Bletilla Striata

[AboutOrchids]

My Bletillas are reliable bloomers as long as I keep them dry over the winter. In the summer they seem to like heavy water.

[Dorothy]

Aw Gee
Thank you Evan

[PleuroPal]

Hello,

I do love this plant. I've had it in a pot in regular soil outside for about 5 years now, and it's never failed to do it's thing each season. Another reason it's special to me is that it was one of my very first orchids, given to me by my old friend Harry Phillips, straight out of his beautiful back yard.

My question: When is the best time to divide the bulbs? Right now, the new shoots are just popping up out of the ground. Should I wait until the end of the growing season after the plants die back, or should I jump on it now?

[Leisurely]

PleuroPal,
I am confident that you would be successful in dividing your plant now or after blooming. There might be a drawback to dividing now and that is the potential to loose flowers so if I were you I would wait until after they bloom. You could also wait until dormant because they are frequently sold as dried off bulbs such as tulips during the fall and winter months at garden centers.

I gave a friend a division of my plant during the latter part of last winter. His plant did not bloom last year but currently has three spikes on it.

[PleuroPal]

Thanks Jerry! I think I'll wait until they go dormant. I just spoke to Harry and that's what he recommended as well.

[Bloomin_Aussie]

This is about the most trouble-free terrestrial I have growing. I bought a couple of plants 2 years ago not really knowing anything about them. They were sent to me bare rooted in active growth so I was a bit disappointed to see them whither and "die" a few months after I potted them. I realised some time after that they were deciduous when they shot up again and gave me an impressive display of colour. I recently got around to repotting them and to my surprise found that each of the plants had grown from a single bulb to 7 or 8 each with another 4 to 5 active shoots pushing out. Pretty good considering I just left them thinking they were dead!

Luckily I don't get deer near my place... wish I could say the same for aphids and caterpillars.

[Royal]

Hey Pat,

Jerry's right, wait until after flowering to divide. You can lift them easily when dormant, but you can divide them with a shovel anytime after spring.

These guys do appreciate some extra spring water and fert, but they're remarkably drought tolerant through the summer. A few cool factoids: Bletilla seed capsules split along 6 seams, unlike the 3 for "normal" orchids. Also, Bletilla seed actually contains some nutrient reserves in the from of endosperm, and can germinate like regular seed. Pretty neat, huh?

[PleuroPal]

As a matter of fact, mine put out a bunch of seed pods this last year, although I didn't recognize them for what they were until they were all brown and withered. What could I do with them? (I saved some just in case.)

Language Trivia: The word "factoid", commonly used to mean a little-known or small-yet-interesting fact, actually means something commonly stated as fact but which is in fact not true.

[Royal]

Originally Posted by PleuroPal

As a matter of fact, mine put out a bunch of seed pods this last year, although I didn't recognize them for what they were until they were all brown and withered. What could I do with them? (I saved some just in case.)

Try sprinkling some around the base of the mother plant. If you feel like experimenting, try sowing them on a few types of media like sphag, peat, peat/sand mix, and potting soil and see what happens. A 24 hour soak in distilled water might help wake them up first, and might make it easier to sow using an eye dropper.

[Leisurely]

I had several seed capsules that matured late in the fall. I sprinkled the dust like seed all around the mother plant just for the heck of it, not expecting anything. Who knows, I might get some germination when the rainy season begins. As the old cliche' goes, nothing ventured, nothing gained.