In Vitro Orchid — 'Sprouts at home'

I'm not much of an orchid person, but I do like to look at them.

Stephen Treffinger, in the October 26, 2006 New York Times, featured this new wave orchid technology; his story follows.

If You're All Thumbs, None Green

Unless you have a biotechnology lab in your basement, sprouting an orchid at home is virtually impossible. But the In Vitro Orchid, above, from Japan, comes close to making it happen.

The tube houses a tiny sprout in a sterile environment, to protect it from deadly fungi, and allows it to grow in a nutrient-rich gel medium. It just has to be kept somewhere that is bright (though out of direct sunlight) and not too cold (above 50 degrees). No need to water or, well, do anything. Just don’t pull the stopper. The youngster will take about a year to reach the top of the tube. Then it will be time to replant.

$32 from The Gardener, 1836 Fourth Street, Berkeley, Calif.; 510-548-4545.

[via Stephen Treffinger and the New York Times]