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Orchids
 Phyllis Petcoff, PAMGA President, talked
to the class about orchids today, February 16, 2005. She dispelled some
myths about orchids. For example, they are not parasites. She also
described methods of orchid propagation and told the students it takes seven
years to grow an orchid seed into a plant. By comparison, students have
learned through our bulb forcing experiment that it takes as long as 16 years to
take a daffodil from seed to bloom. In contrast, the radishes being grown
in the vegetable competition will go from seed to maturity in as little as 22
days.
 Mrs. Petcoff talked about the potting
medium used for orchids. They grow well in fir bark (pine bark is not
recommended) which allows the water to quickly drain. In response to a
question from a student she discouraged the use of compost as a potting medium
for orchids. As part of her Powerpoint Presentation,
Mrs. Petcoff described the book, "The Orchid Thief," in which the desired prey
is the 'ghost orchid.' The book was recently made into a movie entitled,
"Adaptations." She also brought several examples of orchids which vary
greatly in color, size and fragrance. Class ended with a close-up view and
sniff of cattleya, phaleonopsis, oncidium, and paphiopedilum specimens.
| February 16 |
Student entry
Today we fertilized our plants with Miracle
Gro. We put Miracle Grow in our water bottle to water our plants. We
will either water our plants everyday with a little bit of Miracle Gro
or spray our plants every once in a while with a lot of Miracle Gro. For
groups who put the fertilizer in their spray bottles only 1/4 of a
teaspoon of the Miracle Gro should be mixed with the water in the
bottles. If more is placed in the bottles the plants might burn. Groups
using 10-10-10 need to put the fertilizer on the soil and not on the
plants so the leaves don't burn. After we fertilized the plants,
the PAMGA President spoke to our class. The speaker talked about
orchids and how they are not parasites because they do not take energy
from their host. She said that orchids can't grow on pine bark but they
can grow on fir bark. It takes 7 years to grow from a seedling to
flowers. Orchids are in the largest plant family with 25,000 growing
naturally and 100,000 more man made species of orchids. The last thing
she talked about was that Florida grows the largest amount of orchids
and that it is illegal to pick any orchid out of the wild.
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| February 16 |
Student entry
Today we added fertilizer to our
plants. The water team added 10-10-10 to their plants and were told that
it is to be placed in the soil so it will not burn the plants. To make
the other fertilizer, Miracle Gro, we had to use a formula that was 1/2
of a teaspoon to 2 quarts of water. Our spray bottles hold 32 ounces of
water so we will add 1/4 of a teaspoon of fertilizer and water every 2
weeks. The PAMGA President also came and talked to our class about
orchids. The orchids can only grow on fir bark not on pine bark. It is a
myth that they are parasites. They are epiphytes. It takes about seven
years to grow them from seed to a flower. Orchids are the largest family
of flowers with 25,000 naturally occurring. 100,000 more are man-made.
Florida produces the most orchid plants of all the states. The last
thing we talked about are that orchids have sponge like roots.
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Purchase
Area Master Gardener Association