To be a Junior Reporter has been a ‘Dream come true’ for me. Rasika, a teenager, explained to me how she commenced a nursery of rare orchid flowers as a hobby, in March 2011 by the name of Rasika Nurseries. Her friends and relatives extended their fullest assistance and encouragement in making this project a reality. [...]

The Sunday Times Sri Lanka

Rasika Orchid Nursery — a great success

From a Young Reporter
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To be a Junior Reporter has been a ‘Dream come true’ for me. Rasika, a teenager, explained to me how she commenced a nursery of rare orchid flowers as a hobby, in March 2011 by the name of Rasika Nurseries.

Her friends and relatives extended their fullest assistance and encouragement in making this project a reality. Today, she is proud of her collection of rare, exotic and costly breed of orchids. Her favourites are the white, light purple, yellow and green coloured Dendrobiums, the most expensive and rare variety. An equally expensive and rare variety are the Catlia orchids which span about five inches in width and could be preserved fresh for about one month. This also is in great demand amongst orchid lovers. Rasika is now the proud owner of about 700 pots of various varieties of orchids in her nursery, which keeps on expanding with the contribution of flower plants by her family members, schoolmates and students.

Her reason for selecting this hobby is, “It is one of my dreams and it helps to overcome my financial problems, is mentally relaxing and keeps me occupied.
I also had to spend a lot of money for the preparation of plants.”  Further, she said that she started her nursery with the help of small plants, containing two small leaves with the height of about 2 ½ inches.

She regularly cared and tended with fertilizer for better grading of the flowers. Secondly, she introduced  Nitro Plus and added K+ Potassium for better growth. Finally, she added Albert Solution.  This schedule was followed for a period of 12 months.

By that time, the plants grew up and the flowers started to bloom. This was indeed a delightful and wonderful sight to behold. “Thank God! I was so happy, that I broke down in tears when I realized that all the efforts of my labour have been successful,” she concluded.

Mohamed Umar Asri
Zahira College, Colombo

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