It's About That Time ..
For another Orchid update. I was sitting in the family room last Saturday morning, having my morning coffee and talking with Molly, when I noticed the sun shining through one of the Orchid plants. The leaves were lite up by the plentiful sunshine, giving the leaves a warm yellow glow. At first I thought this was cool, then realized that this was really a product of my own procrastination.
We have been pretty busy these past few weekends, so I put off the Orchid maintenance that I had been meaning to tackle. I had been wanting to trim off the dead leaves, dried up air roots, and flowerless bloom stems; all quite evident as soon as I would walk into the room. All I needed was about 30 minutes.. and It was early on Saturday morning, so I had the time.
I started with these Orchids above. Their flowers had fallen off long ago, but I saw a small bud at the tip of each stem. I thought that maybe the plant would give enough energy to it to produce one more flower. That didn't happen. It's time they get trimmed off. I disinfect my trimmers and clip them off leaving about 1 inch of stem. I read in one of my plant books, that I should be leaving approximately one inch of stem.
In one quick snip, it's off!!!
Next I moved on to the plants with the dried up and brown leaves. The one plant had the most, like I mentioned above. There were a couple of more on another two plants, and they almost fell right off as I touched them.
I placed all the clippings and leaves in a bag, so I could easily carry them out to the mulch pile. It gives me something to do while I am letting Molly out to go potty.
As I was trimming, I was pulling out the stakes and taking off the clips. I pilled these up over at the sink so I could later clean and sanitize them. I'll put them into a drawer close by then utilize them again when the plants decide to bloom.
I've also been eyeing up one Orchid that I just re-potted a while back. I don't think I planted it nearly deep enough into the bark, and it's now looking like it needs re-potted again. It is also showing signs of stress (wilted leaves) again. It was doing so good for a while too. It put out a few new leaves and looked pretty healthy. I was afraid to plant it too deep and that's where I think I messed up. I'll give it another shot and see what happens.
We have two Orchids currently in bloom. One of the plants has about 3 flowers left on the stem and 2 wilting blooms, ready to fall off any day now.
The other one has only one single bloom.. It's very pretty though! It has held onto this bloom for about 3 months now. It always amazes me how long they hold on and stay just as beautiful as they day when they first opened.
The plant above, with the 5 pinkish yellow blooms is looking the best out of all the plants. It seems to be quite happy in it's current location and pot. It has a tremendous amount of air roots sprouting out all over the place. It also has a new leaf on the way.
New growth on one plant is not the only new and exciting thing happening .. We have another Orchid that is going to bloom again!! So Excited about this!! For one, I can't remember what color the flowers will be on this particular plant, so it will be neat to be surprised. Secondly, It's nice to know that we are giving the plant the proper care in order for it to bloom. That's an exciting achievement in my book!
If you look at the pictures above, you'll see what I like to call the mitten. The bloom stems, when the first punch through the plant leaves, look like a little green mitten (in my opinion). The air roots are much darker and round when the emerge. The blooms usually pop out dead center of the leaves, verses the air roots that I see emerge next to the leaves.. If any of that makes sense (if not ignore my rambling).
The length of the bloom stem grows pretty rapidly; almost an inch a week. We'll see, but I am thinking that the first flower should open around the end of January or beginning of February. Should be interesting to see if I estimated close.
There is a small, light green something pushing through on one of the other plants as well. I am going to keep an eye on it to see what it ends up being. Right now I am thinking flower stem, because it is so light in color. It would be nice to have more than one plant in bloom.
That pretty much concludes another installment of 'Orchid Update'. A clean up, found a few things needing additional attention, and a new bloom stem on the way. I guess it looks like I will have a few things to keep you updated on in the near future.
Until then.. Have a beautiful, BLOOMING day!!
Thank you for swinging by my blog and checking out the post. Have a great day!
I can't help but miss my dear old Pepper, whenever I write about Orchids. I always felt we shared a certain curiosity about them. The way I would use my eyes, he would use his tiny, little, black nose.. breathing in every detail, till it was placed on the shelf among the others that came before it.
“I thought for a moment about the dog. Miffy. I guess no matter how much Rube and I complained about him, we knew we'd sort of miss him if something happened to him. It's funny how there are things in this world that do nothing but annoy you, but you know you'd miss them when they're gone. Miffy, the Pomeranian wonderdog, was one such thing.”
― Markus Zusak, Getting the Girl
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I had a bamboo plant that a friend gave me that I was able to keep alive for quite a while. I was actually a bit shocked at how long I was able to keep it alive. Then about a year or so ago it finally started turning all brown and it died. I don't know if it outgrew its pot or what. I had to remove stalks here and there because they would turn brown and I didn't want them to carry over to the healthy ones. If it isn't a vegetable in my garden I suck at growing stuff.
We had one of those bamboo plants in our bathroom for years. It eventually just died due to the lack of light or over watering.. No clue. I don't think they are meant to last that long.
Give yourself some credit.. I think it's not you but them (the plants). hehe. Veggies are a good thing to know how to grow. 😁
Thanks for this info. As a newbie orchid lover (only 2 plants) I enjoy hearing about yours.
Oh Cool! What color flowers do they bloom? 2 plants is a good number.. more than one and less than 3.. perfect! 😁
Yay for the new flower spikes!
I should take a day and do the same with my orchids. Recently I just water them quickly and move on.
I KNOW!! 😀 Right?!! So Exciting to have another stalk of beauty on it's way. Maintenance is not fun because I really need a bench or area set aside to do it in. That would make it more enjoyable for me.. I've been thinking about it, just not sure where yet.
Ohhh dear that pepper and orchids you know I am a fan of both and I remember one of the old blogs. I lost the blue orchid and trying to revive what’s left I used tinfoil but til now not succeeding very well and I have mold innige leaves of the white one, still planning a blog about it.
Love the explanatory blog thankx
I miss that little guy 😢 and our Orchid adventures. All good things someday come to an end. That's the part that sucks.
Orchids can be pretty sensitive to too much water and too much light. Once I found the perfect bright spot, not in direct sun, and cut back on how much water I would give them, things improved. Also getting rid of the dead material, adding new bark chips, and re-potting helped some of them too.
Can't wait to see the blog post when you get around to it 😊
I i give one ice cube a week that melts slow and drips along the roots ! I have to but I will leave you with a nice picture of my lovelies
😮 I really like the yellow one! You know, the second one in from the bottom right, second line. It looks just like the one next to it. hahaha. They are all beautiful. I don't have yellow yet.. next on the list!!! 😁
Sounds like you will have maybe two end of winter bloomers, that will be a nice way to welcome the spring, flowers already a hand.
Yes! Already thinking about spring. That is the only way I'll be able to make it through this winter. They are calling for temps in the low 20's by tomorrow.. yuck!