show us your Orchids...

[Dancing Fire]

i wanted to post these two pics before i kill it. went to the Orchid farm and purchased 5 new plants these 5 new plants will be my victims for this year.i have 8 plants left (after i killed 4) from the previous year,but they never re-bloom under my caring...

what is your secret for keeping Orchids alive?

 

[kenny]

What is your secret for keeping Orchids alive?

Buying new ones.

 

[davi_el_mejor]

I'll post pictures tomorrow when I'm at home, but we did have one of our orchids rebloom after the initial purchase last year. We bought it from IKEA for 12 dollars.

We keep ours in the bathroom of all places. They seem to love the humidity from the showers

The lighting is never direct sunlight but gets natural light all day when the sun is up. The temperature ranges between 63-65 during the fall/winter and 72-78 during the summer. We kept them in their plastic pots and then in another ceramic pot. we fill the pot soaking the moss and then drain completely. We do that once a week.

Once the blooms are done for the season, clip the shoot just above a joint, leave it long enough to be sturdy for the next flower shoot. The dormant season is very important for the plant. We didn't feed the orchid, but we're going to start because we bought a butchered orchid from Lowe's after the plant finished blooming and the people there cut the stalk all the way to the leaves. There hasn't been any growth coming from that plant so we think it's hungry.

 

[Dancing Fire]

What is your secret for keeping Orchids alive?

Buying new ones.

that was my secret...

 

[davi_el_mejor]

Here's the Orchid that Rebloooomed and the amount of sunlight it gets all day (north facing).

 

[D&T]

very pretty orchids guys!

Unfortunately I buy orchids yearly

 

[Autumnovember]

looooove this thread. my favorite kind of flowers! I'm putting them in my wedding too =]

 

[TravelingGal]

Here are ours...and my tip to keep them alive.

I use my husband...he is quite patient! They are actually very easy to care for! Basically don't WATER them. The one below in the white vase, we got as a housewarming gift in Sept 2009. It kept alive for 2 months, and then I pretty well killed it, or so I thought. The instructions were to dunk it in water every other week, and that was it. Well, sometimes I'd let 6 weeks go before I watered it. It was also in a place in our house that didn't get much light. It looked pretty sick by the time the rescue effort began.

A year later, last fall, TGuy began to take care of it. It put it on the shelf of an east facing window where it got direct sun for an hour or so each morning and indirect sun for most of the day. He also took a spray bottle and spritzed it with water every morning. He does not directly water it! Just spray it with a little water into the leaves and soil. I think she does half a dozen to dozen spritzes every morning. The bloom you see here is what happened after just a few months of his care and has been like this for a few months now. It started from scratch..the shoot came out from the base and grew and grew. He just wrapped it around a little stake as it grew.

The other one is a new one that he's now doing a great job with. It's in my office, with again an east facing window.

ETA, sorry about the pic orientation. Thought I fixed it, but guess not!

 

[D&T]

TGal- Verry pretty, It looks so healthy and lively! I"ll have to keep this in mind for the next one we buy (I"m a bit impatienty myself) my parents always did a fantastic job at keeping plants alive.

 

[TravelingGal]

TGal- Verry pretty, It looks so healthy and lively! I"ll have to keep this in mind for the next one we buy (I"m a bit impatienty myself) my parents always did a fantastic job at keeping plants alive.

Yea, I was surprised how little it took to get the other one to grow. But I couldn't do it...even the simple job of spritzing the thing everyday.

Also, watch for white gunk on the leaves and soil. Apparently it's a pest of some kind. You have to wipe it off...not sure how TGuy killed it...maybe have dunked a cotton ball in some rubbing alcohol or something.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

TGal- Verry pretty, It looks so healthy and lively! I"ll have to keep this in mind for the next one we buy (I"m a bit impatienty myself) my parents always did a fantastic job at keeping plants alive.

Yea, I was surprised how little it took to get the other one to grow. But I couldn't do it...even the simple job of spritzing the thing everyday.

Also, watch for white gunk on the leaves and soil. Apparently it's a pest of some kind. You have to wipe it off...not sure how TGuy killed it...maybe have dunked a cotton ball in some rubbing alcohol or something.

Tgal = gorgeous! I love the color! Are orchids poisonous to cats? I'd love to try one if I can find a pink similar to yours.

 

[TravelingGal]

MC, sorry, I don't know as I don't have cats. I am sure there is info on it somewhere on the net though.

Found this article on misting. Some people say to do it, other don't. It worked for us. Depends on where you live, how humid your house is, etc. I did find info that east facing windows work great because morning sun isn't as hot.

http://www.exoticrainforest.com/misting%20orchids.html

 

[davi_el_mejor]

I was informed today that the little orchid in the back grew the big leaf in the middle since we've owned it. I'm waiting for a shoot to sprout. We've never seen what the flowers look like. It'll be a surprise.

Tgal- Yours is beautiful and healthy! Does Tguy feed it?

 

[TravelingGal]

Davi, he only sprays it with water every day. We live in L.A. and in the winter, our heater is always on (hate the gas bill) because it's an old home and gets COLD and I work from home and can't deal with that. So our home is always right at around 73 degrees. Low humidity, so the spritzing is a daily thing.

Oh, and let us know what color the bloom is...take pics!

 

[davi_el_mejor]

TGal- Verry pretty, It looks so healthy and lively! I"ll have to keep this in mind for the next one we buy (I"m a bit impatienty myself) my parents always did a fantastic job at keeping plants alive.

Yea, I was surprised how little it took to get the other one to grow. But I couldn't do it...even the simple job of spritzing the thing everyday.

Also, watch for white gunk on the leaves and soil. Apparently it's a pest of some kind. You have to wipe it off...not sure how TGuy killed it...maybe have dunked a cotton ball in some rubbing alcohol or something.

Tgal = gorgeous! I love the color! Are orchids poisonous to cats? I'd love to try one if I can find a pink similar to yours.

MC- As far as I know they are not. But, if your cat likes to nibble on plants you should always be weary of what the plant was sprayed with at the nursery.

 

[Dancing Fire]

Here are ours...and my tip to keep them alive.

I use my husband...he is quite patient! They are actually very easy to care for! Basically don't WATER them. The one below in the white vase, we got as a housewarming gift in Sept 2009. It kept alive for 2 months, and then I pretty well killed it, or so I thought. The instructions were to dunk it in water every other week, and that was it. Well, sometimes I'd let 6 weeks go before I watered it. It was also in a place in our house that didn't get much light. It looked pretty sick by the time the rescue effort began.

A year later, last fall, TGuy began to take care of it. It put it on the shelf of an east facing window where it got direct sun for an hour or so each morning and indirect sun for most of the day. He also took a spray bottle and spritzed it with water every morning. He does not directly water it! Just spray it with a little water into the leaves and soil. I think she does half a dozen to dozen spritzes every morning. The bloom you see here is what happened after just a few months of his care and has been like this for a few months now. It started from scratch..the shoot came out from the base and grew and grew. He just wrapped it around a little stake as it grew.

The other one is a new one that he's now doing a great job with. It's in my office, with again an east facing window.

ETA, sorry about the pic orientation. Thought I fixed it, but guess not!

very nice TG... yeah strange,some people just spray them and some people water them,then are people who use wood chips as soil and some people use moss...

 

[MichelleCarmen]

TGal- Verry pretty, It looks so healthy and lively! I"ll have to keep this in mind for the next one we buy (I"m a bit impatienty myself) my parents always did a fantastic job at keeping plants alive.

Yea, I was surprised how little it took to get the other one to grow. But I couldn't do it...even the simple job of spritzing the thing everyday.

Also, watch for white gunk on the leaves and soil. Apparently it's a pest of some kind. You have to wipe it off...not sure how TGuy killed it...maybe have dunked a cotton ball in some rubbing alcohol or something.

Tgal = gorgeous! I love the color! Are orchids poisonous to cats? I'd love to try one if I can find a pink similar to yours.

MC- As far as I know they are not. But, if your cat likes to nibble on plants you should always be weary of what the plant was sprayed with at the nursery.

Thanks. He's a plant nibbler but only likes one variety and I wash my plants leaves (keeping the dust off is suppose to help the plants breath and I've had them for a few years. He also drinks out of fish bowls. He is so naughty!

I'll check on the orchids. I'd love to try one out!

 

[rhbgirl24]

I have 9 orchid plants. I just repotted them yesterday actually due to the media degrading. It becomes too fine and holds too much water. We moved last year and the disruption of new location (from bathroom to now dining room b/c none of our bathrooms have windows) have caused them to miss their bloom in Feb/March. I do not mist them, its supposedly causes crown rot - but if it works for you thats great! I however have trays of gravel and water below to create humidity and its about 75% humidity by them.

Hopefully with the repotting I'll get new blooms this year

 

[Dancing Fire]

more pics please..

 

[movie zombie]

my little aforementioned "twinkle" is in full bloom now....but the blooms are less than 1/2 inch across and i'm finding it impossible to photograph. its very striking as it has a ton of blooms on it....more than ever before: probably thinks its dying!

MoZo

 

[Tuckins1]

DF, you read my mind!! I was just thinking that I should start a "show me your bloom" thread... I will have to go take some new shots of my orchids and post them. (Sometime, when i'm not feeding, changing, playing with, or staring at the baby )

 

[lbbaber]

I bought these for my MIL: http://justaddiceorchids.com/
All you do is add 3 ice cubes every week and they grow wonderfully. She has given them rave reviews. I myself, can not grow ANYTHING but I think I am going to try these myself