Orchid lovers sooner or later think about how to extend the life of their darlings - to get from them the "offspring". At home, the most appropriate method of breeding orchids is growing children on the peduncle. This method is safe for the mother plant, besides even a novice gardener can cope with it.
What it is?
Baby is a new independent miniature plant growing on different parts of the orchid mother: at the base of the root collar or on the peduncle (arrow, shoot) from a sleeping bud.
Description of the appearance and photos
The baby is a process on the peduncle, having its root system, leaves, and sometimes even its peduncle.
The baby on the mother plant grows and develops within 5-6 months. This time is necessary in order for it to form its root system, leaves, gain strength for independent living.
Purpose of appearance
The main purpose of the appearance of babies is reproductive, the plant thus gives birth to offspring and tries to prolong life. The reproduction of an orchid by children who appear on the arrow is one of the most popular ways of breeding certain types of orchids at home among florists.
Terms of appearance
In order for the children to form on the orchid arrow, it is necessary, after the plant has faded, not to cut off the peduncle completely. It should simply be shortened, the cut-off - 2 cm above the "sleeping" kidney. Besides the plant must provide a sufficient amount of intense light, kidney awakening from sleep, and high temperature.
Reference. If the arrow is left untouched after flowering, the orchid can “dry” it completely in order to save useful substances.
The cut must be done with a disinfected pruner. This should be done with great care, as it is easy to damage the stem and leaves of the plant. In addition, if any burrs, roughness remain, this may lead the orchid to become infected with infectious diseases. The cut is recommended to treat cinnamon or crushed activated charcoal.
A visual video on how to stimulate the appearance of the children on the peduncle after the orchid has blossomed:
Is it possible to grow on the flower arrow at home?
Growing an orchid from a process on its arrow is quite real, although painstaking. But with properly performed manipulations and competently performed care, the baby will turn into a healthy and strong plant after 3 - 4 years.
Step-by-step instructions on how to get offspring
Orchid will begin to form "offspring" only if it will be provided with proper care and create optimal conditions for reproduction.
- Prepare the peduncle that has faded but is still green: it needs to be cut off, stepping 2 cm from the second “sleeping” bud.
- Place the cut cut with crushed tablet of activated carbon or cinnamon.
- Provide the plant with night and daytime temperature drops (+ 15С- + 30С). To do this, you can put an orchid on the windowsill or on the veranda of your home.
- Watering should be scanty: the stressful state that epiphyte will experience will make it possible to wake the sleeping buds.
- Spray epiphyte daily from the spray gun, thereby providing a high level of humidity in the room.
- Promote air access to the orchid's roots: make extra holes in the walls of the pot.
- Provide access to a large amount of intense diffused light to the epiphyte (south and southeast windows).
- Systematically orchid should be fed fertilizers with a high nitrogen content.
Reference. You can often find information about stimulating the “sleeping” kidneys with hormonal drugs so that the peduncle throws out the baby. One of the most famous of these drugs is cytokinin paste. Having opened a kidney, it should be smeared with this paste on top.
This procedure can be repeated 3 - 5 times. Babies may appear as early as 2-3 months, but a side arrow may also appear from a sleeping kidney. But it should be remembered that a similar way of growing babies greatly depletes the mother plant.
How to separate from the mother?
What to do after a sprout appeared on the peduncle and gave roots? When the roots reach 5-6 cm, the baby can be transplanted into the ground. But first you need to separate it properly to separate it from the mother plant.
Prepare everything you need for planting babies: substrate (base - bark of coniferous trees), expanded clay, sphagnum moss, small plastic pot, disinfected shears, cinnamon or activated charcoal.- Cut the baby with a part of the peduncle on which the baby has developed (a gap of 1.5 cm).
- Within half an hour, place the cut to dry, then process it with cinnamon or activated charcoal.
- A new orchid is placed in the center pot (a prerequisite is the presence of holes in it for drainage and aeration), the bottom of which is filled with drainage.
- Holding the root collar, the container should be filled with a moistened substrate.
- The top layer of the substrate should not be compacted. In order to avoid voids in the pot, you need to knock on its walls.
- It is possible to sprinkle the top layer of the substrate with sphagnum moss.
Prepare everything you need for planting babies: substrate (base - bark of coniferous trees), expanded clay, sphagnum moss, small plastic pot, disinfected shears, cinnamon or activated charcoal.Some flower growers recommend placing a pot with an already separated baby in a "greenhouse": Cover with a plastic transparent bag, which should be removed daily for some time for ventilation.
We offer to watch a video on how to properly separate the baby orchid from the peduncle:
How to care for a flower?
For, In order for the orchid to give "offspring" in the form of children, it is important for her to provide the necessary conditions for this: a large amount of light, high temperatures during the day and low at night (+ 15 ° C - + 30 ° C), high levels of humidity, systematic introduction of nitrogenous fertilizers, which can be purchased at a specialized flower shop.
When the flower has already been released to the baby, the plant should be moved to a warm and more shady place. It is also necessary to provide him with systematic watering according to the basic rule: as the substrate dries. On average, the interval between irrigation can be 5 - 10 days.
After each second irrigation, it is recommended to continue fertilizing with a high percentage of nitrogen. It is better if this top dressing is foliar, that is, the baby itself will be irrigated from a spray bottle. Sometimes you can irrigate a plant under the shower, which will only contribute to the formation of healthy and strong children.
Care for young offspring
The first days of watering should not be done, because the young orchid was planted in a wet substrate. You can irrigate the plant with warm water from a spray bottle. The first watering is only 4 days after planting. Keep in a room with high humidity, high temperature (not below + 25 ° C) and a sufficiently large amount of diffused sunlight.
Such "greenhouse" conditions should be maintained throughout the year: the plant should grow 3 - 4 leaves, and the roots should reach the bottom of the pot. But we should not forget about the daily ventilation of the plant.
On the video you can learn how to care for the children of orchids:
Spike problems
Stayed on the maternal escape for a long time, but did not give roots
In this case, you can still give more time to the process of sprouting. If there are no shifts, then you can try to wrap the place of attachment of the child to the arrow with pre-wetted moss with a sphagnum, fixing it with a bandage or a strong thread. Every day during the month it is necessary to irrigate the moss with water with the addition of the drug "Kornevin".
To create greenhouse conditions, the nest of moss can be additionally wrapped with cling film, but do not forget to daily remove it for a while in order to prevent rotting of the plant.
Placed on a curved arrow
In some species of orchids, flower stalks are quite flexible. In the case of flexible and curved peduncles, the baby can not be cut. The arrow of the orchid with the baby is simply attracted to the pot with bark so that the roots of the young plant go into the ground. The peduncle itself is fixed on the wall of the pot with the help of a wire. In such cases, the baby develops especially fast, so it receives nourishment from the parent plant and from its own root system. Here you can not apply the greenhouse.
All the main points on growing children and separating them from their mother - orchids were outlined above. It remains to add that the obligatory components of success in this troublesome, but still grateful business are love, patience and care. With these feelings and qualities, you can easily cope with the task and not be afraid, but look forward to the appearance of a process on the peduncle of your favorite orchid.
