Kenyans who collect orchids as a hobby - VIDEO

Over the past weekend, the Annual Orchid Show organised by the Kenya Orchid Society in Nairobi's Sarit Centre, gave seasoned plant collectors and enthusiasts a perfect day out.

Some showcased their best orchids. Others were looking to start growing orchids and wanted tips. While others were looking for arrangements that can be used in weddings.

BDLife spoke to a number of orchid enthusiasts.

Helena Rame won the Grand Champion of the Orchid Show Award. The first time we met Helena, she was conducting a class on repotting orchids. She is this year's Grand Champion courtesy of her vanda tricolour var.suavis orchid.

“It is grown naturally and is not man-made. It is originally grown in the Philippines but for some reason, it also grows well in Kenya. I think it is because of our altitude. It is nine years old and it blooms beautifully every year,” says the orchid lover.

She has been growing orchids for 14 years. Her first collection came from her former employee who was leaving the country.

“She was relocating to Europe, I went to her house and was amazed by the beautiful orchids. I ended up buying most of her collection and she introduced me to the Kenya Orchids Society,” says Ms Rame.

Now she is a Kenya Orchids Society judge.

What she has learnt from orchids is observation.

“I thought that for every orchid, there was a strict rule on how to take care of them. However, over the years I have come to know that the only teacher about orchids is your own orchid. By being patient, observant and reading about orchids, I have managed to grow them. It is always so evolving to see them bloom and reward me for my effort,” says the 49-year-old.

For Ms Rame, she came to the exhibition to showcase her orchids collection and to meet all her friends from the Orchids Society. This is their one week to shine with their orchid collection.

Where does she grow her orchids?

“I have a hot house and a mesh house where I grow my orchids. I also grow some outside in the garden in the soil and on the trees,” she says.

A hot house is a heated greenhouse that is protected from elements of temperature and you can control the conditions.

Her advice on watering orchids: “If it hangs on something and the roots are not covered, your orchid will be dehydrated quicker and it might need watering even twice a day during the dry season. If it is sitting on moss which retains moisture for a long time, you will have to touch it and see if it needs new water.”

At the Annual Orchid Show, she curated a desert theme with a camel structure, sand and dry grass.

“The theme of the show was from Batian to Kili interpreted to show the landscapes of Kenya, so I chose to work with the dry parts of the country.”

Rajul Patel’s orchids help her stay connected to her mom

“I started growing orchids courtesy of my mom. She was an avid orchid grower, so when we lost her about 18 years ago, I kept growing to feel connected with her. Now it has become a passion and obsession. You can say I am an ‘orchidholic’. It is funny that when we were children, we would joke that mom spends more time with her orchids than her children and now I am doing the same," she says.

Orchids have taught her patience, resilience, determination, courage and just acceptance of life.

“Different orchids grow differently, in terms of care. I inherited a lot of orchids from my mom. I also do a lot of exchanges with orchid growers and I also buy a lot from the Kenya Orchid Society. Whenever I travel, I also try to bring some more,” she says.

She has a huge collection of about 2,000 orchids and she brought about 80 orchids to the annual show.

“I have a variety of orchids including oncidiums, cattleyas, phalaenopsis, angraecums and epidendrums. I have created five greenhouses with different temperatures, humidities and micro-climates to help grow different orchids from different parts of the world," Ms Patel says.

She adds: "Some are also outside under the trees. While orchids have a bad reputation for being finicky and hard to grow, I have found them very easy to grow. I think if you get the right orchid for your environment, it will do well. You can grow orchids in window sills, in your bathroom. The key is to pick the right orchid for that specific part. So before you go buy an orchid, figure out where you want to grow it. Don't buy an orchid just by the way it looks.”

Orchid growing is a hobby that has now become a business for her. Her exhibition stand at this year's show was to honour the birds' ecosystem.

“Over the years of touring Maasai Mara, I have come to realise that we have a beautiful bird population, we have several species. My theme is the nectar bar because birds are so crucial in the ecosystem with pollination. My exhibit also has written literature because I wanted to educate people about birds and how we should conserve them. This year for the first time we do not have enough plants to show in the exhibition because of climate change. Some of our big specimen plants are not blooming,” she says.

Orchids have taught Anand Savani patience

Anand Savani is the vice-chairperson of the Kenya Orchid Society. He started growing orchids about 15 years ago.

“I have always wanted to learn how to grow orchids but I kept killing them. Then I decided to learn how to grow them properly, so I started with one orchid. Then I went to five and built my collection from there. Now I have orchids from every family of orchids," the 49-year-old says.

He has cymbidiums from Asia and the Himalayas, dendrobiums, Kenyan orchids and phalaenopsis.

Mr Savani gets his orchids from the exchange among members of the Kenya Orchids Society and plant imports from sustainable growers of orchids or laboratory orchids.

“These are orchids that are considered endangered, so due to conservation efforts there are nurseries where they are kept.”

He says that orchids have nurtured his patience. His biggest challenge now is climate change.

“A lot of our orchids now fail to flower or grow appropriately because of the change in weather patterns.”

He also gives us a bit of the history of the Kenya Orchid Society.

“The Kenya Orchid Society is one of the oldest orchid societies in Africa and has been in existence since the 1920s. It was a pre-colonial thing. It started as a very small society but now it has grown to 120 members. We hold the annual show around this time because this is usually the peak flowering season for orchids," he says.

"To educate people about orchids this becomes the best timing. We have different types of orchids. We have epiphytic orchids which take nutrients and everything from the air. We have lithophytic orchids which grow on stone and we have terrestrial ones which grow in the normal soil. There are so many families of orchids all that require different care conditions,” he says.

Kamal Kaur talks to her orchids

“I joined the Kenya Orchids Society in 2019 accidentally, after my childhood friend who was the chairperson at the time convinced me to join. Now look at me winning ribbons. Three of my plants were highly commended in the show. I am a very nervous plant parent. I grow plants on ‘good vibes and Inshallah’. I just talk to them and grow them with a lot of love,” Ms Kaur says.

Her exhibition theme was hiking.

“My children and I are Westgate terror attack survivors. My children still have shrapnels in their legs but they overcame all odds and they have been going climbing and hiking. So I came up with this theme as a dedication to my children and what they have overcome.”

How did she fall in love with orchids?  “I have always loved orchids. My mom was an avid orchid grower but I had no green thumbs. I was never interested in plants until after my mom passed away in 2017. Who was going to look after them? Me. So I had to look after the orchids and because they were mom’s, I had to make an extra effort to keep them alive. Now I have built my own collection and I am so proud of that,” she says.

Her worry is the changing weather patterns which have caused many of her orchids to bloom earlier than the show. She has cymbidiums, dendrobiums, oncidiums, and vandas.

“I love growing vandas because others say they are hard to grow but I find them the easiest to grow. I think what has helped me is to talk to my plants which my children find strange but it works. Look, I talk to my children and they have grown up well," she says.