pansy orchids) and Paphiopedilum (tropical slipper orchids) are the best to try. A little more ambitious but quite straight forward are the Cymbidiums which can be grown outside from April to November and then indoors in a cool room over winter. They need low night temperatures (around or just below 10 degrees C) to induce flowering.

Please explore our site for more information on the BMOS and Orchid care, as well as links to external Orchid websites.