Orchids can play a significant role in reducing the city’s pollution if grown in households, enthusiasts of the flowering plant said.
“Bengalureans are showing immense interest in growing orchids on their rooftops, balconies and gardens. Besides creating a conducive environment for the plants to grow, soil blended with rotten leaves, organic manure and charcoal (serving as a source of carbon dioxide) is a must. Moreover, city's pollution can be a good source of carbon dioxide,” said Sadananda Hegde, the president of The Orchid Society of Karnataka (TOSKAR).
The society had organised a two-day Orchid Show starting from Saturday at Lalbagh. As many as 700 types of hybrid varieties of orchids from different parts of the country were on display.
the Orchid Society of Karnataka at Lalbagh on Sunday.
Hegde said the show was supposed to be held 12 days ago. However, the delay helped many rare and significant orchid varieties to be displayed in the show.
“Last 15 days were a bit dry that favoured the early blooming of Slipper Orchids. We would have missed the bloomed ones had the show not been delayed,” he said.
The Lady Slipper Orchid, which was once a lost species, was also on the display at the show. “Now, these orchid varieties are grown in plenty in most of the households. We have completely recovered the lost species,” Hegde added.
Conservation of Indian orchid breeds is important, said orchid enthusiasts.
“We have lost many orchid species to other countries in the past. In Karnataka, the Western Ghats alone have more than 200 varieties of orchids. Orchids are very intelligent flower structures that need to be protected,” said one of the orchid enthusiasts of Bangalore.
“The biotechnology-oriented companies should take up initiatives to grow more orchid hybrid varieties and actively involve in conserving the gene pool,” he added.
Another orchid enthusiast, Nageshwar, who owns an orchid garden of about 3,000 plants, said there was a huge demand for orchids in the Indian market.
“We are importing many orchid varieties from various other countries. Nowadays, there is a huge demand for plants for decorative purposes in India. We should stop importing orchids and grow them ourselves,” he said.
The training sessions and seminars were organised. Counters were set up for the sale of orchid plants. Books on orchids were also sold at the show.