This document summarizes botany, propagation methods, and varieties of orchids. It discusses that orchids are in the family Orchidaceae and describes different types including terrestrial, lithophytic, and epiphytic orchids. It also describes monopodial and sympodial growth patterns. The document outlines propagation methods such as seeds, divisions, pseudo bulbs, top cuttings, and tissue culture. It provides details on pollination, potting, repotting, and important orchid genera.

2. Botany, Propagation methods
and Varieties of Orchid
Practical No : 11
HC 3131

3. Introduction - Botany
 Family – Orchidaceae
 Native orchids in Sri Lanka
Eg:

4. Types of orchids
 According to growth habitat
◦ Terrestrial orchids
◦ Lithophytes
◦ Epiphytes
 According to the growth pattern of stem
◦ Monopodial orchid
◦ Sympodial orchid

6. Monopodial Orchid
 Grows as a single upright “stem”
 Do not produce pseudobulbs
 Produce aerial roots
Eg: Vanda
Phalaenopsis
Arachnis

8. Sympodial Orchid
 Apical bud grows horizontally
 Plant produce a series of adjacent shoots
 Grow to a certain size and bloom, then stop
growing
 Produce pseudo bulbs
Eg: Dendrobium
Cattleya
Oncidium

10. Orchid flower

14. Propagation of orchids
 Seeds – artificial pollination

15. Pollination
 Select the parents
 Flowers should be at the correct stage
◦ Female – sticky stagmatic surface
◦ Male – matured pollinia
 Avoid self pollination by removing pollinia from
female parent flower
 Collect pollens from male parent flower and
place on the stigmatic surface of the female
parent flower
 Cover the female parent flower

16.  The flower fades 1-2 days after pollination
 Time taken to mature the fruit
◦ Dendrobium & Phalaenopsis : 2 ½ - 3 months
◦ Vanda : 4 – 5 months
 Harvest mature pods (yellow colour) before
splitting
 Sterilize and culture in-vitro

17.  Divisions
 Pseudo bulbs
 Top cuttings
 Aerial shoots/ off sets
 Tissue culture

18. Divisions
 Common method used for sympodial orchids
 Overgrown plants are separated into parts with
3-4 pseudo bulbs for each divisions
 Treat with a fungicide before planting

19. Pseudo bulbs
 Leafless pseudo bulbs are separated and
planted in a sand bed
 After 6 weeks – produce roots and can be
planted as a new plant

20. Top cuttings
 Used to propagate monopodial orchids
 Vanda : 30 – 37cm long stem cuttings
 Arachnis : 45 – 60 cm long stem cuttings
 Cut end should be treated with fungicide

21. Aerial suckers
 Some old pseudo bulbs produced aerial
suckers in sympodial plants
 They can be separated and planted

22. Tissue culture
 Highly successful in cloning of orchids and to
get virus free plants
 The ex-plant isolate from the shoots and
cultured in desired medium

23. Potting of orchids
 Potting media
◦ Broken brick/ tile pieces - 1 part
◦ Charcoal pieces - 1 part
 Coconut husk in seedling stage

24. pots
 Porous clay pots
 Plastic pots
 Wooden craft

25. Potting of orchids
 Treat seedling in a diluted fungicidal solution for 4-5
minutes
 Fill 2/3 of the pot with potting mixture
 Place the seedling on the media
 Then additional media is packed tightly around the
plant to hold it in place
 A support can be given by fixing a bamboo strip
 Sympodial orchid, plants are kept near to the edge of
the pot as it has horizontal growth

27. Repotting of orchids
 To provide fresh media
 Repot orchids when,
◦ Orchid roots are overflowing the pot
◦ The plant itself is gong to over the edge of the
pot
◦ Potting material is getting soggy and drains
poorly

28.  Ideal time to repot most orchids is when the
plant starts new growth – usually right after it
finishes flowering

29. Important genera of orchids
 Cattleya

30.  Dendrobium

31.  Oncidium

32.  Phalaenopsis

33.  Arachnis

34.  Cymbidium

35.  Vanda

36. Thank you…..