The Million Orchid Project

By Gabrielle Coard, ‘24

Students at MAST@FIU Participated in this initiative and joined this year’s Fairchild Challenge, The Million Orchid Project with Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden.

The Million Orchid Project is one of the Fairchild projects for 2021. Members of NHS volunteered to participate in the challenge of raising and looking after an orchid seedling. These orchids are not like any orchid you see every day; they are endangered! The orchid is an epidendrum nocturnum also known as the night fragrant epidendrum.

WHICH TREE? On the orchids out planting say, participant in the challenge were asked to select a tree that would best suite the orchid. The tree had to be the right texture, height, and thickness.

All 25 planted orchids carry two identifying tags. One tag with the orchid number, scientific name, common name, and a pet name that people got to choose. Some orchids are even named after some of our favorite teachers. The second tag shows that the area is an active research site for Fairchild Tropical Botanical Gardens. This is to hopefully ensure that people will not tamper with or harm any of these precious orchids.

INITIAL OUTPLANTING. October 23, 2021 was the initial out planting day for all these orchid seedlings. Participants in the Fairchild challenge must water and check the health of their orchid almost daily.

FIRST TIME ON THE JOB. On October 23, 2021, the initial out planting day. Junior Amy Noguera is seen spraying their orchid with water to insure it had a safe and healthy transition onto the tree.

These orchids are very important to the participants in this challenge. Sophomore Julia Asmar says “I personally enjoy the feeling of togetherness, cause it’s a lot of us who all come together for one main goal which is to help the orchids...” When asked about how they feel about participating in this project. Although each person may be looking over a specific orchid, everyone has a partner who they walk with to go water and check on their orchids. It is very important for no one to walk around campus alone when performing their daily tasks in order to ensure safety for everyone. Julia adds that this project takes, “a lot of commitment, you have an orchid, you have got to take care of it as best as you can and hope it survives….”

Junior Amy Noguera was asked about the significance of the project to them. They said, “I love helping the environment and would do anything to help the environment… even the smallest thing like planting an orchid may seem small but could have a big impact on the world.” This project is not only important to restore endangered species, it is reintroducing this native species back into the environment. When asked about dedication, Amy adds, “It definitely takes dedication cause sometimes I forget to water the orchid or check on it. So, it takes time…” Watering and checking on the orchids is a daily task which requires you to take time from afterschool activities or your commute home but all participants can agree it’s worth it.

DATA CHAT. On November 30, 2021, all participants were called to the first data chat. Students discussed the health of their orchids, the different specifications on them, and go out and fertilize them. The above photo is orchid number 10 after being fertilized and checked on for the day.

The project sponsor Ms. Ellis is an avid at home gardener who makes it apparent in her classroom which is filled with house orchids and other plants. She is very passionate about this project and works very hard to make sure each and ever orchid is doing as well as possible. When asked about the significance of the project for her, “I love plants, and, by extension, orchids. These plants are so unique in that they have survived because they are super specialists. They have captured people's hearts with their incredible flowers and scents…” In summary, these flowers are endangered because of humans and she believes it is our job to make sure and plant them back into their environments. When asked about the significance of the project for MAST@FIU, she says, “This project directly meets one of the missions of MAST@FIU: to teach students about conservation and how to be an environmental steward. It is so important that our students see that their efforts make a direct impact on the world around them.” Not only is it important to her and the environment, this project directly follows what our school teaches about, this follows many other great projects like the ban on plastic.

The Million Orchid Project is great way to help out one of Florida’s many native and endangered species.

Page updated

Report abuse