It was bound to happen, I have no self control at all when it comes to plants. I am pretty cheap though, so that helps a bit. I have been eying Orchids for a couple months now, but the fact that they cost at least $25 turns me off a bit. They are quite stunning flowers, but because of the price, I had never even considered buying one. 
Over the past week or so, I have noticed that the Orchids that have already bloomed (and now look like a "twig in a pot") are on clearance. At $12, I figured I should go ahead and get one, because it is very unlikely that I would ever pay full price for them. I don't care that it looks like a "twig in a pot" right now. It will eventually bloom (unless I kill it) and the color of the flowers will be a total surprise.
I tried to pick the best looking "twig in a pot" from the rack, and I found the one pictured below. Now I don't know too much about Orchids but it looks like this one might bloom in the near future. It was the only one that looked like this, and had that type of growth. The rest looked like "twigs in pot" with no visible growth.
Many people say that growing an Orchid can be a bit tricky. It needs a lot of humidity(50%-75%) and it needs bright, indirect light. They don't like to dry out, but they also don't like to be given too much water (roots will rot). Many keep their Orchids on a pebble tray, to encourage humidity around them (I run a humidifier, so I might not need the pebble tray). Orchids need cool night temps to induce flowering. This could be one of the tricky things when it comes to Orchids.
Tricky/challenging it might be, but that is part of the fun, and I want in on it. For 12$ I couldn't go wrong.
5 comments:
I agree - you did well! What I do is turn down the thermostat at night during the winter ... my orchid has new buds and seems happy.
Since I can keep a Bougainvillea alive in Regina, I'm sure you can keep one alive there. It lives in my living-room window - west-facing. It is looking great right now. (Sometimes you can find them at garden centres early in spring ... just one short branch ... here they are about 10$. By the end of summer, they grow other branches, put on a great display of bracts and look wonderful.
For some reason which isn't entirely clear to me, this last summer the orchids at work were forced to go outside. There's shade and everything, but still. They didn't bring them in until the night temperatures were predicted to be just short of freezing (about 40F/4C), and people have been remarking for months now how this has been the best year yet for blooms.
It's not clear to me whether one night of cold is good enough, or whether multiple nights is maybe better than one night, or what.
I've never had any luck with those orchids--I think it's just too dry here. Years ago when watching too much HGTV, I noticed that everyone seemed to have an orchid in their bathroom, so I had to try it. That one died. Then, I bought a few more over the years, and all died. My hairdresser is an orchid ficionado and she says the ones on sale are the ones at the end of their bloom cycle, and the $25 ones will have flowers up to 6 months. The issue with me is that I would like the plant to live so that I can get flowers more than once, whether it's for 6 month or 2months!
Aiyana
Your like me, I have an "Island of Orphan Plants" several of which are orchids that freinds and family have given up on. I have had growth come back, but no flowering yet, except for a terrestrial orchid that just recenlty bloomed when I got moved to an office with a window.
Sean
So far, mine is still growing.......from what I have read, you can either grow them or you can't. Some plants that do well for one person, won't do well for the next. Damn Plants....lol.
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