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Talkback: Looking after orchids

tamarindostamarindos Posts: 2
in Talkback
I do not know whether you have received my question about orchids. This was, what are the white string-like threads at soil level. Can they be cut off without affecting the plant

Tamarindos

Posts

  • SwissSueSwissSue Posts: 1,447

    http://www.gardenersworld.com/plants/features/flowers/looking-after-orchids/3605.html

    I pretty sure they are roots, so for heaven's sake, don't cut them off. See pictures in link above.

  • tamarindostamarindos Posts: 2
    Thank you. They must be aerial roots as they are above ground level. II suppose that is reasonable as I believe orchids in the wild grow as epiphytes on tree trunks
  • moonchild2moonchild2 Posts: 14
    I received my moth orchid in July for my birthday and it is still producing flowers on an offshoot from the mother stem with some buds still to open, there is a slight stickiness where the flowers are, is this normal? also there is a straight strong shoot coming up from under the leaves i think it looks different from the others "roots" as it is silver with a green tip, could this be a new shoot? I have collected seeds from the dried flowers that fell on the windowsill and was wondering when is the best time to try and propagate them?
  • Alina WAlina W Posts: 1,445

    have a very careful look at those flowers with a magnifying glass - stickiness may mean that there are insects there.

    Shoot - the silver tip may just be a fresh root, but may also be a flower shoot. You can only wait and see.

  • ponapayponapay Posts: 1
    I have two varieties of wild orchid in my garden and have two questions - how did they get there and how do we encourage them to propagate?



    They are Common Spotted (1) and Northern March Orchid (3).



    We live in E Aberdeenshire at 150 metres. The garden was planted 6 years ago as a wild meadow and has many plants otherwise regarded as weeds, Ox Eye daisies, Cow Slip and Buttercup along with Dock. There are 40 trees mostly birch, maple, cherry and conifers (various). The orchids have appeared this year for the first time and in an area which is damp.



    Any help much appreciated.
  • forget-me-notforget-me-not Posts: 52
    Good article. I have a moth orchid which sent out a flower shoot last year. A tiny bid appeared but never got any bigger so no flower. This year the same shoot grow a little longer and another bud appeared at the end. Again it hasn't grown any bigger. Another orchid of the same type has has flowered beautifully for a couple of months now. Any ideas why I only get a tiny bud but it won't actually flower, please?
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