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| Saturday, 15 February 2003 |
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Blooming orchids by Ravi Ladduwahetty Orchids, which are grown in Sri Lanka, are basically epiphytes. However, there are the species which grow on the ground as well. There are the endemic species which includes the Vesak Orchid (Vesak Mal-Dendrobium Macartheae), which flowers in May. It has a beautiful spray of flowers, some times 800-1000 flowers in a bunch.
It grows in the rain forests of Sri Lanka and especially in the Sabaragamuwa stretch from the Sinharaja to the Balangoda area. However, it cannot be grown in Colombo, unless the wettish climatic conditions are met. So says veteran Orchid personality L.S. Wanigatunga founder of the Lanka Orchid Society in 1990. He has been a member of the Orchid Circle from 1964 and has been the President of the Lakmalsala for the last twenty eight years. The backdrop is his Kirulapone abode.
His garden area spans over quarter acre. His Dendrobium species exceeds 15,000 which encase over a third of his aesthetic garden. He has over 500 Vandas. There are also Ascosendas, Mokaras, Arandas, and Cattleyas. The garden is a swarm of animation amidst a profusion of colours in this mushy aura. He grows mostly hybrids. These number well over a thousand. It is the male Dendrobiums from which he makes the male Vandas that he makes from them. Nobody in the world does it. He uses the local Vanda Tessellatas as one of the parents in all his hybrids. He is firmly convinced that hybrids are imperative.This is because some imported species may perform well in Sri Lanka, while others do not.
The solution to this problem lies in importing them from Amsterdam, Bangkok, Djakarta and Singapore and producing hybrids. The pods are allowed to mature for periods between three to nine months and the plants are allowed to germinate. Some times there are stocks of up to 50,000 plants. Then the tissue cultured One of them, Dendrobium Jayalath Piyasena - a hybrid named after a friend, is a very popular exhibition orchid which has won a series of Awards. It is also a very good cut flower orchid. Is one of the best Intermediate Dendrobium shows such as the Lakmal Show. There is also the new orchid - Dendrobium Lakshmi Wickremasinghe, named after one of his employees.
It is a dark white flower with a dark purple centre. It is a very beautiful cut flower. Professionally, Wanigatunga is indeed a queer paradox. He is a double Graduate in Physics and Mathematics from the Peradeniya University and in Textile Technology from the Bombay University. He also retired as the General Manager of the now defunct Wellawatte Spinning and Weaving Mills. He was elected as a Vice President of the British Institute of Textile Technology in UK, the only Sri Lankan and the second Asian to do so. He grew his first orchid plant in 1962 and took to full time orchid growing in 1985, after retirement. It is with a deep sense of fervour and devotion that he exudes that his variegated collection needs varying light conditions. Vandas Cattleyas and Dendrobiums need around 40 percent shade, an ambience which is artificially provided by shade netting. On the contrary, the Arandas, Mokaras and Semi Terate Vandas grow in the full sun. Phalaenopsis need up to 80 percent shades.
He spells out that Dendrobiums are the most convenient to grow in Sri Lanka. He does not sell much of the hybrids the way they are, in the pure form. He grows the hybrid, select a good plant, makes the tissue culture and it is the tissue culture that he sells. Moreover, these tissue cultures also ensure identical plants. Some of his hybrids have been flown from Bangkok and the others have been tissue cultured here, he says with conspicuous pride. Wanigatunga is an altruistic individual. He has disseminated his knowledge to over two thousand persons free of charge. There is also the Vanda Tessellata, which is found in the dry zone, which are in large shapes and colours which has been used in the hybridisation with the foreign species. There is also the Poson Orchid which is not popular and not known well. It is also a white flower which are found in the rain forests, which has around thirty species. There is also the Jewel Orchid (Wanaraja) which grows in the wet zone and Vanilla Orchid (Vanilla Planifolium) from which the original flavouring was made. The identification of an orchid plant lies in the protruding from the centre of the flower called the column, then it is defined as an Orchid. The Orchid Circle of Ceylon which was formed 65 years ago has been concentrating on hobby growing. Wanigatunga's ethos has changed with the liberalisation of the economy and where orchids became a commercial product for exports, specially with the concept of air transport becoming available. Sri Lanka was exporting orchids from 1977 to 1982, but stopped with the unprecedented growth of the local demand, which cannot be met, especially from hotels and corporate entities. Moreover, local prices are better!! However, It is big export business in Thailand. Wanigatunga says that one has to be involved in growing first before he /she learns the finer aspects in five Sundays where one can learn the ambit of orchid growing. Some of the biggest growers in Sri Lanka today, are his students. "One cannot learn swimming without getting into the river," he says. The bottomline is that there is tremendous scope for self employment and especially in the outstations. It is seen as a very lucrative mode of business with excellent profits. Sri Lanka has the potential to get into this in commercial parametres comparable with Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore where the Sri Lankan village economies could be fortified. |
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