A Gift That Keeps On Giving

Every morning, for about the last two weeks, when I open my bedroom curtains, I am greeted by the gorgeous sight of a beautiful orchid in bloom. This gift has been giving for about 15 years!

 

This beautiful orchid was a gift, and upon receiving it, my ex caught the bug, the off to the orchid show bug, off to the nursery bug, the Sunday morning market bug, anything that would add more of these gorgeous flowers to our collection and did result in a purpose built ‘house’ for these treasured things to spring up in the back yard.

BUT then we had to move, all the pots came with us and were sprinkled around the garden, but a new home for them was not constructed, and due mainly to too much sun, many of them died and went to plant heaven.

This totally neglected beauty survived and still does. It SHOULD be repotted, it SHOULD be fed special orchid food or at least some type of plant fertiliser, but it never does. It’s current home is in the front garden bed, gently shaded by an overhanging tree and low and behold come Easter time, the flowers appear without fail!

When I took this picture, I noticed another flower stem coming though, so this year I will get a double whammy bonus!

Unlike a bunch of flowers that quickly whilts and dies, don’t be afraid to buy yourself an orchid or give one to a friend. If they can find a nice semi-shaded spot to hide the plant for the rest of the year, they too may be blessed by beautiful flowers that last for 3 or 4 weeks.

That really is a gift that keeps on giving, asking nothing in return!

Have you ever successfully had orchids flower with total neglect on your behalf?

 

 

14 thoughts on “A Gift That Keeps On Giving

      1. You should buy some new soil for it, you can buy it ready made in most gredan centers. Then carefully take it out of the post, hopefully it is dry, the carefully trim away any of the dead or dried roots. Try and remove as much of the soil as possible from the rooting system before replanting. If the roots are still a little wider than the pot got to the next size up. There are some very pretty Orchid pots out there now days, they actually have holes in the sides which will help with keeping the orchid in-between a wet and dry state. Plant the orchid and top with new moss on the top, water until you get some absorption in the soil, but never let it sit in standing water, it’s better to be somewhat dry than too wet. Save your fertilizer for the summer season, and try not to get any water on the leaves this will promote brown spots, which will not hurt the plant, just make it look unsightly. Water caught in the folds of the leaves will rot them out as will over-watering.Orchids are a whole new realm in the plant world, good luck and happy gredaning.

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      1. Philippe,Keep the orchid moist while it is in bloom and out of stnorg sunlight if possible. While it is in bloom, fertilize the plant as well.Once the flowers have faded, cut the spike’ back to the second from last node on the stem. There will be a ring’ a couple inches up from the crown of the plant look and you will see what I’m talking about. Sometimes a second spike’ will branch out from the original. If it doesn’t, cut the spike’ back to the crown. Gradually cut back the water, allowing the soil/ media to dry out completely between waterings. Treat it almost like a cactus at this point, water only when it is really quite dry. Discontinue the use of fertilizer and increase the amount of light if possible. In the fall of the year, begin to increase the watering and resume fertilization.I hope that this helps

    1. This is normal for an ohicrd. Many species of ohicrd has air roots and they actually will need all this air roots to thrive well.If you plan to separate that section of your plant.. wait until the roots are well grown on them, so that when the section is cut off from the mother plant, those roots are extensive enough to support the new plant.It is sometime a good idea to re-plant your ohicrd . very often, you will encourage new growth and sometime flowering beside doubling your collection.Also do make sure that your cutting equipment are clean and sterilised and the open cut are treated with some kind of fungicide after the cut.Happy ohicrd planting

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