Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Tuesday Tips & Tricks - Orchids

With Mother's Day fast approaching, I am reminded of the beautiful Orchid my family offered me last year. It was gorgeous for a couple of months, making my desk a lovely place to be. Then, the blooms died and I had a a pot of what was essentially green sticks. Not so pretty.

I moved the pot next to the sink. That's my I-don't-know-what-to-do-with-this-but-I-don't-want-to-throw-it-away spot. I left it there. It's still there, but now it needs a new home; perhaps back on the desk. Why? You ask. Because it is beautiful again! How did I get it to go from a pot of sticks to this:



I learned this from a customer of mine who knew more about orchids than anyone I've ever met. He shared his secrets with me after noticing the stunning orchid we had in our store (a grand opening gift from the flower shop down the street). The trick, he told me, is to water the orchid about once a week. Orchids like to dry out, he said. So more importantly, as you water, lift the plant up and out of the pot and let the water run over the roots. As they soak up what they need, the roots will go from a whitish color to green, like in the next picture. DO NOT leave it sitting in water. Note, my roots need a trimming because some of them are dead and my plant needs a bigger pot, but I haven't done either because I'm nervous.  


See how at the edge of the pot the roots are green? That's what you're going for. Even when it looks as if your Orchid will never bloom again, keep heart! It will as long as you lovingly water it, as instructed above, no matter what.

Do you keep seemingly dead plants around in the hopes of their revival? Tell me about it!

9 comments:

  1. Wow, I should try that next time I have an orchid. I killed our last one by accident that my MIL gave us :( Good to know! :)

    Brandi

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    1. I thought I always killed Orchids until I tried this trick. Now I'm wondering if I just gave up too soon!!!
      Thanks for your visit!

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  2. Thanks for the tip! I've also read that orchids need to hit a cool temperature at night in order to bloom (like outside in Spring). I really need to try this watering technique, as I have yet to see this year's blooms.

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    1. Good luck, Beth! They also prefer a well-lit location, but out of direct sunlight. My house is a steady 69 degrees most of the time, day or night except in the summertime.

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  3. this post is so timely, my first ever orchid is now losing its flowers

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  4. I have two orchids in my house and I love them. They are the only thing I havent killed (probably because I always forget to water plants).. the perfect plant for me!

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    1. That's my favorite part too! I swear I didn't water this one for weeks at a time and just look at it!!! I love it!

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  5. Those are gorgeous orchids, I love orchids. I'd love to have more flowers around our home. Unfortunately we have kitty that loves to munch on them. She munched on some Ivy last year and we had to take her to the animal hospital, luckilly there is one across the street from us. Not sure if orchids are poisnous or not, but I just don't want to take the risk. The good thing about Gigi is she's not a jumper, she can't get up on the counters or high places, so maybe we could pick a high location for them that is unreachable to her, the only thing about that, is then it will be unreachable to me. LoL.

    I want some orchids though seriously!

    Sarah
    http://skylarinc.blogspot.com/

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  6. I am so glad I saw this post on orchids. I have 2 of them. One has just started blooming again, the other one who knows what will happen. I also just kept them to see what happens. They seem to like a little neglect. Congrats on being featured blogger for blog hop. I will be following you. I have never done the blog hop but will try and remember next Monday. Check out my blog at http://gogoggygo.blogspot.com

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Go on, tell me what you think!