How do babies appear and grow on the trunk of an orchid, at the base and root, and what kind of care is needed?

One of the easiest ways to grow orchids at home is to reproduce babies. A baby is a new small flower that can appear on different parts of an orchid and in some cases completely displaces an adult orchid from a pot. During this period, the mother plant, like the young, needs special care, but the article will focus more on the little orchid babies and what care they need.

What parts of the flower can form?

Baby appears in different places of the adult plant, which is also called maternal. This may be a stem, leaf bosoms or dormant buds on the peduncle of an adult plant. Depending on the location, it has a specific name. The one that is closer to the roots is called root. And the one that is higher on the stem is the basal baby.

It is worth remembering that it is impossible to postpone the process of separation for a long time. After all, the roots of a small flower can become fragile and break down during transplantation.

Important! It is possible to separate the offspring from the mother plant when it has 3-4 leaves, and the roots grow to 5 cm.

Also at this time do not forget about the adult orchid. The process of growing up kids is quite long - up to six months. It is during this period that she will need special care because of the additional load on her.

How to understand what appeared?

At the first appearance on the flower, the baby is quite difficult to distinguish from the peduncle or the air root. Therefore, it is important to know what the root, the peduncle, and the baby itself looks like.

• Root - has a smooth surface without scales with rounded tips. Directed down. Growth to the side or upward can be observed quite rarely.
• Peduncle - grows from the center upwards and has a sharp tip. On it, unlike the root, there are scales.
• Baby - A new small plant with its leaves and roots. But in order to fully ensure that this is a new plant, you must wait. It is after the appearance of the leaves that it becomes clear that the orchid gave offspring.

At the root

At first glance it will seem that an independent plant grows at the root. But if you carefully rake up the upper part of the bark, you will see that a small plant has appeared on the mother plant. For, to separate the baby from the root of an adult plant, it is necessary to cut the baby together with its piece. However, do not do this until such time as the children have their own roots.

It should be separated with great care, as there is a risk of damaging the roots of the mother plant and the children themselves. Many growers prefer not to separate it from the root of an adult plant. In this case, if you provide the right care, then both beauties will give an excellent flowering.

We offer to watch a video about the appearance of children on the orchid root:

On the trunk

Many Experts believe that there are several reasons for the appearance of children:

1. Improper care because of which the flower is dying, gives the last power to reproduce, performs its biological task. But in practice it turns out differently. The baby is able to appear on the stem of a completely healthy flower.
2. The injury of the stem or the death of the growth point are the following causes of the appearance of children on the stem.

You should not separate the baby from the mother. She will not survive on her own. As a result, there will be two orchids in one pot. The mother plant dies with time, and its place is young.

Attention! A feature of the basal babe is the absence of its roots, it feeds on the roots and stems of the mother plant.

But some flower growers still resort to the procedure for separating children from the stem. During this process, it is imperative to follow these rules:

1. sprinkle with charcoal;
2. dry the young plant for a day and then place it into a small fractional substrate;
3. expect the appearance of roots.

At the base of the root collar

1. Before the separation of such children, you must first prepare the inventory. After you need to cut the baby off the plant. But do not cut it completely, and leave at least one centimeter peduncle.
2. Then the cut-off appendix is ​​dried for 30 minutes.
3. Slice sprinkled with wood or activated charcoal.
4. The shoot is placed in the prepared substrate.

Maternal plant care

During growth, the baby receives everything necessary for growth from the mother plant. That is why it does not matter on which part of the plant it appeared, but it does not need special care, unlike the mother plant. He needs attention.

After the appearance of offspring, the plant must be kept in a warm, wet mode. Fertilizers are especially needed during this period. As a top dressing, choose fertilizers with a high nitrogen content. That it helps in building green mass.

If you plan to separate it from the “mother”, and it does not give its roots for a long time, then you can use moss-sphagnum to speed up and stimulate this process. To do this, place the attachment site with moss and systematically spray it. There are cases when a baby releases a flower spike before it is separated from the mother plant. In such a case, in order to not inhibit the development of leaves and roots, the peduncle must be removed.

The appearance of children in the orchid - an infrequent phenomenon. Therefore, it is important to recognize her appearance and give her the right care. Only in this case, you can get a new luxury flower.

Watch the video: How to tell an Orchid flower spike from a root - Phalaenopsis (May 2024).