MFC Orchids, a crazy, crazy idea.

   MFC Orchids – MF for Marie Farley and MC for Michel Clément. Besides being married, we share a common passion : ORCHIDS. As is the case with all of us, this passion began in a very small way a few years ago. Our problems began with the purchase of our first plant at a garden centre. Since problems rarely arrive alone, a poster for a local orchid show brought us to our first show in Montreal. We left with only two more plants and a small flask…and that was the beginning of the end.

The final nail in the coffin was the Ottawa show that same year. We purchased another flask and a few community pots. Bingo! The dignosis was in : we had caught that famous virus : ORCHIDOFOLIE.

From the start, the challenge was to grow young seedlings to flowering. But orchids are not terrestrial plants and we realized that rather too quickly as we were soon obliged to prepare some plants for the afterlife.

As our passion grew, an idea began to germinate : to rebuild the old greenhouse next to our house and arrange it for orchids. We had used the greenhouse in preceding years : we had used it to grow perennials and tomato plants which then brightened our summers.

But growing orchids is very different from growing terrestrials. With orchids, we don’t speak of weeks or months to flowering but years. But that was unimportant in view of the work ahead. We set out an 18-month timetable for the work on the greenhouse. In the meantime, the young plants grew rather quickly indoors under fluorescent lights. And there were all kinds of secrets still to discover from reading, through friends and lectures.

We were discouraged more than once. The first problem was our water. We have a well, a well means softener and softener means salt. Since orchids don’t like salt, we had to collect rainwater. We had to use our brains to figure out how to collect as much water as possible. For several months, we watered our plants in the kitchen with a cup, which took hours. Happily those days are behind us. Thanks to two immense reservoirs under the greenhouse, we now use a watering hose to water.

After several months of hard labor, the greenhouse is now operational. Our young babies are now young adults and seem to like our tropical environment in the land of ice and snow.