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Wednesday 26 June 2013

ORCHIDS

Good Morning to you,


I love cut flowers, I love arranging them in a vase and placing them on my kitchen table.  

I enjoy admiring them whilst they continue flowering, but how long is that....  one week, maybe two,

but, if I buy a house plant, well that really is a different story, as house plants, as long as they are treated correctly, can last for a long time and give many years of enjoyment.

I think most of us love Orchids,



with their delicate petals and their exotic look. You can choose this beautiful pink,



or this delicately spotted purple/pink colour. It looks as if ink has been splattered onto the petals.  Do you remember, as a child, using ink nibs which were dipped into ink pots.... if you do, these spots will look familiar, because I remember, if you dropped a little spot of ink onto blotting paper, this was the effect it caused.  Of course this was done when the teacher was not looking!


Maybe, you prefer something a little richer in colour, such as this one, but whichever Orchid you choose, care for it correctly and you will spend months enjoying the beautiful flowers.




I love repotting my Orchids into visually attractive bowls.



When choosing a bowl, make sure it is deep enough for the Orchid.


They are happy, as long as you give them plenty of light, but not direct sunlight.



There are a few things you need to know about growing Orchids. The first is, they don't like getting their feet wet.  What I mean is, don't allow the roots to sit in water, as this is something Orchids hate. My rule of thumb is, I allow the top of the compost to dry out completely and then I pour half a small teacup of water into compost. 



I say compost, but it is a special Orchid growing medium.
  
If you decide to keep your plant in the plastic container, which it was originally planted in, then watering is much easier.  Water the Orchid and allow the water to drain away before replacing it in it's decorative pot.

Spray the Orchid with a fine mist of water, every couple of days and they will reward you with continuous flowers for many, many months. They especially like the humidity of a bathroom, but only if there is plenty of light.


But what do you do, when the last flower has bloomed and died, do you throw your plant away and buy another one?  Please don't do that, keep your money in your purse, as there is a way to encourage another stem to grow.  All you have to do, is snip away the old flower stem. Can you see the clean cut, just above the node? That is where I cut the old stem.


Whilst waiting for the stem to grow, I keep the Orchid on the kitchen windowsill, where I can keep an eye on it.

After a couple of weeks, keep checking to see if a new stem has grown.  As once it appears, it grows pretty quickly. If you look closely, you will see that the new stem grew beside the old cut stem. It does not always happen this way, as it can pop up anywhere. I cannot tell you exactly how long it will take, because sometimes, it takes two weeks, sometimes, three, maybe more, as we all live in different climates.  

Allow the stem to grow to about 4 inches and very gently, tie the stem to the cane. I cannot emphasise the word gently, enough,  as these stems are very delicate.  They also have a tendency to want to grow outwards, but we want to  gently, encourage the stem to grow upwards.


As it continues to grow, tie the stem to the cane again and continue this way until the stem has reached it's correct height.  You will know when this happens, because you will see little buds forming on the end of the stem.



Something else which is important, is to feed the Orchid.

The directions will be on the container, but I feed the plant once a week when the flowers are blooming and once a month throughout the rest of the year.

I hope you have found these tips on caring for Orchids helpful.

Do you know who told me how to do this?  It was my lovely daughter, Danielle.  

When we last visited, Danielle had so many beautiful Orchids blooming around her house.  I asked her how she managed to keep so many beautiful blooms. Danielle told me, when she is shopping, she looks out for the Orchids which are being sold which look a little tired, because they are usually reduced by quite a lot of money, she snaps them up and nurtures them until she is rewarded with new blooms.  Then when the blooms have faded, she snips off the stem and waits for a new one to grow. She did say the ladies at the payment desk  always look at her as if she is a little nutty, because who buys plants that are looking tired and past their best.

Danielle is just like George, because that is what he does with Bonsai trees, he buys the ones at reduced prices.  He then gifts them with new soil, a new decorative pot and sometimes he will trim the roots and this way he manages to have many beautiful Bonsai trees, without paying a fortune.

So you see, thriftiness runs in the family.

Take care and I will see you later in the week.

This week I will be joining, 



20 comments:

  1. Your orchids are so beautiful.
    I am always tempted to buy one from the greenhouse.
    Thank you for giving directions on their care. ;)
    Rose

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  2. How lovely. I had two orchids for several years, sprayed them, talked to them and they rewarded me with copious flowers. Then all of a sudden, they died. Very sad.

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  3. Thank you for the beautiful Orchids you are growing and the information of care for them! Lovely look . . .

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  4. What beautiful orchids you have Daphne! I hate to admit it, but I've only had one orchid, and I didn't take very good care of it, and once the initial buds had bloomed, it died. :( Every time I see them in the grocery store though, I'm tempted to try again. Maybe I'll wait until I see one that needs extra TLC, and I'll follow your instructions and see how it goes. Thanks for sharing your wonderful tips!

    Debbie

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  5. orchids defintely need lots of attention, and are very delicate. I am impressed how much you know about it, and how wonderful yours look. I killed two of them in the past...

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  6. I bought my first orchid about a week ago and directions said water it with 3 ice cubes once a week

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  7. I knew orchids took a lot of attention, but I really didn't know the details. Learned a lot from your post. enJOYed all the shots as well.

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  8. Thanks for all the info on growing orchids. I always admire them but never buy them.

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  9. Such beautiful flowers Daphne! Thank you for the directions on caring for them. Now I will wait and watch for them to be reduced in price as they are quite expensive!

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  10. Dearest Daphne,
    Lovely orchid bowls you use for yours; lovely photos.
    It is old tree spunk what orchids love most! That's also showing in your pictures here.
    Enjoy your exotic blooms.
    Hugs,
    Mariette

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  11. hello
    merci pour tout ces conseilles
    j'en ai quelques une , mais leur poussent n'est pas terrible
    je vais essayer de m'appliquer pour les rendre plus belles
    grâce à vous
    tendresse
    edith (iris)

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  12. Daphne, You see I'm still looking around. I have so many orchids and use your same tips, but again you've given me the nudge to get out there and do a little repotting and fertilizing. I've had many of mine for years! So much better than cut flowers and here (Florida) I can buy a nice one for $12.00.
    Cheers! Rita

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  13. Thank you for this post Daphne, it is full of useful info! I have never plucked up the courage to actually invest in an orchid as I worried I would just kill it off as soon as it finished flowering! Now I feel they might stand a chance.
    Your orchids are beautiful,and look lovely in the shallow bowls in which you've placed them - so pretty!
    Gill xx

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  14. Hi Daphne, your Orchids are wonderful.. I
    also love that flower although I can't grow
    them in the house I do have about 6 on the
    big oak tree outside.. our summer heat makes
    them so happy and every 5 or 6 months they
    bloom. In fact 4 of them have new shoots
    coming out. I do try to remember to feed them
    every two weeks as the books say but sometimes
    forget...
    Thanks so much for your visit to my blog and
    your sweet comments...
    Love your photos
    Sandy

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  15. Thank you so very much Daphne for this wonderful post on Orchids. Sadly the Orchid my DH bought for our young daughter died but thanks to this wonderful information I see now it was over watered. What beautiful photographs of different varieties of Orchids. I will definitely give Orchids a try again. I also like to rescue garden plants on the edge and nurture them back to health. Very rarely do I loose one, usually I am rewarded with a beautiful healthy plant the following spring. Inside I have the same results and then I gift them to friends as I do not have enough windows with adequate light to keep very many plants inside. Amy :)

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  16. Hello Daphne
    I have thoroughly enjoyed this post and it goes without saying the photos of orchids too.....I so love these plants. I have an orchid and the flowers WERE gorgeous but have gone now but I still have some very luscious green foliage. I have been wondering what to do with the dry stem.....people have told me not to cut it. It's obvious the plant is still alive so I have followed your instructions and have cut it....we'll see how it goes. I would so much like to eventually see those pretty flowers appear again.

    Many thanks for your comments on my posts recently.

    keep well

    Amanda :-)

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  17. I love orchids and I so appreciate your advice on the care and propagation of these beauties. Thank you!

    Thanks so much for joining in this week.

    xo
    Claudia

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  18. Love the pots!

    With Phalaenopsis it is recommended that you don't cut the flower stalks after flowering: they might produce keikis (Hawaiin word for baby), which is the way they reproduce.

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  19. Such a wonderful, info packed post, Daphne! Hello again- Your flowers look so delicate and pretty. It's interesting that once you know a few tips and tricks, so many plants and flowers can be nurtured and coaxed into growing even prettier. I have never grown an orchid, can you believe it? Thanks for the words of wisdom. Have a great week ahead. :)
    S

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  20. Wow! I wish I had know all of this. I too enjoyed an Orchid for a very long time, but then when there were no more flowers I really wondered what to do. If I had only known. Thank you Daphne for these wonderful tips!! I'm pinning this for future reference. :)

    Hope your weekend is Extraordinary!!

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Dear Friends,

It is so wonderful to know you enjoy reading Ivy, Phyllis and Me! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave me a comment. I really do appreciate it.

Best wishes to you.

Daphne

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