In The Garden
Saturday, March 24, 2001
CRAIG T. KOJIMA / STAR-BULLETIN
Cattleya traditionally make lovely corsages and the plants make
great gifts for special occasions. Chia Lin, shown above, and Hawaiian
Rainbow, below, were cultivated by expert Scot Mitamura. Orchids
like these will be on displayt at the Windward
Orchid Show next weekend.
ADMITTEDLY, Scot Mitamura has a few advantages over the competition in the orchid judging at the 22nd Annual Windward Orchid Show next weekend. Growing top orchids
takes orchestrationThe 42-year-old cattleya expert has been growing orchids since he was 12. He has a bachelor's degree in horticultural technology from the University of Hawaii, and he's been on staff at Foster Botanical Garden as the orchid expert for 12 years.
He's used to winning awards. Dozens of trophies and plaques are scattered throughout his Kaneohe townhouse, and he no longer keeps track of the count.
What: Windward Orchid Society 22nd Annual Orchid Show and Plant Sale ORCHID SHOW
Where: Armory building, King Intermediate School, 46-155 Kamehameha Highway, Kaneohe, two blocks north of Windward Mall
When: 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. March 30 and 31, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 1
Cost: $2 donation; free to people 65 or older
Call: 239-5415
Also: Orchid growing classes by Scot Mitamura at Foster Botanical Garden, beginning April 7 and 14. Call 537-1708.
But the veteran orchid hybridizer isn't taking anything for granted.
"OK, I am the cattleya expert. I know what I'm doing and I know what is a beautiful flower. But there are some really, really good growers out there. The younger ones are doing some awesome things and the older growers still are good at the game," Mitamura said.
These growers will be competing as well as selling their plants at the show next weekend. Garden supplies, food and other plants, such as bromeliads and succulents, also will be for sale.
Growing award-winning orchids isn't difficult, Mitamura said. It takes experience, patience and determination.
"Well, maybe craziness, too. Sometimes I think I'm crazy for doing this. It is so labor intensive, but it's my hobby, my passion," said Mitamura, who also teaches orchid culture at Foster Botanical Garden."When I see students coming to my class, they don't know anything and they want to know specific things, like when to water, how much to water. New people want structure, but there's really no formula," Mitamura said.
The secret to growing beautiful orchids is to observe the plants, become in tune with their habits and needs, and develop the right touch, he said. It is more an art than science.
"The fun thing about growing orchids is that you can do your own thing. It's so individualized. Everybody has a method that works. Even the old-timers, they are still constantly experimenting," Mitamura said.
In nature, orchids generally get watered in the afternoon when the clouds roll in, and the plants are dry by nightfall, Mitamura said. It doesn't matter when the orchids get watered; it's more important that the plants dry out a bit between waterings, he said.
"I always say, when in doubt, don't water. Orchids are air plants; they need air as much as water," he said.
Mitamura keeps his plants healthy by feeding them Nutricote, a slow-release balanced fertilizer made in Japan and available in garden stores. He does not follow the popular method of keeping the plants rootbound to coax them into flowering. Instead he repots his plants every one to two years to keep the roots loose, which encourages the plants to bloom well and continuously, he said.
"For an orchid to win an award, which is to say, it has to produce spectacular blooms, it needs to have good genes and it needs to be grown well. But an orchid with good genes, if not properly cared for, will not have good flowers," Mitamura said.Good genes do not necessarily translate to expensive plants. Mitamura likes to purchase inexpensive ones he finds at farm fairs and orchid shows. He looks for plants with good basic lineage, which gives him a solid base to produce his own hybrids.
"It takes time to grow an award-winning orchid. It takes years for the plant to produce the first flower and that may be kind of an ugly flower. But if you are patient and grow it right, eventually you can end up with a beautiful orchid," Mitamura said.
Gardening Calendar
Suzanne Tswei's gardening column runs Fridays in Today.
You can write her at the Star-Bulletin,
500 Ala Moana, Tower Seven, 2nd floor, Honolulu, HI, 96813
or email stswei@starbulletin.com
