“ For us in U.K we don’t have to travel far to buy orchid plants.During the last few Christmas periods orchids were found in the flowers section in
Tesco . Tesco also sells Orchid Feeds.One only needs to add to the jug of water you are going to water the orchid 2 or 3 drops of this.The indoor orchid then grows well and blooms nicely.”
Maha
News, Views and More from Batch'64, Faculty of Medicine, Colombo, SriLanka 
Dear Maha
Your orchids are very pretty. You certainly have green fingers.
I have an orchid plant given to me by a friend and even though I looked after it well, the second set of blooms were very tiny .
One interesting thing I noticed a few days ago was that on the “spent “ flower stalk there is a plantlet growing at the tip . These plantlets are called “keiki” in Hawaiian meaning “baby” Apparently thes plantlets can be separated from the parent plant and can be repotted to give a new plant
😊 Praxy
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Happy New Year to Sree and Maha, my sincere wish
Your indoor orchids look pretty with stunning colours
Thank you for the tips, where to buy and how to grow
To get such a fab crop you must possess green fingers!
Ariya
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Thanks for the pics.They are tropical saprophytes.!There is a wide variety and at the Changi airport in Singapore the display is magnificient all year through.Regards.Eddie.
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Beautiful orchids which I believe are epiphytes.
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Sorry, I posted the comment without completing. Maha, Your orchids are beautiful. My wife takes care of the indoor orchids. We too buy them when on sale at mostly at garden shops which are part of large hardware shops. Some have bad habit of comitting suicide. Their roots (Areal roots) grab moisture from the air. In the Jaffna area, there are 2 varieties of orchids growing on palmyra trees, i remember one was Vanda and other may be cymbidium bicolor. studied them in Botany class at Hartley. Here in Chicago area the atmosphere is very dry in winter. Need supplemental water – spray or pour. Some hang them in the bathroom while showering. my wife was recommended to place an ice cube on the pot surface for slow release. A very unnatural way. but seems to work! Sometimes they do well with neglect!!
The orchid house in the Peradeniya Gardens has a fair collection.
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Dear Dharma,
There was a programme on TV where they said to keep a cube of ice in the container and also to cut banana skin and place them in the pot for the Potassium and to water them only once a week but sparingly and also to mist the leaves with water sprays. Praxy
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Yes they are epiphytes.Thanks for the correction Dharma.Eddue.
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Dear Maha,
Another Green Finger.
Your orchids look nice. Also the garden seen through the window looks beautiful as well.
The Botany learned from our teacher, Mr Paramanantham is working well !!
We have 4 different orchids in pots, but I cant remember the names. We put egg shells in addition to orchid food. Needs repotting every couple of years.
All the best.
Seelan
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Lovely orchids s – thanks Maha for the photos .
Yes- as Eddie said- airport in S’pore has the BEST display of orchids- I believe the Orchid capitol of the world !
I did go on a tour to see the Orchid garden, during a short stop over via S’pore Airlines on way to SL for my mothers 90th b’day, and I bought a lovely bunch of orchids for her as a gift .
I have the most lovely photos of this orchid garden and the display at the airport.
I learned from a gardener at the orchid garden- that they use charcoal ( Carbon ) as a special feeder for the orchids , as I saw lots of charcoal in the pots and containers that the orchids were growing .
I believe, one needs a lot of humidity for best growth- like Dharma says – keeping it in the bathroom and on a kitchen window sill will do the trick .
I have no luck with orchids, and I do admire any one who can grow them in the house and make them bloom . My home is too dry and I have more indoor plants than I can cope with .
some of you may have see that huge habarala plant I have- under which I sit and drink my morning coffee, as a ritual, to give me that great holistic spirit to get going with the day .
Well done Maha- keep it up .
May you grow many many orchids in the year 2018 — Sree told me that you are a great gardener !!
Great to see that we have lots of Gardeners among the Class of 64 !
Keep it up everybody !!
eagledmastergardner ( I have NO luck with Orchids though !! ) .
Thanks Sam — if not for you, we would never know, who is doing what ,to keep body and soul alive !!!!
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Dear Maha
your orchids are very pretty. I don’t have much luck with them.I will take the tips and see next time. Thanks for displaying them for us.
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