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Hunting down rare orchids in the concrete jungle
Alluring beauty: A customer looks at orchids at Syam Orchids in Taman Anggrek Ragunan on Jl
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Alluring beauty: A customer looks at orchids at Syam Orchids in Taman Anggrek Ragunan on Jl. Harsono RM, near Ragunan Zoo in South Jakarta. (JP/Indah Setiawati) (JP/Indah Setiawati)
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span class="inline inline-none">Alluring beauty: A customer looks at orchids at Syam Orchids in Taman Anggrek Ragunan on Jl. Harsono RM, near Ragunan Zoo in South Jakarta. (JP/Indah Setiawati)
Antok Raharjo, a landscaping entrepreneur, went straight to the rows of moth orchids when he entered one of the lots in Taman Anggrek Ragunan (Ragunan Orchid Garden, or TAR) in South Jakarta.
'Orchids are expensive nowadays, so I only come here to buy when I get an order from my clients,' Antok, who used to be a caretaker at the garden, told The Jakarta Post recently.
He said he also had a plant rental business that involved orchids, but given the high orchid price, he asked clients to buy orchids to avoid losses.
Blooming moth orchids, for example, are now priced at Rp 60,000 (US$5.2). Meanwhile, five years ago, they were around Rp 20,000.
Antok said the limited number of orchid sellers in TAR posed difficulties for his orchid rental business because it was hard to find a stable supply without having an agreement with them.
Sandra Siregar, another plant rental entrepreneur from Duren Sawit, East Jakarta, said that orchid orders only came from managerial and upper-level staff in offices and state-owned companies.
Antok and Sandra usually head to TAR and Taman Anggrek Indonesia Permai Orchid Park (TAIP) in Taman Mini Indonesia Indah (TMII) cultural park in East Jakarta to look for orchids.
Both locations have built up reputations as legendary places to look for orchids, but they are now struggling to maintain their attractiveness.
Built in 1973, the 5-hectare area of TAR is managed by the city's Agriculture and Maritime Agency and is located near Ragunan Zoo. When the Post visited the location recently, some workers were renovating a number of lots and leveling the land.
Most of the 42 lots in the garden offered huge numbers of decorative plants but only a small number of orchids.
Rusdi, the caretaker of lot 31, said his lot was among many others seriously affected by a big flood that hit the area in 2007, destroying most of their orchid collections.
'The owner did not want to focus on orchids anymore because it required a lot of capital to start all over again. Besides, orchids need more delicate treatment than other plants,' he told the Post.
Syam Orchids in lot 2 and 4 and Antika Anggrek in lot 10 were among those exhibiting bulk collections of orchids.
'Most of our customers are re-sellers. We have a monthly target to sell 15,000 moth orchids and some 4,000 dendrobiums,' said Didik, a caretaker of Antika Anggrek.
A larger collection of orchids can be found at TAIP. Initiated by the late former first lady Tien Soeharto, the area, which opened in 1993, still focuses on orchid collecting, breeding and training.
It is easy to find attractive dendrobiums, elegant phals and extravagant cattleya.
Vanda and sugar cane orchids, included in the list of 29 protected orchids listed by the Forestry Ministry, were also available.
The head of the orchid laboratory at TAIP, Budi Rustanto, explained the garden previously catered to 20 orchid farmers who had occupied areas in Grogol, West Jakarta, since 1974.
In the 1990s, the farmers' old location was developed into Taman Anggrek shopping mall.
Aam Kuswara, a caretaker who has been working at lot 13 for almost 20 years, complained of a lack of promotion for the site and the decreasing number of visitors.
