Sunday 5 January 2014

Love at first sight...


We had gone to a fair and in one corner we saw a stall which was selling some amazing looking orchid flowers. On closer inspection, we realized that it was not just the flowers  but the plants and it was love at first sight for us. 

Our first orchid... A beautiful baby pink dendrobium...
I sill remember the plant that we chose had a few flowers and few buds. We had asked the people who sold us the plant and they said it doesn't need any direct sunlight and should do extremely well with watering regularly. We were of course very skeptical that this plant in a small pot with some roots sticking out of coconut husk was going to turn out to have the "nursery syndrome" as someone called it (where you buy a beautiful blooming plant from the nursery and it withers away within a short time at home. That of course is due to the excessive use of DAP in soil based plants to make them bloom prematurely).

To our dismay, the smaller buds started drying up first, and slowly none of the buds remained. What really amazed us was that the opened blooms continued to do well which gave us some hope. Then I remembered that the guy in the stall told us that the orchid's name started with D and then we googled it till we were sure it was called a Dendrobium. We learnt all about the plant, what it liked and it needed to grow. We started experimenting with the light, water etc. and slowly started seeing our plant doing better.


From there on, with some more interesting twists and turns, our love for orchids became a passion and with a few years of hobby growing experimenting under our belt, we decided to spread the love for potted orchid plants and launched The Urban Orchid Boutique.

We learnt some basic things that can make orchid growing a better experience:
  1. Know your plant - Always know what genus/hybrid you are buying.
  2. Understand its needs - This is basically humidity (water), lighting and nutrients (Temperature also for some genus).
  3. Observe your plant - This perhaps is the most important thing as only then will you be able to get the plant adapted to the new enviorns of your home.
  4. If it ain't broke, don't fix it - If the plant is doing well, it is best to leave it alone and not move it around
  5. A place to grow and a place to show - Grow an orchid in a place that suits it best and when it is blooming, make it your centerpiece and show it off as much as you want.
  6. Experiment and be Patient - It is very important to experiment with your plant when it is not doing well. In general though, remember that if its not good, signs would be visible immediately but good things are seen relatively slower. So Patience is very important while growing orchid plants.
Our first dendrobium today...
The Crown Jewel of our collection
Keep the above points in mind and your orchid growing experience will be very rewarding and orchids will grow not only in your home but are sure to take root in your heart as well...


Today, our first orchid plant has grown huge and has given out 4 spikes simultaneously...

At the Urban Orchid Boutique we provide a plant profile which helps in you in understanding the plant and its needs and grow it easily...
We are extremely passionate about or orchids and continue to share our experiences and learn. Please email us at theurbanorchid@gmail.com for any queries.

5 comments:

  1. Awesome, very informative. I live in Talegaon nr Pune. I have a few orchids and have read that orchids do not like sunlight, although I have seen some thrive in full sun. Pl advise if I can place the plants in sunlight. Further what is the fertilizer I can use?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Awesome, very informative. I live in Talegaon nr Pune. I have a few orchids and have read that orchids do not like sunlight, although I have seen some thrive in full sun. Pl advise if I can place the plants in sunlight. Further what is the fertilizer I can use?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thank you for writing to us. The amount of sunlight depends on the type of plant. Dendrobiums for example, like a couple of hours of direct sunlight preferably early morning sun. You can use a balanced NPK fertilizer for growing and low nitrogen for making them bloom. Orchid Boon by sterling is quite good and easily available.

    You can check out Better grow on our website which is an organic alternative.

    Please email us for more details at theurbauorchid@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thank you for writing to us. The amount of sunlight depends on the type of plant. Dendrobiums for example, like a couple of hours of direct sunlight preferably early morning sun. You can use a balanced NPK fertilizer for growing and low nitrogen for making them bloom. Orchid Boon by sterling is quite good and easily available.

    You can check out Better grow on our website which is an organic alternative.

    Please email us for more details at theurbauorchid@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hai,
    This is Ganesh from Chennai.
    I would love to know if Orchids can survive in Chennai like climate as its Summer most part of the year. If so what are the techniques we need to know and follow.

    ReplyDelete