Orchidland Orchids. Propagate?

[Kelena]

One thing that enchanted me on my first trip to Puna was seeing the thousands of tall, apparently wild orchids in Orchidland and parts of HPP and other places. I had never seen an orchid six foot tall before. Let's say I reside on a property that lacks such orchids. Is is possible to grow them? Where would you get a giant wild orchid? Grow them from seed? From teeny pots you get at the nursery?

[mella l]

Perhaps they were the Bamboo Orchids that grow wild every where! A friend told me he would drive me down one of the Fern Acres main roads and if I stuck my arm out the open window, I would have an arm full of orchids before we went 3 blocks! LOL

So they are everywhere, but you can buy little log pieces of it in stores like Longs, and plant them and they will grown. You can also buy coffee beans, or bird of paradise seeds (they're black with little orange fringe so cute), and many many other plants sold in packages without soil, and put them in medium with a little water, voila!

mella l

[leilaniguy]

Glen, the orchids you mention sound like the common bamboo type, they are an exotic, introduced as cattle fodder, I believe from the Philipines. I don't think anyone would object if you took a few freebies from a subdivision right-of-way or a public roadside.



Edited by - leilaniguy on 06/21/2007 22:05:11

[Les C]

For the bamboo orchids, just wait a while, they will probably migrate to your property, if they are not already there.

[Mitzi M]

Bamboo orchids do have very pretty flowers, but as for the rest of the plant...to me it looks kind of weedy, especially when the blossoms are spent. Indeed, it is a weed pest in Hawai'i, reproducing by wind blown seeds. If you plant a few, you (and the neighbors) will probably soon have many, many more. Another naturalized ground orchid here is the Philippine ground orchid - which is also a weed, but needs more moisture than the bamboo orchid, so its more invasive in wetter spots. These also reproduce from seed, and so your little potted one might soon fill the neighborhood with keikis (if they're not already there!) My personal favorite naturalized ground orchid is the nun's cap (Phaius tankervilleae) which produces many fragrant and lovely, purple and white flowers on a 3-4' tall spike. The nun's cap needs moisture, some soil and a good amount of shade. It's less common than the other 2. If you planted it in your yard, you could conceivably cut the flower stalks before they set seed,(they flower once a year) leaving more energy for the plant, and preventing it from spreading into wild areas.

http://www.hilozoo.com/plants/PE_torchids.htm

All 3 of these ground orchids are so ubiquitous because they produce large amounts of wind borne seeds. Even though there are already a kazillion of them here, I believe its always worth the effort to keep what you plant from adding to the problem. There are many other, even showier orchids that can be used in the landscape just as easily, which have much lower potentials to become invasive. Check out Matias at Maccu'u market on Sundays, and (I think) at a kiosk in Prince Kuhio Mall on Thursdays. His nursery, Wonderful Orchids, is fantastic, and he is so knowledgeable! If you're anything like me, I bet you won't be able to leave empty handed!

Aloha,
Mitzi




Uluhe Design
Restoration Based Landscape Design for Hawai'i
uluhedesign@yahoo.com

[emorata]

Tanks Mitzi for the breakdown on the orchids found throughout the puna area....i find the bamboo orchids and philippine ground orchid predominant in orchidland (how appropriate), but not the nun's cap...it must be found in more wetter and dense foliaged areas, not the typical exposed topography of most of lower puna ...wouldn't mind having alot of the nun's cap growing rampant in my lot, although i'm stuck with the more sunny/exposed land for the time being. i Find that you can grow a variety of orchids here with maybe more filtered light and in trees, rocks or graveled areas that can drain well.

noel

[jerry]

leilaniguy wrote

"I don't think anyone would object if you took a few freebies from a subdivision right-of-way or a public roadside."

On occasion I see people collecting the foliage from the easements. For cut flower displays or shipping, I suppose.

When we have hand cleared sections of our lot in Orchidland (leaving just the Ohias) the first thing to come up is the bamboo orchid. I don't know if they transplant well, but you could try to harvest the seeds--just put the pods into a plastic bag just before they open then spread them on your property.

One of the characteristics of orchids is that they produce millions of very tiny seeds and require rather special circumstances to germinate (as well as pollinate) so it is rather interesting that these have managed to naturalize here.

On the mainland I tried several times to grow Phaius tankervilleae. Now I just protect the few that we have, don't cut the flowers and hope they spread.

Interesting comment about them being introduced for cattle fodder. I know my goats love them.

Jerry
Art and Orchids B&B
http://www.artandorchids.com

[Kelena]

Mahalo, everyone: This sounds pretty easy, and it sounds like propagating these would be very easy indeed. But once I get neighbors (uh, I haven't bought my property yet -- just dreamin' ahead), it looks like there is a potential to make them unhappy with my cattle fodder, unless of course, they have cattle, which I don't think they will in HPP.

You all never cease to amaze me. I hope we can all be neighbors one day. Mitzi, if I get to that point, it sounds like you do landscape planning and that you specialize in natives?

[JerryCarr]

Aloha, Glen. One last word on this. I have accidently discovered that the bamboo orchids are easily transplanted. We had some young ones coming up in one of our newer trails, so I pulled them up and tossed them onto one of several compost heaps in the woods. Several of them just kept on growing like nothing had happened. So when you move here, if you don't have any on your property, you can come over and get some. The Bear thinks they are pretty, and he sometimes uses the flowers and short pieces of stems in cut arrangements.

Cheers,
Jerry

[Kelena]

Oh, the Bear and I agree about bamboo orchids, and about great snorkeling spots! Mahalo for the offer. Am coming over next weekend to see what we shall see. Hopefully, I will have a place to grow beautiful wild things before too long.