The orchids are blooming! Well trying to...


I had given up on my skills as an orchid caretaker. I mean I have had the poor things for about 2 years without a bloom. This particular plant I had given up for dead as my lovely little boy kitty Felix had decided it was a chew toy.

It's in really rough shape for the most part, however, I do have a few little keikis popping off the more dead looking stalks. After the bloom (because I'm too afraid to touch anything right now) I will tryto plant them in a new pot per the all-wise book. This is also my plan to split up the other plant into smaller pots. It's looking rather crowded.

In desperation, I changed the location and the pot and blam new shoots. This must have inspired my other plant, as its little shoot popped up a few days later.

It has been so long that I'm not entirely certain what color they are. Should be a nice surprise!

Comments

Athena125 said…
It's really not that difficult to plant the keikis... They have to have a few roots (leave them on if they don't have them yet), then you just gently pry them away from the mother plant (sometimes brute force is also okay, just be careful not to damage the roots). But do be very careful what you plant them into - here in Europe, they sell some very expensive orchid potting mixtures that kill the plants! We make our own, it's mostly tree bark (non-colored) with some sphagnum moss. Those industrial mixes often contain dirt (great for "regular" plants), which is an orchid killer, because the orchid roots rot in there!
Unknown said…
Thanks so much for the tip! I have the biggest problem finding good pots for the orchids here. I may have to drive over the hill to Vegas.

I have a couple different mediums for potting.. some soil like stuff called Orchid Gold and some bark as well. Mine seem to like the bark best, so I think I'll go with that once I find pots!

Soon, I will be overrun with orchids too... hopefully! =)
Shawna said…
I hear taking care of orchids is extremely difficult. I hope they flower for you!

Check me out at Shawna's Study Abroad.

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