Under natural conditions, orchids propagate by seeds and lateral layering. At home, sleeping buds awaken to receive shoots on orchids. In this case, it is important to be patient, because the growth and development of the baby will take more than one month.
Plant Features
Orchids are monopodial plants. This concept refers to the ongoing vegetation at one point. When plants propagate, processes are formed from meristems - these are sleeping buds. They are located on the stems between the leaves and can provoke the formation of either a peduncle or babies. Buds can be located at the very bottom of the flower arrow. They are hidden under dense scales.
If, instead of an arrow, an arrow with a lateral process grows out of the kidney, then this is a basal baby. To propagate orchids at home, use flower stalks, or rather, kidneys sleeping on them.
Awakening period
Meristems wake up during the period of active growth of the root system and leaves. Under natural conditions, this occurs with the onset of heat and rainy weather. While washing the tree bark with rains, the roots of the orchids are saturated with nutrients, provoking the emergence of a new life. For home breeding, you must imitate a similar microclimate.
Optimal conditions
For the awakening of sleeping kidneys, it is necessary to create optimal conditions, and only after that engage in awakening.
So, you need:
- Reduce lighting. During the flowering period, plants are placed on the windowsill, and in order to awaken the buds, it is necessary to remove them from the light or to shade the glass.
- Make sure that the temperature is not lower than 27 degrees.
- Increase air humidity up to 60%. At home, a spray method is used for this purpose. Humidity can also be increased by placing the mother plant on a pallet with wet pebbles.
- Feed orchids with a complex fertilizer with a high level of nitrogen. Give food with every second watering.
After creating the conditions for reproduction, they move on to the second part of awakening.
Side propagation
This type of reproduction is carried out in several stages:
- Stimulation of awakening.
- Sprouting layering.
- Branch of the grown layering.
The sleeping buds of an orchid must be properly stimulated to awaken. For this, immediately after flowering, the peduncle is removed. A slice is made two centimeters above the upper kidney. The place of pruning must be treated with antiseptics.
With a sharp sterile knife, the scales are carefully removed from the sleeping kidneys, so as not to catch the meristem itself. Then it is treated with cytokinin paste - a preparation based on natural plant hormone. It provokes orchid division. After about a couple of months, an awakened kidney will show whether it is a baby or a peduncle.
Peduncle for reproduction
And how to wake up sleeping buds on a peduncle? Many gardeners use this particular method of reproduction. For this, the cut arrow is placed in a vessel with water so that one end is immersed in water by five centimeters. Then a kidney awakening procedure is performed.
The arrow with a peduncle is left in a vessel with water, and on top cover it with a bag.
Baby branch
The baby will be separated from the orchid when it has at least three roots. In this case, we can confidently talk about the successful propagation of the plant. The layer is removed from the mother plant with a length of own roots of at least five centimeters. In order not to damage the tiny plant, it is necessary to leave a piece of peduncle on each side of the place of attachment of the baby - about half a centimeter. The first year the baby is kept in a greenhouse with a high level of humidity. During adaptation, yellowing of the leaves may be observed. As soon as the roots adapt to independent life, leaflets will quickly grow.