Saturday Orchid & Houseplant Update!

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(Edited)

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It's Been A Few Weeks ..

So I think this is a perfect time to update everyone on the Orchids. Today's post is a follow up to these two posts:

The First Post (about 35 days ago) - Just as I wonder whether it's going to die, the orchid blossoms

The Last Post (about 20 days ago) - Orchid Update!!

Well On There Way ..

The Orchids both appear to be doing pretty well, other than the fact the one I have had the longest looks terrible. As I stated in another post, it is a bit more stressed this time, and it shows. It's leaves are green, but look like a hundred year old mans skin. They are very wilted and gaunt. It's a stark comparison to the other which is almost in full bloom with lush plump green leaves.

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Poor thing.. It's never been quite this bad, for as many times as it has bloomed in the past. I was thinking about cutting off the bloom, in fear that the plant would eventually kill itself trying to put all of its energy into them. I decided to ride it out to see what happens. I was reading that this sometimes happens if it blooms only a short period of time after it previously bloomed.. (I wrote that sentence three times and it still doesn't sound right.. hope you get the point)

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Lets Take A Closer Look ..

At the healthier of the two plants. Here is a good photo depicting the air roots and the stems of the blooms. Both protrude out of the foliage. They begin as a little nub that breaks through the leaves and continues to grow. They grow in opposite directions.. roots away from the light and bloom stems toward the light. Call me weird, but I find it exciting to keep checking or looking at the bases of the leaves for new shoots. Sort of like waiting for eggs in a nest to hatch.. sort of.

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The air roots, when they first break through the green leaves, appear a light grey. The bloom shoots break through and appear glossy dark green. As soon as either breaks through, I can tell if it will be an exciting new bloom or a plain old boring air root.. hehe

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Here in this next photo, you can see where I cut the old bloom stems back just above another node. Not always, but occasionally the stem will push another bloom out from this point. It takes a while, up to 3 months or so, but its really cool when they do. I got lucky this round because all of my cuts produced a new bloom stem!!

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Here is another completely different example of how this particular type of Orchid will bloom. Here it is pushing a new bloom bud out of a node that was not cut. It's branching out you could say. The nub of a shoot is quite small and most likely will not produce any blooms for a long time. If I could make an educated guess, I would say this may flower in roughly 8 months or so. Guess we'll find out.. heck, it may not bloom at all.

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Lets take a peek at the flowers we have blooming! Since the last post, several more have opened up, with only a few remaining closed. if you look toward the top, you will see that anoth is almost ready to pop open. It's starting to split along the light green, back side of the petals. What a stark difference in color .. light green to a rich pink and orange color :-D

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This marco close-up shows the splitting action well. I think it may be fully open my Monday or Tuesday of this up coming week.

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The flower buds on my 'Stressed Orchid' are growing in size, but have not started to bloom open yet. They look a little wilted as well, but healthier than the plant it's self.

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This is a close-up of the tip of the bloom stem. There are about two or three very tiny buds at the end. Sometimes they open after the other buds bloom and sometimes they don't and just dry up. You can barely make them out .. they are hiding there at the very end right next to that last large unopened bloom.

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As For The Other Plants ..

Now that I spent more time than I thought on the Orchids. They are doing okay.. all are waiting for more light and some slightly warmer temps. Lets just say they are holding their own and I even see signs of new life emerging.

Our Lemon Tree ..

Our tiny little tree, although at first glance looks half dead, has been recently pruned. I pulled three nice lemons from her branches and since then it is starting to push out new foliage.

Don't mind Pepper.. He has been right next to me all morning! Snoopy!

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A close-up of the new foliage pushing it's way out of the newly formed buds. I would say in about a month we will have some flowers here too!

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More of Pepper being curious .. I have grown to know it's just his way. I Love it though.. Daddy's Boy for sure!

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Our Plumeria ..

Is even sprouting a new leaf! Spring is here!!! Maybe it will bloom this year, but I am not holding my breath. Look closely and you can barley see that there are many more leaves beginning to form at the base of the stem.

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That's It For The Update! ..

And Pepper is wanting a cookie for his time spent watching over all of these plants for Daddy. Good Boy Pepper!! Let's go get that cookie.

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Thank you for swinging by my blog and checking out the post. Have a great day!

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I've always been tempted to buy an orchid because they look so nice. But I'm not so good with house plants or flowers. I can only grow herbs and vegetables. I would be sad if it died.

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Just neglect it... it will love you lol - @bdmillergallery is going to mute me in a minute LOL

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Haha.. mute! mute! NAaaaaaaa... Not a chance :-)

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Well, that's a relief! Now I can carry on misbehaving haha! :)

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Well.. You have a great point here. At least you can survive off of the things you are good at growing! I can't survive off the stupid orchid :-( hhehehe.. Take @jaynie's advice.. you'll be fine :-)

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I love the way you relate your posts. They're everyday situations that become so enjoyable that you document them so well, and you add that touch of your own that makes them a very enjoyable read. Thanks for giving us that. The orchids to my little understanding of gardening (I'm really bad at it, even though I want to start learning, at fifty-one wants to learn from everything one hasn't learned in life hahaha typical), are very delicate and bloom little. Venezuelan women are beautiful, I remember some that my mother had in a small homemade greenhouse in the courtyard of our house when we were kids, I loved to immerse myself in the magical world of ferns and various plants that my mother cultivated with so much love in that special little piece of our home. Thank you for giving us pictures of beautiful Molly and Pepper (I love her hahaha), really your publications too full of love and gift of the person. I hug you from here, dear @bdmillergallery.

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I remember some that my mother had in a small homemade greenhouse in the courtyard of our house when we were kids, I loved to immerse myself in the magical world of ferns and various plants that my mother cultivated with so much love in that special little piece of our home.

These kind of memories you carry through your whole life and they can bring you great joy. I am so happy you have these good memories to think back on and share with us. I wish I had a greenhouse like the one you talk about here. Thank you for reading my blog and for the support :-) I appreciate it! Hugs to you too!


Recuerdo algunos que mi madre tenía en un pequeño invernadero casero en el patio de nuestra casa cuando éramos niños, me encantaba sumergirme en el mágico mundo de los helechos y varias plantas que mi madre cultivó con tanto amor en esa pequeña pieza especial. de nuestra casa

Este tipo de recuerdos llevas toda tu vida y pueden traerte una gran alegría. Estoy muy feliz de que tengas estos buenos recuerdos para pensar y compartir con nosotros. Desearía tener un invernadero como el que hablas aquí. Gracias por leer mi blog y por el apoyo :-) ¡Te lo agradezco! Abrazos para ti también!

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The flowers are doing well as they grow gently. They are already looking adorable. I believe the scent would be wow!
Well done friend.

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Thanks!! They really don't have a smell, which is a shame. Oh well they can't all be roses hehe.

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I have bought several orchids in the past and the only thing I have succeeded in doing is killing them. I do have a clover/shamrock that I have brought back from the brink of death a number of times, but orchids just look at me and wilt. I admire that you can keep them going.

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haha.. I had that same problem until I stopped watering them every week. Over watering kills them quick. I guess if you really want to enjoy one, you could always print a picture of one and hang it! hehehe.

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lol. Yeah, that's what it's going to take. Or a papercraft orchid. Now there's an idea!

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You should have written that sentence one more time... I still didn't get it! LOL - juuuust kidding ;) haha!

Orchids are such amazing plants - but bets left to neglect I have found... for some reason they seem to thrive on little water and a dash of sunshine... other than that, leave them alone.... but I will shut up because you clearly know lot more about orchids than I do LOL

You got some magnificent shots of them! They are such good models!

!tip

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HAHAHAHA! Exactly. I leave them alone there on the sill by the door and they do pretty well. I have to re-pot that one that is looking bad. It need's it bad like all my other plants. It's on the to do for this spring after temps rise a bit. Toooo cold out right now.. hehe.

They are good models unlike Pepper! hehe. and they don't ask for cookies after the photo shoot is over ;-P

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Don't worry... we all have those "to do's" that we just never seem to be able to get to lol! - and I don't blame you for not wanting to go outside lol.

hahahaha - poor pepper!!!

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Beautiful colour on the blooming one!
About the Stressed one - it looks like she is very dehydrated. There might be two options for that:

  1. Simply you do not water it enough
  2. You watered it too much and if it stayed moist too long the roots inside the pot rotted and died.

The best way would be to take it out of the pot and check it. But since it is starting to bloom - wait until it finishes. Repoting now will only stress it and it will most likely drop all the buds.
To help her now, try to mist the roots that grow outside the pot every day. Just until the get some moisture. They will drink what they can and will dry up fast enough.
After it is done blooming check what is happening with the roots in the pot. If they are dark brown, papery and have no substance - they are dead. Cut them off and pot the orchid in new bark a little bit dipper, but not cover the parts where the leaves join the stem. With a bit of love she will be fine :)

P.S. Love the tall cactus on the last photo :)

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This is AWESOME advice! I will definitely be looking to re-pot it when it is all done flowering .. if it survives it?? lol. I bought a bag of Orchid mulch chips and am ready to go!!! Thank you for the information. I will be putting it to use that's for sure. I will DM you if I have any questions. I just may.. haha.

We have had that cactus for a good while and within the last few years it has really grown! It's a little crooked, but a cutie for sure :-)

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(Edited)

You're very welcome :D If you are on Discord catch me there if you have more questions.
I am sure it will be fine. A good bark chips is all she needs.
Try to mist those outside roots from time to time so she can hydrate a bit until then.

There are also some very handy videos on youtube on how to check on the roots and how to repot Phalaenopsis. They might be handy too to gt the idea.
Check MissOrchidGirl - she has some awesome tutorials.

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Oh thank you for the referral! I will check them out this weekend :-)

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Thanks for sharing your experience with us!
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