We recommend planting as soon as possible after receipt. They should be planted with three to five centimetres, (one to two inches) of soil or compost above the growing tip. Normal garden or field soil is quite suitable for most Hardys (not Cypripedium, use our Hardy Orchid Mix). We recommend mulch over the top of this. In the wild they would have a considerable amount of herbage, grass and wild flowers growing around them which would give them shade and protection from direct sunlight, which could burn the young growing tip, also from wind which would dry out the surface of the soil. Remember you must NEVER let the tubers or their roots dry out, it will mean certain death.

Our plants are grown in our compost in either pots or large trays. The compost is composed of 30% Seramis, 25% Super Coarse Perlite, 25% Coarse Horticultural Vermiculite, 10% Sterilised Loam and 10% Fine Bark (sizes are listed on our sundries page, previous to this). They are grown on in this compost for three to eight years, depending upon the genus, until they reach flowering size. We water regularly to maintain moist compost, feeding at every other watering with either Fish Emulsion or Seaweed Fertiliser (which we also sell) during the growing season, at ONE QUARTER of the manufacturers recommended strength.

British orchids are either tuberous or rhizomataceous. The tuberous plants have a life cycle such that the tuber produced in one year will produce leaves and if of a suitable size, flower, seed, die down and rot away. However, at the time it has been growing and flowering it has also been producing one or more new tubers to grow and flower and allow the same cycle the following year. The life style of a rhizome, which is a thickened root, is to extend and multiply quite quickly into a large multi-stemmed plant.

We do from time to time import plants, always using the CITES (Committee for the Trade in Endangered Species) rules. We apply for a permit together with a Phytosanitary (health) Certificate, as required. The foreign nurseries that we deal with have been our suppliers for a number of years. Plants are always inspected by not only H. M. Customs and Excise, but also a Plant Health Inspector, appointed by D. E. F. R. A. These plants are grown on in the nursery. Most of our plants are dispatched "bare root", i.e. stripped of compost, tidied up, packed in damp moss (imported, not wild collected), and packed in a plastic bag, with a label, put in a box and the invoice is then put in a clear docket envelope on the outside of the parcel.