March 2025 - Alex Nadzan & Ed Danielewicz 'Orchid Culture - Repotting and Dividing Your Orchids'

Alex Nadzan

Ed DanielewiczOur first culture meeting of the year will review the basics of repotting and dividing orchids and feature demonstrations on repotting of easy to grow orchids in our climate.  This is a very timely session as most orchids are beginning to put out new roots and pseudobulbs which is an ideal time to repot and divide your orchids. Two of our experienced growers, Alex Nadzan and Ed Danielewicz, will conduct the session. Alex Nadzan, POS President, will briefly review repotting basics including reasons and timing for repotting, then demonstrate how to repot and divide a few of his cattleya orchids. 

Ed Danielewicz is a newer member of our society who has been growing orchids for many years (more detail on Ed’s background below).  Ed will repot and divide one of his oncidiums and a cymbidium.  During the demonstration, both speakers will address any repotting questions you may have so bring them to the meeting.  

This should be a very educational session for our new members as well as for our more experienced growers who want to get started on our upcoming orchid growing season.  The session also will provide an incentive for members to produce divisions of your orchids for our upcoming POS sale over the Memorial Day weekend of May 24-26 at the San Diego Botanic Garden’s World  of Orchids Show (running from May 4-June 1) in Encinitas. The plant table this month will be provided by a local orchid grower.

Ed Danielewicz has been a member of the San Diego Orchid Society since the early 1980’s and has been growing orchids outside in Carlsbad for over 40 years. He has a PhD in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois in Champaign Urbana, Illinois. Ed retired from his career as a laser physicist in 2015 but has been a consultant on deep ultraviolet lasers (DUV) and optics in his own company since then. For the past 25 years he has been involved with developing the DUV lasers used for manufacturing computer chips in the semiconductor industry. 

Ed’s interest in orchids was stimulated by John Walters of Rex Foster Orchids who sold him his first orchid and stimulated him with his infectious enthusiasm. In addition to orchids, Ed grows bromeliads, heliconia, palms, cycads, euphorbias, cacti, ginger and many other plants in his garden in La Costa. He joined the Palomar Orchid Society only recently after meeting Alex Nadzan, a fellow U.of I. graduate, at the World of Orchids Show at the San Diego Botanic Garden.