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| Geetha, Geethanjali, Kottamam, Parasuvakkal, Thiruvananthapuram |
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Neither
flower pot, nor soil or charcoal is used by Geetha, Geethanjali,
Kottamam, Parasuvakkal to grow 1500 orchids at home.
All she uses is the easily available and often discarded coconut
shell, that reduces her cost of cultivation considerably.
It
was the journal of American Orchid Society that her husband, an employee
at the Kerala University brought home, that set her thinking in this
direction. Starting the
cultivation in 100 coconut shells, she took it up as a self-employment
avenue. The shell pots are
hung using nylon threads on their terrace and the hanging garden is
sheltered from intense sunlight using 50% shade giving net.
As the orchids grow and cling on to the shell, the roots start
coming down like a line of beards almost 1 metre long.
In
addition to the saving in preparation of flower pot, this method has
another advantage. The usual
enemies of orchids like snails and centipedes do not attack these
shell-grown ones. Nor are
they susceptible to root wilt and bud wilt diseases.
Occasional pests are controlled using solution of chilly paste.
Courtesy: M.P.Ayyappadas, Mathrubhumi, May 1, 2004
Contributed by: Administrator
