"We get up at 5 a.m. every morning, have breakfast and then I walk three miles. Then we work in the nursery," Ted Sumida explained. "We take it easy in the afternoon, and later I might work with the vegetables."
A retired carpenter, he maintains a workshop where he produces small collectible pieces made from native woods. He and his wife grow most of their own vegetables and have two shade houses containing thousands of orchid plants. They are healthy, busy, involved. And they are very close. "Stella is my companion," Sumida said. "I could never have done this alone."
Ted Sumida is chairman again of the Windward Orchid Society's 18th annual orchid show and sale to be held over the Easter weekend. "This is my fifth time as chairman," Sumida said.
"I don't know why I'm doing it again, and it's only because of my committee. You be sure and write that down," he added. "It's the best committee I ever had. Don't make it sound like I'm doing this all by myself." OK, Ted, there it is, but your committee insists that it's your leadership.
Sumida dates his interest in orchids back at least 50 years. "Mr. Kodama grew orchid seedlings in thumb pots and consigned them to Kress on Fort Street. They cost 50 cents each. I wanted to grow orchids, but I didn't have any 50 cents. So I went to the Kodama nursery on Kam IV Road, and he got me started with blooming cattleyas."
One thing led to another, and over the years the Sumidas' orchid collection has multiplied. There are two shade houses and several thousand plants.
ByDennis Oda, Star-Bulletin
Vanda wirat in bloom.
"It has taken me 50 years to learn about orchids, and I'm still experimenting," he said. "Books only generalize because there are so many different kinds of orchids. Nobody can teach you, you have to teach yourself. And you have to adapt to your own needs."
Sumida used to grow his orchids in gravel, but now finds that large pots filled with gravel are too heavy to lift. He has switched to a mix of fir bark, black volcanic cinders from the Big Island and perlite.
He uses a graduated set of screen boxes, beginning with 1/2-inch mesh, then 1/4-inch and finally 1/8-inch mesh. The growing mix is run through the three screens, resulting in a fine and lightweight medium. Then he washes and air dries it. "You could eat it," Sumida says.
By washing the medium, he removes dust and foreign material that might create mud around the roots of the young plants. "Standing water decays the roots. If the medium is clean, you can go two to three years without repotting, and orchids don't like repotting. Because we wash everything, and we space the plants well, we don't have much trouble with insect pests.
"We use plastic pots, but plastic is solid and there's no aeration, no breathing for the roots. So I take a 1/2-inch soldering iron and I melt holes in the sides of the pot. Don't use a drill -- the pot will shatter. I drill four holes around a 6-inch pot, and more in larger pots. Then I enlarge the hole in the bottom."
This means that plants need more frequent watering because they dry out faster. But Sumida says this is the way orchids grow naturally in the forest. He uses a 20-20-20 water-soluble foliar fertilizer every 10 days to two weeks. "Actually, I'm slowing down, and I don't always keep to that schedule," he said, "but orchids are pretty tough."
The Sumidas' collection includes many varieties of orchids, but there's one that is a real show-stopper. By name it is a Grammatophyllum speciosum, the giant of the orchid world. Its foliage looks more like a fern than an orchid, and it grows to 25 feet, with 5-foot flower spikes of 50 spotted mauve blossoms each.
The Sumidas planted it 25 years ago, and then stood back as it became the Godzilla of the garden. It blooms each August, to the envy of the staff of Foster Garden. Foster also has a Grammatophyllum, but it just sits there and has never flowered.
Ted Sumida's favorite orchid is one he hybridized and named for a granddaughter, a vanda called Yuuko Iso Sumida. The flowers are 5 inches in diameter, lavender with a pale yellow center. He made the cross 12 years ago, and it has bloomed four times since.
Sumida waters his orchids by hand. "I thought about drip irrigation, but I like to see my plants. I can spot the sick ones. I water for about three hours this time of year, once a week. As the weather gets warmer, I water every other day.
"I love orchids, I love to see them grow and bloom. I have met so many interesting people of all ages who are orchid growers. We sit down, talk story, ask questions. We learn, we are friends. We share what we know, but still it is what nature can provide. You can only do so much."
